Two of Tokyo’s leading party promoters, Groove Kitchen and Soul City Industries, are combining forces with dubwise Play Label to launch Euphonic this Sunday. The new party, slated for the freshly relocated and expanded club Core in Roppongi, will feature Detroit force Stacey Pullen as its headlining DJ.

          The party will capture the increasingly international face of club life in Tokyo, with Groove Kitchen and Soul City Industries headed respectively by an American and a Canadian, Play label by an Englishman, and the slate of DJs representing countries from Korea to England.

          While Detroit DJs from Derrick May to Juan Atkins have long been treated as demigods among the techno faithful in Japan, Stacey Pullen is less well-known. Perhaps that’s because he interrupted his career to pursue a college degree, returning to the scene when his Detroit peers had already established themselves.

          Nonetheless, Pullen was soon able to create a name for himself in the ’90s with a slew of releases for prestigious techno imprints like Detroit’s Transmat and Belgium’s R&S, as well as majors BMG, Warner and Virgin. His signature take on the Detroit sound is jazz-centric, finding expression in his first full-length for Transmat, Silent Phase. Subsequent releases have included Electronic Poetry and, most recently, Today Is The Tomorrow You Were Promised Yesterday.

          The party will also feature a full slate of artists from Tokyo-based dub label Play, including Quiro Pro, Khuv, Bongoloid, Spirit Jack and Play A&R man Jeff Hammond’s own unit Quante Jubila. Another Play contributor, veteran techno/house DJ and Sublime artist Susumu Yokota, will be on hand as DJ, as will Soul City Industries' DJs Higherfrequency, Cloud, Takaya and Mono.

          Filling out the Euphonic roster will be Korean techno unit Gazabal, making their Japan debut. Meaning “lobster’s claws” in Korean, Gazabal is comprised of Jin-Won Yi and DJ New-Xuck, who met in New York in 1998 and returned to Korea to pursue a career. They have released a series of aggressive dancefloor tracks for dms Trax/Sony in Korea, as well as supporting Dave Seaman and Timo Maas in Seoul…

          Another upcoming event with an international flavor is Want You, which will be taking place for a third time at the venerable Club Asia in Shibuya. Sounds will range from two-step to house and tribal house, with guest DJ Young Richard from New York conjuring the underground vibes of the Big Apple.

          A veteran resident of legendary New York clubs like Tunnel and Save The Robots, Young Richard relocated to Tokyo a few years ago and has been an active DJ around town since then.

          Speaking with Metropolis, Groove Kitchen’s Marcellus and Young Richard reflected on life as foreigners in Tokyo’s club scene. Both described difficulties in gaining acceptance (using similar off-color references to “kissing behinds”) but seemed to think the effort worthwhile. Marcellus spoke of the problems that come “when we as foreigners try to move out of the club world and into the business sector,” saying, “it’s almost impossible for a foreign guy to make waves unless he has something powerful as a backup, like a strong brand name.” Young Richard, meanwhile, described Japan as being, “slow with new ideas and faces,” but granted that “New York and Tokyo are the same in that respect.”

Euphonic@Club Core, 12/23, 9pm, ¥3500. Tel: 3470-5944. Info: Groove Kitchen 5362-9490. www.groove-kitchen.com