by Don Crispy

Son of a LOUD

UA

What happens when you put a dozen or so of Japan's most free-thinking, progressive-minded young musicians and singers on stage together without any game plan at all and let them go at it? Such seems to be the thinking behind Son of a LOUD, an event slated for Liquid Room next Friday.

The gig takes its moniker from the recent album of the same name and is the brainchild of DJ/producer Mai Fujinoya, founder of Cemetery Records. Since releasing his first Son of a LOUD album last year, Fujinoya has set a new standard for eclecticism, weaving everything from samples from yakuza films to Hungarian throat singing into his cut 'n' scratch sonic collages.

Fujinoya also seems to be in tight with the crme de la crme of Japan's experimental music scene and has cobbled together a bill that, among others, brings together maniacal singer for avant-garde legends the Boredoms and sometimes DJ Eye, with singer/actress UA, who is capable of assuming roles ranging from house diva to performance art vocalist. Fujinoya will direct the pair and a motley cast of a dozen or so other musicians, DJs and video artists in an improvisational soundclash whose results cannot be predicted...

Meanwhile, Japanese techno veterans Ken Ishii and Yama of Sublime Records welcome Belgian DJ Fabrice Lig, aka Soul Designer, next Saturday to French outpost in Shibuya La Fabrique in another installment of their long-running Reel Up parties.

A DJ since the age of 16, Lig became a part of Detroit techno history when his remix for Kevin Saunderson made him the first white producer to record on the mythical Detroit label KMS. Lig is also the first Belgian artist to have remixed Laurent Garnier (on the single "Greed") and one of the few whose releases are sold all around the world. Under the Soul Designer moniker, he also became the first artist from Belgium to be signed to Garnier's influential F Communication imprint. Soul Designer EPs are praised by DJs for their deep electro, melodic and minimal techno tracks that indicate his strong Detroit background...

Finally, Saturday night in Shibuya will also see one of London's hottest current DJs behind the decks at Womb (which has just renovated its upstairs VIP lounge, appropriately named Ovum) as part of the superclub's freeform W parties.

Resident at premiere London club Fabric's Tyrant nights, Lee Burridge reached the rarified air of England's top DJ ranks the roundabout way. Launching his career in 1986, Burridge relocated to Hong Kong, where he spent the next six years as the man on the ground for Ministry, Cream, etc, as well as spinning at Thai party isle Koh Pangan's infamous Full Moon parties.

Returning to England in 1997, Burridge founded Tyrant with Sasha and Craig Richards, captivating clubbers with sounds ranging from progressive and tech-house to breakbeats. He arrives in Tokyo with fresh vinyl in the form of the just-released second album in his 24/7 mix compilation series.

Son of a LOUD@Liquid Room, 10/24, 9pm, ¥3,500 (adv), ¥4,000 (door). Tel: 03-3200-6831.

Reel Up@La Fabrique, 10/25, 11pm, ¥3,000. Tel: 03-5459-3939.

W@Womb, 10/25, 11pm, ¥4,000. Tel: 03-5428-5100.

credit: Liquid Room