I’m heading back to Melbourne in a few days for a bit of time back in Australia. And while I am there, I am very happy to be playing at ‘Subterranean Music’, organized by the Local Traffic Crew. It is geared towards ambient and downbeat sounds and it is taking place at the Wilde on Sunday 21 February. I’m really looking forward to sharing some sounds on home turf. So if you are free, come down and join us.
Just a quick note to say that we are back at Dommune tonight for our first party of 2016. I’ll be opening for LA-4A, which is Ambivalent’s new project exploring “roots techno”. He recently put together an excellent mix for The Bunker podcast, so I am very interested to hear what he’ll do tonight. I’ll be playing the first slot from 9-10:30pm, then LA-4A will be on until midnight. Come down or tune if you are free, it should be good!
Dommune registration page / RA event page
Sorry, seems I am getting worse and worse with updating this blog. Twitter is definitely the best way to keep track of news and thoughts from me… Anyway, here are some various bits of news.
The final MNML SSGS party at Air with Delta Funktionen and DJ Nobu was a big success. Thanks to everyone who came down and gave the club a great farewell. Thanks, as always, to Yuko and her staff for their help with putting the night together. Currently working on plans for some events this year, more info to follow.
I was very happy to commence 2016 by participating in Berghain’s Silvester celebrations. I played a 4 hour ambient set in the Elektroakustischer Salon, a special space they opened for new years as a chill out room. Hats off to the Berghain crew, it worked brilliantly and great to see them trying to update the classic chill out concept. It was a pleasure to be able to play a proper ambient set in an environment where people could relax, sit down and listen to it. This was my first time playing in Berlin, and I was very happy with how people responded to my set.
Back in Tokyo, our first Sound Garden chill out party for the year will be at Bar Orbit on Wednesday 3 February from 8pm. It is free, as always, and this time our guest is one of Japan’s leading artists, Iori. We’ve been wanting to have him play for a long time and now that he is based in Tokyo, it seemed like the right moment to invite him. And joining Iori will be the Sound Garden residents: David Dicembre, Jelomu and myself. For full details, check the Facebook or RA event pages.
Also I am going to be back in Melbourne from 17 February – 14 March and open for gigs, so if anyone in Australia is interested in booking me, please feel free to get in touch.
And lastly, I’ve updated my email address, so if you need to contact me, please use this one: [email protected]
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and productive 2016.
Here is the timetable for the party on Saturday night. The only change from the flyer is that DJ Soybeans will be joining the FISH crew in the Lounge. Glad he will also be playing. This is the final techno party at Air before it closes down, so get ready for a long, fun night of music. If you want to go on the discount list, please email me no later that lunch time on Saturday: [email protected]
SSGS MAIN
23:00 – 00:30 Chris SSG
00:30 – 01:15 galcid + Hisashi Saito LIVE
01:15 – 04:30 Delta Funktionen
04:30 – 07:30 DJ Nobu
07:30 – end Haruka
FISH LOUNGE
10:00 Yu
10:30 Chiro
11:00 Yu
11:45 michihiko ishidomaru
00:15 Chiro
01:00 Sapphire Slows
02:30 michihiko ishidomaru
04:15 DJ Soybeans
05:00 End
NO MAD: BONDAID
23:00 SlyAngle
00:00 7e
01:30 CHANGSIE
03:00 MARI SAKURAI
04:00 End
This Saturday we return to Air for one final dance before it closes at the end of the year… And fitting with the occasion, we have something more fun to finish. Our guest is an old associate and friend of MNML SSGS, Delta Funktionen. He’ll be joined by the very excellent DJ Nobu, and each of them will be playing for about 3 hours. We are also glad to welcome synth gurus galcid+ Hisashi Saito, who will be playing live. Haruka will be doing after hours, I’ll be opening, then we have FISH in the lounge and BONDAID in No Mad. A great collection of local talent. This is going to be a long, fun night, so come join us for a proper dance to finish the year and say farewell to Air. We’ll announce the timetable later in the week, but in the meantime, feel free to email if you’d like to have names on the discount list. Just send full names to this email before midday on Saturday: [email protected]
We are very happy to return to Orbit this Wednesday 2 December for a special edition of Sound Garden. Our guest is Kangding Ray, a long-term favourite of ours. After delivering a powerful techno DJ set last weekend, he will now be exploring his quieter side… Kangding Ray is going to be playing a live set that will be a retrospective of his earlier ambient work. He doesn’t play this work out so often, so it is a rare and special opportunity to hear it. We are super excited! So come down and join us for another chill out session…
Timetable
20:00 – 21:00 Jelomu
21:00 – 22:00 Chris SSG
22:00 – 23:30 Kangding Ray LIVE
23:30 – 00:30 David Dicembre
00:30 – end SG residents
I’m very excited about the next Frue party happening this Saturday 28 November at Unit. Returning to Japan will be Kangding Ray, fresh from releasing his new (and excellent) album on Raster Noton. And this time it will be a bit different, he is playing a 4 hour hybrid DJ / live set. I’ve been a huge fan of Kangding Ray’s livesets and I am very curious and excited to hear this new style of set from him. Joining with be Vessel, who I think is playing here for the first time. I’ve been a big fan of his productions and I am really interested to see his live performance with Pedro Maia providing the visuals. I’ll be rounding out the lineup on the mainfloor with an opening set. Unit is my favourite club and it is always a pleasure to play there. I am preparing a “drone and bass” style set that will hopefully set things up for Vessel and Kangding Ray to follow. Frue put on some of the best parties in Tokyo and this is a great lineup. Expecting it to be a killer night, so come join us! If anyone would like their names on the discount list, please email me at: [email protected]
Next week I will be playing in Osaka for the first time. I am really looking forward to this. I have been very impressed with what Ryo Murakami has been doing recently in his live shows and his most recent releases. It connects with the darker, more experimental sounds that have been finding favour of late, but Ryo’s sound has a more meditative and balanced feel to it. Joining us will be Shohei Takata and Zodiak, two artists I am keen to see for the first time. I’ll be playing from 24:00 – 2:00 and will be doing a drone and bass set. If you are in Osaka or near by, please join. This is a great alternative to the banal stupidity you normally get on Halloween here!
Details: Saturday 31 October 2015 at Compufunk Records, Osaka from 23:00
John Osborn is in Tokyo for a bit longer after his successful set at Unit last Friday night. We thought we’d take this opportunity to invite him to show off the kind of music he listens to at home, and in quieter moments. While John is generally known for his more upbeat sets blurring techno and house, we are very interested to hear him play a rare ambient and downbeat set. And for this edition, after almost a 2 year absence we are returning to our original home of Bar Orbit in Sangenjaya. Looking forward to being back there… So please come and join us for a drink at the end of your day. It is free entry, but 1st drink will cost 1,000 yen. Info and timetable below. Orbit is about a 5-10 minute walk from Sangenjaya station, and it is in the basement, so look for the sign and stairs leading down.
I was very happy to have the opportunity to contribute to Rob Booth’s “Electronic Explorations” series. For my mind, it is one of the most established podcasts online and has consistently been a platform for pushing new artists and sounds. In keeping with the spirit of EE, my contribution focused on new music, with almost all of the 2 hour mix being composed of tracks released in the last year.
The mix was recorded in one take on a Sunday afternoon in September 2015. It is entitled ‘music for nominal spaces’.
01. Drew McDowall – ‘Live at the Silent Barn’
02. Kemper Norton – ‘Departing’
03. Sarah Davachi – ‘Flowers and other voiceless things’
04. Tengui – ‘Shadows’
05. Atom TM – ‘Texturen I’
06. Barnett + Coloccia – ‘Rose eye’
07. Imaginary Softwoods – ‘Describing pain’
08. Abul Mogard – ‘Drooping off’
09. Monolake – ‘Error’
10. Ryo Murakami – ‘Wall’
11. Brett Naucke – ‘Cellar beat’
12. Charles Cohen – ‘Mankind and mannequins’
13. Caterina Barbieri – ‘Undular’
14. Conrad Schnitzler – ‘Trigger one: solo rhythmics I’
15. Lumisokea – ‘Risacca’
16. Peder Mannerfelt – ‘The limits of control’
17. Yko – ‘Minako (Bee Mask remix)’
18. Fis – ‘Kal’
19. JG Biberkopf – ‘Air coltan carbon lithium’
20. Logos – ‘Metropolis’
21. Source Direct – ‘Approach identify (Demdike Stare remix)’
22. Klara Lewis – ‘Untilted’
23. Shackleton – ‘Silver keys’
24. Aisha Devi – ‘The saviour on spilled blood’
Interstice(SSG) 