Tokyo's Coolest Sound

On Sunday, I finally got to see an artist I had been wanting to see for about 15 years, ever since I got "Cloudy Cloud Calculator"! That's right, Takako Minekawa is back this year as a new unit with Baltimore-based guitarist Dustin Wong. Their album "Toropical Circle" has been announced for release on May 15, and they're doing some shows ahead of it.

So on March 24 was their so called "proper debut live" in Mineko's homeland, held at Soup in Ochiai, on the edge of Shinjuku and Nakano wards. They had invited indies band Living Astro as the opening act. The event was sold out without over-crowding the small venue.

I had seen Living Astro before at a "Farm Party" event organized by Tokyo Gig Guide (report), and it was fun to see them again. Members Guacamole K (girl) and Dokkun (boy) both play Korg Electribe sequencers, not synced together by anything but the two's great complicity. On top of that both also use samplers, and bass and guitar. Songs are very short, and their end is always indicated by Guacamole K's small bow and a shy laugh. They played about a dozen of them, all stuffed with creativity.

Then came the greatly awaited new band. The simple set had a stand on which were a Korg microSAMPLER synth facing Takako, and a Kawai R-50 III beatbox towards Dustin. At their feet were about 10 pedals, and a large number of tangly cables. The first minutes were enough to reveal the kind of sounds the two have been preparing. The base is made of Dustin's guitar loops, layered in a similar way to his latest album "Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads". Takako plays phrases on her keyboard and sings, most of which is also looped. The overall sound has a playful and cute tone that shouldn't disappoint her longtime fans, at least it made me really happy. Many of the loops don't stick to 4/4, rather making the listener forget about pop music rules.

I lost track of time, but the show must have went on for close to an hour, and I believe they played most of the upcoming album. Some song titles I could pick up were "I Want to be with You", "Two Acorns' dreams Growing as One", "Bell Tree Dancers", "New Circle was Begun", all of which are songs from the album. However they even played a new song written just two days before the show! Before anyone asks, none of Takako's older songs were played, but the show felt fine and complete that way.

After an unprepared encore of two songs, there was a first screening of a self-made music video for song "Party on a Floating Cake", an animation of paintings (similar to the album's artwork) and cloud photos. Hopefully the video will soon be online for you to see and hear!

Well it's really a wonderful thing that Takako is back on stage, and I hope there will be lots more to come! I'm also glad to have got this introduction to Dustin's music. Now I can't wait to get the album and listen to more of this.

Larger sizes and more photos at Flickr

Live info:

Takako Minekawa & Dustin Wong

4/16 - at Kichimu, Kichijōji (Tokyo Gig Guide)
5/26 - Release party, w/ Dustin Wong solo & more, at O-nest, Shibuya (Tokyo Gig Guide)

Dustin Wong solo tour

4/10 - w/ Yukawa Shione, jan (GREAT3) at tsukimiru kimiomou, Aoyama
5/18 - at epok, Osaka
5/19 - at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
5/20 - at K.D Japon, Nagoya

"Party on a Floating Cake"