Takkyu Ishino

Primarily identified through his contributions to the techno-pop outfit Denki Groove, Takkyu Ishino has built a parallel profile in recent years as a sought-after techno DJ and remixer with a growing European following. Placing the group’s 1993 release Vitamin beside his contemporaneous rework of Pizzicato Five’s “Twiggy Twiggy” reveals a telling contrast: the latter strips the track to repeated title chants over a throbbing, shape-shifting techno backbone. While Ishino supplies the rhythmic drive behind Vitamin, he leaves its pop sensibility untouched; on “Twiggy Twiggy,” by contrast, he operates without any nod to commercial expectations.

Back in 1990 he joined forces with high-school acquaintance Pierre Taki to launch the brief project Zinsei, which expanded into Denki Groove once additional members joined. The group achieved its breakthrough via Vitamin in 1993 and Dragon the following year, then paused activities in 1995 so members could pursue individual work. Ishino used that interval to debut Dove Loves Dub, a fusion of techno textures with ambient passages and breakbeats. Greater notice arrived with the DJ mix album Mix Up, Vol. 1, which demonstrated to Europe’s techno community that Japan could originate forward-moving techno rather than merely replicate existing styles. That recognition eventually placed him behind the decks at Berlin’s Love Parade, among the earliest Japanese artists to receive the invitation. In 1998 he founded the Loopa imprint to issue both his own productions and those of others, followed in 2001 by the album Karaoke Jack.