Archive for February, 2017

Filibuster with Synthesizers

Friday, February 17th, 2017

I managed to write a post comprised entirely of electronic music and didn’t mention a Japanese artist once! I’m surprised too.

Depeche Mode
Wrong (Magdas Scallop Funk Remix)
Wrong (Frankie’s Bromantic Club Mix)
Wrong (DIM vs Boys Noize Remix)
I’m not going to say much about this song, I feel as if I’ve probably written about this song before. I like this song. Good song. These are good remixes to a good song. Okay, now let’s move on.

Have you heard the new Depeche Mode song, “Where’s The Revolution?” It’s fucking great. The vocals by Gahan are on point and the production finds a nice middle-ground between vintage Mode and a more modern take on synthpop.

But the best thing about it? The lyrics. It’s like someone drilled a hole in my head and extracted my exacts thoughts on the current state of the world. There’s so little good political music these days, who’d of thought we’d get an incendiary political track from motherfucking Depeche Mode?

I think the only other political Depeche Mode track I can think of is “John The Revelator.” That was the first Depeche Mode single I heard as an adult that really go me into the group. So maybe I’m just biased towards the group being political. Regardless, I hope “Where’s The Revolution” gets some dope remixes. We need more politics on the dancefloor.

Mito
Droid
Mito is a pseudonym for Stefano Secchi, an Italian musician and producer who has over two hundred releases under his belt. Don’t know anything about him other than what Discogs tell me. What I do know is that this song is some dope shit. Classic Italian electro disco at its finest. Listening to this track puts me in a real headspace. I imagine a 1980s vision of what a 2020s nightclulb would look like, with everyone decked out in neon fringe and Mylar clothes. Robot bartenders serve glowing drinks and everyone has a jetpack for no reason.

I’m gonna run for President and that mental image is going to be my campaign. Vote For Lost Turntable – Neon and Jet Packs for Everyone!

If this song installs similar optimistic feels of a retro-future and you want more, then you’re in luck, you can grab several other mixes of this track on iTunes!

Telex
Moskow Diskow (1985 Version)
Moskow Diskow (French Version)
Moskow Diskow (English Version)
I posted a version of “Moskow Diskow” six years ago. In my continuing adventures of reading old posts of my own blog, let’s see what I was talking about on June 6th, 2012.

Hm. Nothing really all that special I guess. Just a call out for questions about recording vinyl. I must’ve been in a good mood that week. In fact, browsing that whole month I seemed to be rather content and chill. I guess that was the start of my run-up to my Japan visit, so I was probably focused on that. Good times.

But yeah, “Moskow Diskow.” None of these versions are the same as the version I shared all those years ago, they’re taken from a different 12″ single entirely. Telex is dope.

Posted in Depeche Mode, Mito, remixes, Telex | 5 Comments »

Celebrate Valentine’s Day With Techno

Monday, February 13th, 2017

Want a Life In Japan story? Feels like I haven’t told one of them in a while Have I talked about Valentine’s Day in Japan?

Valentine’s Day in Japan is kind of stupid.

So, in Japan Valentine’s Day is all about the dudes. Women are not supposed to get gifts on Valentine’s Day. For real. Instead, women are supposed to give chocolate to men. Then, men are supposed to return the favor a month later on March 14tth. That day is called White Day, and on White Day men have to go out and give chocolate to any woman who gifted them chocolate the month prior.

I’m not one to besmirch another culture’s traditions or customs, but it’s hella complex and confusing to anyone who hasn’t grown up with it. And a lot of Japanese people I know aren’t particularly fond of it. I’ve heard men use the term “Chocolate Abuse” to talk about women gifting them large amounts of chocolate only because they want to force the man’s hand and make him gift them a similar gift a month later. It’s not gifting out of love, it’s gifting out of obligation.

But that’s not why Valentine’s Day in Japan bothers me. No, Valentine’s Day in Japan bothers me because there’s not protocol for what us gays are supposed to do. My boyfriend and I both agreed to celebrate Valentine’s Day and tell White Day to fuck right off. And that’s all well and good, but that means that every February 13th I’m the only dude in candy store, surrounded by women who look at my giant white ass with bemusement wondering if I’m just an idiot gaijin who doesn’t know better or, y’know, the correct assumption.

Anyways, gender stereotypes aside, I love giving my boyfriend chocolate because every year he acts surprised and it’s just the cutest shit. So I guess I can’t complain too much.

Here’s some techno. Happy Valentine’s Day.

808 State
Lift (7 Inch Mix)
Lift (12 Inch Mix)
Lift (Justin Strauss Remix)
Lift (Metro Mix)
Lift (Lift Up Dub)
Open Your Mind (Sound Garden Mix)
Open Your Mind (Open Mix)
I originally posted these tracks on January 13th of 2010. Let’s look back at that post to see what I was rambling about at the time…

Boy, I was really angry about Jay Leno. Seems like so long ago (probably because it was.) Anyways, venting and petitioning for my favorite late night talk show to stay on the air sure seems mighty quaint now, doesn’t it? Nothing like the sudden and brutal rise of fascism to really put things in perspective.

But where was I? Oh yeah, “Lift.” Bought this single in Kichijoji a few weeks back, totally not realizing that I already had a copy back in the states. Oh well, saves me the trouble of trying to bring my original copy here and it also gave me the chance to re-record it with much better equipment than I had back in 2010.

Ken Ishii
Pneuma
Twist Of Space
Low
I wanted to share more of this man’s amazing work, but shockingly enough a lot of it is in print and easily available (and cheap) on iTunes in the states! So if you like what you hear here I really recommend you check out some of his albums proper. Future In Light and Jelly Tones are two solid picks to start with.

Posted in 808 State, Ken Ishii, remixes | 2 Comments »

Close Encounters of the Funk Kind

Sunday, February 5th, 2017

Some random covers of the theme from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

Because I just somehow accumulated all of these by accident.

I know, I have weird problems.

Hideki Matsutake
Theme From Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Hideki Matsutake is a genius so it’s not a surprise that his version of the theme takes the most liberties with it, using the technology available to him at the time to really expand and divert upon the original in interesting and fun ways. At times, all this version has in common with the original is the basic melody we all know, using that as a backdrop for some smooth funky jazz. If you removed it, the song would become entirely unrecognizable. Great instrumentation and sound effect choices on here as well.

Electoru Polyphonic Orchestra
Theme From Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Oh boy, this thing.

So I bought this record on a whim. Mostly for the cover, but also for the tracklist, which includes some severely oddball selections like the themes to “Zero Population Growth,” “Barbarella” and the cult classic, “No Blade Of Grass.” Although that one is spelled as “No Blade of Glass” because English is hard.

Was it worth it? Eh, not really. Humor derived from the cover and poor translations aside, there isn’t much to enjoy here. The covers far too faithful to the original versions. Instead of using the electronic technology to branch out from the originals, I feel like this album goes for mimicry far too often.

There is a bit to like in this cover though, the weird wah-wah bassline at the end is groovy as fuck.

Toru Hatano
Theme From Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Talked about Toru Hatano last year in my last Star Wars post, so I’m not going to repeat myself. I dig his cover of the theme, even if it’s not all that out-there when compared to some of the others. I really like the effects on the synthesizer in the last minute. Got some good space funk going on there.

Spectrum
Close Encounters
Spectrum was a late-70s/early-80s Japanese funk/disoc/soul/electronic act who released six damn albums in just three years. Most of their stuff that I’ve heard is by-the-numbers disco and funk, with a slight jazz influence. Nothing all that special.

However, their second 1979 album, In The Space, is something else. Half of the record is your standard jazzy pop-funk, but the other half is made up of funky disco covers of sci-fi movie themes. They got Star Wars on here (of course) as well as the above version of the Close Encounters theme, but there are some oddities thrown in as well. There’s the theme to War In Space, a third-rate Star Wars rip-off by Toho, and also a cover to the theme of Space Battleship Yamato. Because holy shit that thing was popular in Japan. A take on “Also Sprach Zarathustra” aka “That song from 2001” is here as well. The best of the bunch is their version of “Close Encounters” though, good disco bounce.

But that’s not the best thing about this album. No, the best thing about the album is the DOPE AS FUCK art inside the gatefold.

Squad goals.

Posted in Logic System, Spectrum, Toru Hatano | 1 Comment »