Experience RE/FORM, a day/night festival experience that focuses on Techno, House, and other experimental soundscapes â all of which are brought to you by 6AM, Synthetik Minds, & Dirty Epic. Taking place on Labor Day Weekend (Sept. 3-4), RE/FORM will bring about unforgettable live performances from 999999999, Pan-Pot, Paula Temple, Octave One, and many others.
Born and raised in Tokyo, Risa Taniguchi is the classically trained and skilled musician turned leading techno queen, making a serious impact on the scene with her electrifying releases and DJ sets. Drawing inspiration from the underground scene of her home city, and playing clubs such as Vent, Contact and Womb, Risa is making all the right noises in all the right places.
Hailing from Ibaraki, Shingo Nakamura is a Tokyo-based producer and DJ who is known for his progressive house style that blends deep and lyrical sounds with classical piano. Growing his footprint beyond a dedicated fan base in Asia, he has performed sold-out shows at many regarded venues in the U.S., as well as reaching #1 on Beatportâs Progressive House Charts twice.
Accruing over 100k monthly listeners on Spotify, and even launching Spotifyâs new âDJ Mixesâ global initiative alongside other DJs, Shingo has cemented himself as one of the worldâs leading talents in the melodic and progressive house space as a talented professional.
Veteran DJ and producer David Morales has been released without charge following his arrest earlier this month at Japanâs Fukoka Airport for alleged drug possession.
Morales was detained âfor allegedly violating the law on narcotics and psychotropics controlâ on October 7 after a customs official found 0.3g of MDMA in his carry-on baggage.
When it comes to pushing the creative envelope, not many do it more extravagantly than Jeff Mills. Throughout his tenured career he’s accomplished a tremendous amount in the artistic field with exhibitions at Le Lourve, designing his own drum machine,  and really, the list is seemingly endless. His latest endeavor? Kobe Session.
Kobe Session is a collaborative project between Jeff Mills, fellow Detroit native, Gerald Mitchell, and Japanese musicians Kenji Hino and Yumiko Ohno, in which the four artists present a stunning improvisational live performance from Japan in September 2015. Musically, Kobe Session is an inspiring body of work, but the project also serves as a cultural bridge between these respected musician. Jeff Mills and Gerald Mitchell pull their influence from their experiences with Underground Resistance and Detroit as a whole, whereas Kenji Hino and Yumiko Ohno provide drastically different influence based on their respective experiences – Ohno as one of the members of the critically acclaimed band Buffalo Daughter, and Hino from his extensive time learning from jazz legends in New York.
From left to right: Gerald Mitchell, Kenji Hino, Jeff Mills, Yumiko Ohno
Kobe Session was a project originally intended to coincide with the Exhibitionist 2 DVD Series, but has evidently been deemed worthy enough to also stand on it’s own. Kobe Session will be available in May through Axis Records as a special 180 gram vinyl mastered for high fidelity sounds.
Connect with Jeff Mills on Facebook / Twitter / Resident AdvisorÂ
A1. Eventide (14â27â)
A2. Introductions (MC/translator: Masaaki Ishizaki) (4â26â)
B1. Happy Gamma Ray (15â11â)
Artwork: Sunset Wave by GOMA (Japan)
Rainbow Disco Club is known world-over as Japan’s premier boutique festival, and with good reason. Last year the festival ended up in Resident Advisor’s Top 10 Festivals to attend in May thanks to a roster of artists that blends worldwide talent with the top of Japan’s dance music DJ pool.
The festival moved to its current location at Higashi Izu Cross Country Course in Shuzuoka in 2015, also expanding for the first time to a three-day operation. This new tradition is set to continue between Friday 29th of April and Sunday May 1st this year, with another selection of fine dance music artists set to provide the musical backdrop for the weekend.
Legend Andrew Weatherall will be accompanied by the likes of Nightmares On Wax, who will be playing a DJ set, Gilles Peterson and Move D. A selection of Rush Hour Allstars will also be returning to the festival’s decks  with Antal, Hunee, Soichi Terada and San Proper all set to represent the highly acclaimed label this year. Other local talent comes in the form of Kenji Takimi, Kaoru Inoue, Kikiorix and Sisi, while The Black Madonna is scheduled for an exclusive back-to-back set with the esteemed DJ Nobu. Red Bull is sponsoring a separate stage with a program that includes DJ Funk, Egyptian Lover, Kuniyuki as well as DJ Sodeyama, one our selected artists to watch for 2016!
For tickets and information visit Rainbow Disco Club’s Official Website.
Event Info available on Facebook and Resident Advisor.
One of Tokyo’s iconic clubs, Air, closed last year with one final hurrah on New Year’s Eve. It has now been announced that Global Hearts, the company behind Air, is opening a brand new concept club next month in the city’s area of Shibuya.
The new basement venue, Contact, features a main space, a smaller bar area and will adopt the no-photography policy that has been widely praised in select world clubs such as Berghain/Panorama Bar and Output in New York City.
In an interview with Resident Advisor, Â the club’s director Yuko Ichikawa explained the vision behind the new venue. “Weâd like to create a space where everyone can easily come and enjoy the music without any concerns. A place where you forget that you even have a mobile phone to ‘take pictures.’ There will be a policy for no cameras/video recordings/etc., but we will hire professional photographers. To be honest, I wouldnât mind the photographers forgetting to take pictures because they get sucked into the music and the environment,” he said. “There are no resident DJs at the moment. We want Contact to be a venue where young DJs would work hard and be proud to stand inside the DJ booth. A place where the DJs can grow alongside the venue, and eventually call it their ‘home.'”
Contact will launch things off on Friday, April 1st, with Ostgun Ton’s Function on headlining duties. The following two months’ programming alone highlight the impressive focus on quality from the club’s booking perspective, with Francois K, Laurent Garnier, Louie Vega and DJ Nori joining Dekmantel and Giegling showcases to round up the month of April. In May, the club is set to play host to DJ Nobu, efdemin, Erika and Derrick Carter just to name a few.
For full lineup details for April and May, head to the Contact’s club page on RA.
Connect with Contact: Online | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Richie Hawtin & Dubfire playing at WOMB
Tokyo’s WOMB is set to re-open this coming weekend following an entire remodeling process that saw the mega-club closed for approximately a month.
The 1,000 capacity venue occupies four floors and is equipped with a state-of-the-art digital sound system and high-quality production value that sets it apart not only as one of the most sought-after party destinations of Japan, but of the entire Asian continent.
WOMB is known world over for hosting top-tier international names in techno, house and EDM while also giving space to emerging artists from Japan’s own vibrant dance music scene. Opened in the centre of Shibuya in 2000, WOMB has also hosted WOMB ADVENTURE since 2008, an indoor festival that attracts 10,000 attendees each edition. In the past few years WOMB has hosted esteemed names the caliber of Jamie Jones, Dixon, Loco Dice, Dubfire, Joseph Capriati and Nina Kraviz just to name a few. The club has also hosted its own stage at Guam’s Electric Island Festival in 2015 with a Japanese techno roster made up of Ken Ishii, Sugiurumn, Ko Kimura, Takkyu Ishino, and TECHRiDERS.
In true WOMB style, their grand re-opening celebration will take place over two separate nights. First, the return of their regular party “THE YES,” headlined by performances from both resident Shinichi Osawa and Tanaka Tomoyuki. Night two will see Cocoon master Sven VĂ€th play an open-to-close set as part of his 2016 World Tour, with a selection of locals in the smaller rooms.
WOMB has released a video highlighting the renovations that have taken place at the club:
Day 1Â – Fri 2/26
Day 2 – Sat 2/27
Connect with WOMB Tokyo: Online | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
It was another extensive year for Dubfire and the Sci+Tec family, with an array of DJ sets and Hybrid:Live performances around the world, as well as another appearance in the RA Top 100. That said, the year wouldnât be complete for Dubfire without a stop at one of his favorite clubs in Asia â WOMB, Tokyo. Read more
The word âlegendâ gets thrown into the mix often when referencing many pioneers of the dance scene. Ken Ishii is among the few artists that have truly reached this status, with that word acting as a good starting point to truly capture his legacy in techno. After all, Derrick May even stated that “everyone from Detroit respects Ken Ishii as a creative force and is one of [his] all time heroes” Read more
