It’s been a hectic ten days, but damn has it been enjoyable. Kode 9 landed in Japan on the 12th, and what followed were ten days of non stop sightseeing, shopping, eating, fooling about and music. I also somehow managed to go to work during that time even with lack of sleep and a cold holding me down, I’m still not quite sure how.

It was all worth it though - everyone had an amazing time. Ms Haptic aka Jess aka my ex-tutor at uni came with him, and it was great finally catching up with her after a few years of not seeing each other. Same with mr 9 - we’ve known each other for a long time, but we haven’t had the chance to chill in a few years and so it was nice spending time showing them around Tokyo, doing stupid shit and also practicing my Japanese in restaurants and shops.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, dubstep, goth trad, kode 9, mad rave

Goth-Trad feature - Published in Japanzine, 2007

This feature appears in the July edition of Japanzine. The full, unedited version of the q&a I did with Goth-Trad is available on this blog, here.
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Mutation Man

The name may conjure up images of black-clad fashion disasters wearing too much eye-liner, but the truth about Goth-Trad is rather different. In the last few years, the bizarrely monikered producer and DJ – known to his mum as Takeaki Maruyama –has emerged as one of the hottest talents on Japan’s electronic music scene. Maruyama “rst discovered dance music at the tender age of 10, kickstarting a passionate affair that’s continued to this day. “I remember hearing Technotronic and loving it,” he reminisces. “I thought ‘Techno? What is Techno?’ The sound was amazing to me.” This early interest would soon grow into a deeper obsession as he discovered Kraftwerk and started listening to the UK charts. Living in Yamaguchi and then Hiroshima, though, satisfying this obsession wasn’t always easy and he had to resort to mail order at first.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: goth trad, Japan, portfolio, writing

And I haven’t got a lot of either right now…

Apologies to those who check this blog ‘fairly’ regularly (I know there’s a few of yous unless Google Stats is lying to me) but I’ve had a lot on recently which has meant I haven’t had time to update the blog and probably won’t be doing so for another week or two.

I’ve been finishing the follow up to my ‘Packing Sh*t Up!’ mix which is coming along very nicely. That should be online next month. I’ve also been very busy finishing off and preparing the release of the second ‘Cuts of Culture’ compilation, which is something I’ve been working on for over a year now. It’s good to know that this will finally be released onto the world, although instead of the originally planned CD/DVD package it’ll now be a series of exclusive multi-media podcasts. It all starts next weekend and lasts for 9 weeks on the Turntable Radio podcast feed - you can find more info on it all on the Turntable Radio site.

I’ve also got some friends in town and will be away all of next week, but I’ll be back on saturday, the 21st, for ‘Back To Chill vol 11′ - this time round the man like Kode 9 is in town alongside Goth Trad, Rumi, the BTC crew, Quarta 330 and myself for an all night party at Nakano’s Heavy Sick Zero. So if you like to have your bits wobbled then head on down cos it’s gonna be weighty - full info on the BTC blog.

Also my article on Goth Trad is out now in the July issue of Japanzine, which you can find in most places in Tokyo and Nagoya, peep Japanzine’s website for more info and an online version. The full interview is archived on this site.

Oh and there’s a massive typhoon about to hit Tokyo apparently, tomorrow afternoon. I’m supposed to be working which should make for an interesting time. I hope I can record some of it.

Definitely back on the writing tip at the end of the month.

Popularity: 3%

written by Laurent \\ tags: Random

Just returned from a much needed holiday on the Izu Peninsula, about two hours from Tokyo, located on Japan’s Pacific coast. It’s been years since I spent time by the seaside, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable.

We found a cheap, if slightly run down, minshuku (Japanese bed and breakfast) located on the beach, with a lovely view of the ocean and the soothing sounds of the waves washing on the shore at night. While the place was a little run down it did offer some amazing food - turns out the owner was some expert fish chef, who runs a restaurant which serves fugu (more on that in a minute). We’d signed up for breakfast and dinner and after the first meal on our first night realised that we’d probably made the right choice.

W hat ensued was a four day orgy of fish - as the woman cooked and sliced something like 15 different kinds of fish for our dinner and breakfast. From sushi and sashimi to grilled, cooked and boiled fish. The weirdest part was the breakfast. Since arriving here I’ve been hearing a lot about the wonderful properties and delicious aspects of a traditional Japanese breakfast, which generally consists of fish, rice and miso soup (and I would assume infinite variations using the same core ingredients depending on where you are). I can’t say that it has appealed to me so far, even if where I come from we do eat some weird things for breakfast in the eyes of some people (cooked meat and cheese for starters). Still rice and soup didn’t strike me as the most enticing breakfast ever… I couldn’t have been more wrong.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: food, holidays, izu peninsula, Japan, travelling