Tom Middleton Photos courtesy of soundofspeed

Two of the prime movers behind Big Chill, Britain' premiere mixed-media club event, festival and record label founder Pete Lawrence and regular Big Chiller Tom Middleton drop into town for a night of chill-out sounds that begins at gallery Idee Tokyo before settling into Blue for the duration of the evening of Mar 28.

In 1994, just about the time the rest of Britain was beginning to suffer withdrawal from the Summer of Love, Pete Lawrence was conjuring up a festival incorporating sound, multimedia, spoken word and dance in an attempt to take up where raves left off. Their goal was "the combination of our multimedia club-based events and stunning natural scenery" to offer "a synthesis of spirituality and hedonism."

The Big Chill soon acquired a life of its own, with last year's Enchanted Garden event attracting an audience of 5000 and The Guardian enthusing, "The Big Chill are Britain's premier youth culture and arts specialists." Among the new music messiahs associated with the Big Chill have been names such as Talvin Singh, Coldcut, Gilles Peterson, Hefner and many more.

Pete Lawrence

In its first Japan event, Big Chill founder Pete Lawrence will offer up a different style of DJing, "less concerned with beat-matching and flashy flipping of the crossfade," says his online biography. His 1996 debut album Eyelid Movies was Mixmag's album of the month, and was described by Melody Maker as, "an album that brings sunshine inside your head." His most recent album is Chilled By Nature, and his DJing has brought him to Europe, Australasia and the US, and even Yakutsk, Siberia.

Tom Middleton, meanwhile, has been with the Big Chill since its inception. Having worked with Aphex Twin, deep house stylist Middleton has just released the album, A Jedi's Night Out for Mixmag.

Accompanying Lawrence and Middleton in live sets will be DJs ebz and koss, the driving forces behind soundofspeed, the party promoter/record label organizing the Big Chill's Japan tour.

Big Chill prologue caffe+gallery: Idee Tokyo, 3/28, 6-11pm, JY2000 w/1d. Tel: 03-3409-6744. Big Chill: Blue, 3/28, 10pm-5am, JY2500 w/1d. Tel: 03-3797-1591.