Courtesy of Brand New Made

Tokyo dance label Lifeline Records and associated promoter Brand New Made kick into action this spring with a tour by Detroit deep-house DJ Alton Miller and his diva of choice, singer Dorothea Lynn Sharon, on May 28 at club Core in Roppongi.

Also known by the moniker Aphrodisiac, Alton Miller grew up listening to Motown, Earth, Wind & Fire and the sounds of disco before breaking into the burgeoning Chicago house and Detroit techno music scenes.

Meeting Detroit techno legend Derrick May in 1984, Miller was deeply influenced to develop his own DJ skills. Soon he became part-owner of the epicenter of the techno movement, The Music Institute.

In the late ' Miller also took up conga drumming, becoming accompanist for the Afro-Haitian-influenced Katherine Dunham dance company, an experience which was to inject a tribal sensibility to his DJing.

Once again hooking up with Derrick May, Miller entered a period of development as an employee of May's Transmat Records, and DJ touring as Aphrodisiac. The critical acclaim generated from his first release, "dusk" (Serious Grooves), in 1993 has led to DJ appearances all over the world.

Miller and singer Dorothea Lynn Sharon have recorded a new song, "Glory" especially for the Japan tour, to be issued on Lifeline Records. Also appearing will be Tokyo house DJ Ryuji.

In other news, a new bilingual website collecting fliers for parties in the Kanto area has gone online. Sensibly named digi-flyer.com, the site presents a database of some 500 different upcoming events at the 200 clubs and bars in the Kanto region, searchable by club, DJ, date, area and genre. The site also includes club location maps, with a DJ database coming soon. Digi-flyer.com says their service will soon be available on mobile phone Internet systems.

Alton Miller Japan Tour 2000: Core, 5/28, 10pm, JY3000, JY2500 (w/flier) w/1d. Info: 03-3470-5944.

www.digi-flyer.com