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Mitte
A young artists’ collective
gives clubbing a Tokyo twist;
Womb gets Yuk-y
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| Dance group Meisai |
| Courtesy of Mitte |
There’s plenty that makes clubbing in Japan unique: fewer haughty doormen turning away the underdressed or punters asleep in stairwells, let alone the fact that not everyone is on ecstasy. But as most will understand, from the music to the fashion, Japanese clubbing tends to be highly derivative of European and US models.
“Honestly, we think that events in Japan lack originality,” says Mayumi Hoshino of young multidisciplinary arts collective Mitte. “So we want to bring together innovative artists and present a fresh style of club entertainment that shows a new Tokyo style culture.”
The group centers around dance act Meisai, a duo formed by Naoshi and Tomoya, who met the other DJs, VJs, artists and designers of Mitte at clubs around Tokyo. Performing at marquee events like the Fuji Rock Festival and techno rave Wire, Meisai (“Camouflage”) have a distinctive, futuristic look and a dance esthetic that resembles breakdancing but with bouncier movements set to up-tempo techno beats.
Music comes from a trio of DJs, including hard house spinner DJ Keita, formerly resident of much mourned club Simoon’s “Envol!” events, and Yugo Takino, who’ll be presenting a live set of nu-skool breaks. VJs include Flapper3, the winner of a number
of VJ contests in Tokyo, who last year collaborated with some of the group’s producers on a Meisai Video Project, while artist Imaone mixes paintings with photos.
The event will also feature a live djembe percussion performance and a fashion show of recent works by young designer Yoshiyuki, whose mission is to reinvent traditional Japanese images like kanji and carp as part of a confident new cyberpunk Tokyo couture...
Meanwhile, resident expat English DJ Dave Twomey celebrates the first anniversary of his Thursday night Yuk bashes with a special edition at Womb. Holding to the maxim that “Thursday is the new Friday,” Twomey’s events have been providing a midweek shot in the arm to Tokyo clubbing for a year now, no mean feat in a city where “working for the weekend” seems to be the standard MO.
For the upcoming Yuk, Twomey has called in special techno firepower in the form
of Touane, aka Marco Tonni. Berlin resident Tonni releases cutting edge tracks on labels like Persona Records, and counts among his fans the likes of heavyweights Sven Vaeth and Ricardo Villalobos. Live art and performances and additional DJ sets by Womb’s resident breakbeats crew Techriders, among others, will enliven the proceedings.
Neo Tokyo Mitte@Club Asia, Feb 11. Yuk 1st Anniversary@Womb, Feb 15. See club listings for details.
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