Japanese electronic dance music has rapidly grown in popularity in recent years. It’s now become a part of daily life in Japan and has increasingly reached many clubbers all over the world. Probably one of the main reasons that it’s become so popular is due to the many talented young musicians who’ve been influenced by it since they were young. These young musicians are able to take the basic ideas of breakcore and create completely unique and powerful musical journeys.
The breakcore genre, more popularly known as ‘techno’, was first formed in the early 1990s in the country of Japan. At this point breakcore artists included such famous names as Alex Talking, Kyu Sakamoto and Taku Yonezawa. Their talents soon began to be noticed around the world and their popularity increased. They soon began to feature in numerous international DJ mixes and broke into the top ten on the ‘Best UK Music Charts’ in 1996.
The breakcore artists of today are generally described as producers that create dark and complex tracks with complex drum beats. They usually start with a simple drum loop, but from there add a number of additional instruments, such as percussive sounds and digital effects. They then take their original sound and expand on it using additional hardware and samples. This results in a highly stylized electronic music that is hard to categorize. Each artist works in his or her own style, and this results in a wide variety of potential musical styles.
Some of the most popular Japanese breakcore artists include Kyu Sakamata and Taku Yonezawa. Recently, Kyu Sakamata has been producing and travels to the United States to perform. In fact, he is now one of the most well-known and sought-after Japanese DJs and producers in the country. He has also opened several clubs and residencies in New York and Los Angeles. As well as producing his own music, he has performed and worked with a large number of other artists, providing them with extensive drum programming and looping abilities.
Taku Yonezawa is another well-known Japanese breakcore artist. He is originally from the town of Sendai, in Japan’s north island. His drum programming is distinctive, and he has won a number of awards, including a platinum award for his work with Kyu Sakamata. In addition to being a versatile producer and performer, Taku travels frequently throughout the world performing live. As well as creating and performing with his own band, he has also played with a number of other renowned DJs and artists, including those linked to the Japanese techno scene.
One of the most well-known Japanese breakcore artists is the elusive DJ Hi-Tech. While many people have heard his music on the Japanese television and in magazines as a part of a segment featuring international artists, very few have actually heard hi-tech play. This is perhaps due to the relatively recent birth of his music group, the Layers. Since their formation in 2020, Hi-Tech has released a wide range of music, most notably, the hit album “Reinvented.”
A relatively new and less well-known breakcore artist is Hidehiko Yamane. Yamane started playing electric drum programming as a teenager and developed a liking for the style of breakcore that was showcased on Japanese national television. Since then he has gained popularity in the US and UK and is now well-known in Japan where he is well-regarded as a DJ. Although he is not well-know in the West, he does have a fan base in Japan and a large number of his fans are from the country.
These two breakcore artists are just a few of many Japanese electronic artists that are making waves on the world circuit. It is safe to say that breakcore represents a new and exciting approach to what can be called “the new Japanese style,” which takes elements of hip-hop and techno while presenting them in a new way. Japanese producers such as Hi-Tech, Hidehiko Yamane, and DJ Jazzy Jeff are not afraid to showcase some of today’s more eccentric electronic sounds in their performances, and this has led to their popularity in North America. For these reasons and more, the Japanese electronic scene continues to blossom.
