Who is next? Boogie Mann has been around in Japan’s juke community, even offering something approaching mainstream awareness a couple years back. But now here is a chance for more international exposure, via Traxman’s label Tekk DJZ. Who Is Next offers four sturdy tracks showcasing one of the Japanese scene’s most vital creators. The title…
Half of this entry should be relatively self-explanatory — these are albums that, for various reasons, just missed our final cut. All of them are worth your listening time, and them falling just outside of the top 30 really shows just how much good music came out of Japan. The other, though, is a bit…
Prolific Chicago juke producer Traxman was one of the most influential figures in inspiring Japan’s own juke scene, having toured the country early on and appearing on releases by artists such as Paisley Parks. An even larger meeting makes sense then, and Trax Of The Rising Sun – Traxman Vs Japanese Juke delivers. It can…
I was thinking the other day about the trajectory of musical trends, especially after it was announced Tatsuro Yamashita and Takeuchi Mariya were writing a song for Arashi. It’s a moment that signifies the whole City Pop revival thing has reached a certain peak — not because the sound present on that song is even…
It’s a bit misleading to look at “Future Running” as “juke going mainstream in Japan,” even if it feels like a significant step forward. Tavito Nanao has a bit of cred for sure, but he’s hardly an Oricon staple, more of an artsy outsider capable of hovering around the rim of mainstream Japanese. Anyway, that…