Takkyu Ishino Photos courtesy of Odyssey

Leading techno mischief maker Takkyu Ishino and his clever electropop unit Denki Groove return with the third edition of Wire next Saturday at Yokohama Arena. Since launching in 1999, the event has grown into the country’s biggest indoor rave, with some 10,000 dance fanatics grooving to a mixture of Japanese, American and European acts.
This year’s Wire will feature some familiar faces from past years, as well as some acts that are mostly unknown to audiences in Japan.

First in the lineup are Takkyu Ishino and Denki Groove, the unit he formed with Pierre Taki. Denki Groove celebrates ten years of existence this year and has just released a new album, The Last Supper, on Sony Ki/oon. Influenced by the quirky, mechanistic sounds of German groups like Kraftwerk, Denki Groove has been phenomenally successful in Europe and repay the favor by promoting German techno in Japan.

For these reasons, they are again inviting leading German techno figures Westbam and DJ Hell to perform at Wire. Credited with founding Berlin’s notorious Love Parade, Westbam has been behind their anthems “Sonic Empire” and “Sunshine.” DJ Hell, meanwhile, fuses the rigid minimalism of Detroit techno with house’s softer edges on tracks such as “Dans Le Parc.”

Fumiya Tanaka

Other familiar faces include DJ Jeff Mills, a frequent visitor to Tokyo and one of the leading purveyors of the minimalist Detroit sound, and Fumiya Tanaka, whose vision runs from Detroit to more experimental, abstract techno.

Among the less familiar acts, Belgium’s C.J. Bolland is an acknowledged maestro of techno but an infrequent visitor to Japan. Initially specializing in hard-edged rave tracks, he has released softer techno anthems such as “Horsepower” and “Sugar Is Sweeter,” in addition to remixing work for acts such as Orbital and the Prodigy.

Also less well-known in Japan are Ural 13 Diktators from Helsinki. Led by Patrick Crowley, the group is at the forefront of the take-no-prisoners, high BPM NRG style popular in Northern Europe.

Rounding out the bill is Secret Cinema from Rotterdam, who will be playing live, and DJs Tasaka from Tokyo and Monika Kruse from Berlin.

For those with stamina, a Wire01 pre-party will take place at Liquid Room on Friday night, with popular Tokyo DJs Toby and Kagami, as well as special guests Steve Bug and Cle from Berlin.

Wire01 takes place at Yokohama Arena on Sept 8. See concert listings for details.