Nobukazu Takemura

Nobukazu Takemura, the Kyoto-based producer, followed an unusual route despite his origins in club culture. He first appeared in the mid-'80s as a hip-hop DJ after encountering the Japanese portion of the landmark Wild Style tour, an event widely recognized for bringing hip-hop to Japan. His brief period as a battle DJ gave way in the late '80s to work behind the mixing desk, and within a few years he issued tracks on Mo'Wax, Lollop, and Bungalow under the names DJ Takemura and Spiritual Vibes. These pieces, nominally trip-hop and acid jazz, stood out for their extensive live instrumentation and elevated production standards relative to most bedroom producers of the time. Concurrently he joined Yamatsuka Eye of the Boredoms and Aki Onda in Audio Sports; the trio released Era of Glittering Gas before Onda assumed sole leadership of the project in 1992. By the mid-'90s Warner Japan had signed him as a solo artist, and his recordings under the Child's View alias or his own name gradually merged hip-hop, jazz, pop, drum'n'bass, and post-classical elements. The 1996 remix album Child's View Remix, which included Aphex Twin, Coldcut, and Wagon Christ among its contributors, reflected his widening interest in experimental corners of dance music. With the 1997 LP Child & Magic, steadier dance rhythms receded almost entirely, replaced by experimental computer music and explicit references to minimalist composers such as Terry Riley and Steve Reich; the tracks paired cycling flute, percussion, and bell patterns with the glitch-driven interruptions associated with Oval and Ryoji Ikeda. Two further releases of the period, Funfair on the American Bubble Core label and Milano on Warner Japan, confirmed the new orientation; the latter was originally created for a fashion presentation by the popular Japanese designer Issey Miyake. After performing in Japan with the American post-rock band Tortoise, Takemura secured an arrangement with their label Thrill Jockey, and 1999 brought the release of Scope, preceded by the “Meteor” 12", his most abstract and challenging work to date. The album bore only the faintest resemblance to earlier material, consisting of a rapid swirl of digital static, off-kilter bell patterns, distorted vocal samples, and CD skips. Takemura’s remixes likewise range widely, covering Tortoise, indie pop singer Takako Minekawa, junglist Roni Size, and Steve Reich. The year 2001 proved especially active: winter brought the EP Sign, featuring members of Tortoise, Brokeback, and Isotope 217, while spring saw the Child’s View album Hoshi No Koe. Output continued to rise over the next two years as he alternated experimental Thrill Jockey releases with more obscure projects for his own Childisc label and indie mainstay Bubblecore.