Events

BREAK THE BOUNDARY 2nd LIVE @ Akihabara, May 18th

Posted by PlasmaDancer on May 14, 2008
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This is an interesting one – Betwixt & Between and Alabaster are playing alongside some less familiar names on the 18th, in Akihabara of all places. As for the other DJs – I won’t pretend to be too knowlegable, but apparently DJ 490 vs Luna Express are a Hardcore duo, while Clavia MAXXHEART leans more toward trance. This event is free, which makes it pretty tempting, although I’m already busy on Sunday, sadly (but looking forward to the following week’s Hell’s Gate, of course).

May 18th, 13.00 start @ ADst Akihabara

  • Ered Nust (aka Asuka Sakurai)
  • Alabaster
  • Betwixt & Between
  • DJ 490 vs Luna Express
  • Calvia MAXXHEAR
  • dust.c

Guld’s Requiem released – EXIT TRANCE presents Trancemaster

Posted by PlasmaDancer on May 11, 2008
Posted in: Events, Japanese, Releases. 3 comments

                            

Guld’s recent Hard NRG stormer, Requiem (RUA Remix) was released last Friday on Quake Records. As Guld himself recently said, all the other tunes on the Trancemaster CD are classic Trance – but his is definitely NRG. If you haven’t heard it already, get yourself over to Guld’s MySpace page, where you can hear both Requiem and his recent DragonBall Z remix, Solid State Scouter.

You might remember the Bouncy Techno event that was held in Shibuya last week? Well, I did make it after all – but I must admit that in the end Guld, Cogi and I made it (just) in time for Guld’s set at 7pm, and so I only caught the final few tunes of the previous set. Rather than going the happy-ish Nu-NRG route though, Guld ended up nearly killing the bouncy techno crew with a ferocious set that ran from Requiem, DJ Rx’s very hard Lab 4 style tune Singularity (which was played at NRGetic Romancer last month, after all), various Lab 4/Adam/Hase tracks, and finished with almegiddo! Very nice, and the few NRGetic Romancer regulars that were present certainly enjoyed it. Worth mentioning that, as with his old track Hannya8000, Guld’s new tunes really do sound great through a club PA.

NRGetic Romancer, June 14th – Flyer design

Posted by PlasmaDancer on May 5, 2008
Posted in: Events, Japanese. 3 comments

Still a month to go, but here’s the final flyer design for the next NRGetic Romancer. This time I’ve included the ‘other side’ – a shame Cogi still doesn’t get a ‘bio’, but nice design as always (and once again Evangelion-themed, if I’m not mistaken) Edit: I was mistaken – the image is from Karas – thanks NightForce!

Scouse! TOKYO – United Kingdom of Donk, 6th May @Shibuya NOSTYLE

Posted by PlasmaDancer on May 2, 2008
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Good grief – I think we can stop accepting entries for ‘Maddest Post Title 2008’ after this, don’t you think? Anyway, it seems like the most unlikely combination you could think of, but next week Guld is playing at the fairly regular Bouncy Techno (or Scouse House, surely the best ever name for a subgenre) event, at Shibuya’s NOSTYLE. Quite what he’s going to play, I have no idea – but it’ll have to be the merriest Nu-NRG set in history if he’s going to fit in with the rest of the DJs, by the looks of things.

Speaking of other DJs, two other guests are invited to this event – Hayashi and karas, neither of whom I know a great deal about, I must admit. Among the Scouse! TOKYO regulars, though, is OkamOTO…he hails from Hiroshima, and so will undoubtedly steal the show. If you don’t believe me, check the end of this post to find a brief YouTube clip of the man in action.

Back in the day, Bouncy Techno completely passed me by, as Jungle/Hardcore was more my thing, but it might be nice to hear some happier tunes for once, after months of brow-furrowing/melancholy Freeform. This event starts at 2pm on Tuesday, which isn’t as crazy as it sounds – next week is Golden Week, a holiday for everyone – and my regular day off these days is Wednesday….which all means that I should really try to make it to this one.

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X-Treme Hard, 31st May / X-Treme Hard Compilation Vol.1

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 29, 2008
Posted in: Events, Japanese, Releases. 1 comment

Plenty of time before this one, but the second X-Treme event of the year has just been announced. To be held at Shibuya’s DESEO, the event is also a launch party for the first X-Treme Hard compilation CD. I’m not sure about the tracklist yet, but it should be of at least some interest to freeform fans – I’d guess that a few tracks from Full Circle DJs, Betwixt & Between and Sharpnel will be included.

Back to the event, and the UK’s Happy/J-Hardcore master, JAKAZiD, will be playing this time – his first set in Japan since last year, as far as I know. I’ve recently been recommended to check some of his tunes out, and so I’m quite looking forward to catching this set if I can. Add live PAs from Buzzmasta, Betwixt & Between, DJ Shimamura, Sharpnel, Technorch and a DJ set from Chucky, and this should definitely be worth a look.

NRGetic Romancer, 19th April

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 27, 2008
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Things have been pretty busy this week, so the report from last weekend is a little later than intended – sorry about that. Thankfully (in a way, at least) not a lot seems to have happened in the scene this week, so there’s not too much catching up to do.

Last weekend’s NRGetic Romancer started off in slightly worrying style, as almost nobody was present for Horny’s schranz set..! I must admit that I missed the first half, but he played a very nice selection, including a few mashed up vocal remixes in typical schranz fashion. A few of Betwixt & Between’s older tracks would have fitted in nicely, it was that kind of set – and a nice introduction for me of Horny’s play style. Just a shame that he has to somehow conjure up an atmosphere from an empty dancefloor…

Next up was Cogi, who pre-set was insisting that he didn’t have a clue what tunes to use this time around, but ended up playing an absolute blinder. The selection ranged from slower psychadelic NRG to Alek Szahala Freeform, and he hit upon some absolutely killer combinations this time. His mixing style leans towards longer/complex connections between tunes, which I whole-heartedly agree with, and the highlight for me might have been his mix from Rx’s original Hellfire into Tlaloc, going on for a good couple of minutes and really sounding like a new tune altogether. Other top choices included Hase and Psyfix’s Void of Farthest and a nice range of Finnish classics. Granted, this set was slightly similar to his last performance at NRGetic Romancer, but this really is freeform Djing at its finest.

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Zio plays live online/Hell’s Gate at Studio Cube

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 17, 2008
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Here’s some very exciting news for folk living outside Japan (or outside Tokyo, even) – Zio has started to DJ live online! For various reasons he has been forced to pull out of NRGetic Romancer for a few months now, and so aside from the mid-week (until now!) Hell’s Gate it has been increasingly difficult to hear his sets.

Tuesday saw the first of his practice sets, using the Stickam social networking site. If Zio happens to be playing, the sound should be broadcast immediately, so no need to randomly click on Japanese options, thankfully. Of course, as it’s live, it might be slightly hit-and-miss whether you catch a set/practice session or not (Tuesday saw him play an hour or so, from about 1.30am Japan time), but if he has something more concrete planned, I’ll be sure to post the times up here.

Recently Zio has morphed from the Alek Szahala of Japan into something of a Hardstyle-head, but his practice mix still managed to fit in some dark NRG and freeform (including The Sanctuary and Lagas). He even mixed from Lagas into a Hardstyle tune (!) – and ridiculously it sounded quite good, believe it or not. So, keep an eye on Zio’s profile (and here, too) – hopefully there’ll be some more interesting sets on the way before too long at all.

Some other great Zio-related news is that the next Hell’s Gate is to be held on a Saturday! I was gearing up for a Wednesday event in Shibuya, but the 24th of next month (the day after your writer turns 27, distressingly) will be held at the home of NRGetic Romancer, Studio Cube. No news on the line-up (aside from Zio, hence the tidy new logo above), but plenty of time for that yet.

Alek Szahala – Promo Live Mix @ NRGetic Romancer

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 14, 2008
Posted in: Events, Japanese, Mixes. 1 comment

                                         

I’ll soon have the chance to find out whether my praise for Alek Szahala’s Tokyo set was down to post-event hyperbole or not, as those who make it to NRGetic Romancer on the 19th of next month will receive a promo CD of that mix. All for a mere 2500yen (with flyer/a bit of guestlisting) and a trundle around the Yamanote line? As long as 3 weeks back in Tokyo hasn’t bankrupted me, I’m sure I’ll be able to manage that.

The regulars are all present and correct for the next event, and I swear by the god of schranz that I’ll get there on time to hear Horny’s set. No flyer yet, but as the crew have all been jaunting around Japan for the last couple of weeks, that’s to be expected.

Ravers United Special @ LAB.TRIBE, Kyoto

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 13, 2008
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Here’s the final stop on Arkitech’s tour – at Kyoto’s LAB.TRIBE, next Wednesday. He’s joined once again by DJ Yousuke and Buzzmasta, as well as a clutch of Ravers United regulars. As you can see from the flyer, it’s best to expect a dark, twisted evening of warped freeform – or perhaps glowsticks and tinkly melodies might be more the order of the day, who could possibly say? Something else caught my interest about this event though, the ‘live painting’ by OT29. It’s the first time I’ve heard of something like this (or at least at a hardcore event), but it definitely sounds intriguing. Aside from a couple of flyers though, I can’t seem to find anything related to the artist. Let’s see if anything turns up online after the next week or so…