I thought Fabric, London had it all. But Tokyo’s got it’s own groove going on in the world-class minimal-bassy-black-box variety. It’s called Unit in Daikanyama. Unit is one of those rare and special clubs where the sound is actually engineered by people who have enough knowledge of acoustics and an ample budget to sufficiently sonify the space in such a way that you can hear your friends talking but also feel that perpetual buzz of warm yummy bass emanating from the subwoofers, and also hear every little detailed nuance of sound that the DJ dishes out, regardless of its place in the frequency range. Hi-hats seemingly floating on air, filters that cascade through the nothingness like butter spreads onto a warm piece of toast.
It his here that I recently rediscovered my love for minimal techno, thanks to the talents of Japan’s own DJ Masda, who opened with an immaculate 3-hour long set of deep minimal techno, micro-house and quirky tech-house. Following Masda’s stellar performance was none other than Dan Bell, a techno legend who honed his talents in Toronto and Detroit in the early 90′s before relocating to Berlin. This guy is a long-time Tokyo favorite, and it shows. Every time he started a mix the crowd let out wild whistles and cheers, and he responded with nimble-fingered moves : quick cuts, subtle-yet dramatic effecting and ginormous builds. All that I can say is I’ll definitely be going back to Unit before I go back home to hear some more quality techno. Atom ™, otherwise known as Atom Heart and Senor Coconut — plays on May 21st.
Senor Coconut
For those of you on this side of the globe, put your dancing shoes on and enter the void. But if you are a little farther away and lusting after some Japanese techno, you may want to listen to Masda’s podcast. Or you could dive into the vault and explore the latest offerings by Japan’s up-and-coming deep house minimal producer Ryo Murakami.