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CD
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WF 004CD
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21st Century galactic samurai artists Tokyo Black Star present Fantasy Live 1999. Tokyo Black Star are a trio led by New York-based international DJ Alex from Tokyo; Tokyo-based sound engineer and music producer Isao Kumano; and "man of mystery", analog equipment and otaku musician Kenichi Takagi. Working from a unique and primarily Japanese perspective, Alex and Isao have been working together on music (and audio products) since the beginning of this century, first on remixes and tracks for compilations and later on EPs (their Psyche Dance EP was the first ever release on Dixon and Ame's Berlin based Innervisions imprint back in 2005) and even a highly respected line of high-end headphones and audio equipment with Phonon. Their first full album (still as a duo) Black Ships (IV 003CD, 2009), was released by Innervisions as well. After touring live in Japan and in Europe the duo started to look at new directions. Kenichi joined bringing another level of analog expertise (especially with his self-made modular synth) making his first official appearance on record on the debut World Famous label release, Edo Express EP. Edo Express EP received a rave review at NPR for an atypical track - the Afro-inspired "Mitokomon". Since then the trio's ship has advanced through the galaxy, absorbing and translating influences from around the solar system and beyond. The trio are back with Fantasy Live 1999 a very special "voyage sonore" in their true retro-futuristic style. For the visual side of this album they have teamed up with their long-time collaborator, the New York based Japanese artist Tomokazu Matsuyama who has been creating the Tokyo Black Star visual identity since their first release. In the spirit of long-form masterpieces like Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4 (1984), Fantasy Live 1999 is an epic forty-minute long meditative live audio painting for your "mind, body & soul" sound-tracking the beautiful psychedelic mix of colors that is Matsuyama's stunning cover painting. Conceived between 1999 and 2015, the genesis for the album and the source of its title is the fact it was started one legendary crazy night when the band tape-recorded an impromptu live performance at a basement bar in the groovy Shimokitazawa neighborhood in Tokyo where Alex used to live. The finished album is a result of further sessions recorded at Kenichi's studio in Tokyo and mixed at the Phonon studio in Tokyo in the summer of 2015.
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12"
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IV 025EP
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After the release of their album Black Ships, Tokyo Black Star return to Innervisions with this great 12". "Caballero" is a tune from the album with a brand-new mix-down by Andreas Schorpp and Âme. This turns it into a powerful dancefloor weapon for the Space Lab Night at the sadly gone Club Yellow in Tokyo. Radio Slave delivers a fantastic remix that adds an exotic, more cosmic-sounding touch to the repetitive and hypnotic patterns he is known for.
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CD
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IV 003CD
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This is the debut full-length release by Tokyo Black Star. Black Ships is led by a team of production warriors: world-traveling French DJ Alex From Tokyo is based between Tokyo and New York, armed with his high-grade receptor antennae, and his partner, Isao Kumano, operates from his studio-base in Tokyo as a multi-talented, high-profile engineer and sound producer specializing in all musical aspects from mixing to mastering. As Tokyo Black Star, their ship has advanced through the galaxy, meeting fellow travellers along the way. Their encounter with Dixon influenced the start of his label Innervisions, their love of art led them to NYC-based, rising Japanese new generation painter Tomokazu Matsuyama, who produced this album's beautiful artwork, and their need for the word cast the voice of poet Rich Medina as album storyteller, lending his distinctive, deep voice to one of the characters in this story. Black Ships is not only Tokyo Black Star's nonfiction travel diary, it is also the supreme tale of traveling through the world of imagination -- an ultimate, brilliantly-executed electronic dance music novel within the modern, club-oriented electronic dance music genre. This is neat, ultra-modern slickness that encompasses electro-beat, tribal rhythms, jazz squawks, nervous disco, and so much more. The journey of the imagination begins with the exalted feeling of departure, sometimes steady, but also sometimes facing navigation trouble. There are climaxes, denouements, and voyages within voyages. This is the sound of distant ports, of pirates surfing waves of static, and space stations humming along on some far away galaxy.
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12"
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IV 019EP
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This is the first EP from Tokyo Black Star's upcoming full-length. Inspired by Yellow Magic Orchestra, the Japanese electronic music pioneers. The B-side is a housey Loco Dice remix of "Game Over," similar to his remix of Dennis Ferrer's "Son Of Raw."
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12"
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IV 012EP
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"This EP is reflecting the different cultural influences of Alex from Tokyo. Being French, growing up in Tokyo and living in New York leads one to this diverse music. The title track 'Still Sequence' is remixed by Âme and Dixon and is focused on the killer groove of the original."
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