Biography
Tujiko Noriko, a Japanese singer, songwriter and filmmaker residing in Paris, began issuing experimental pop albums in the early 2000s that paired bittersweet melodies sung in Japanese and English with glitchy, downtempo electronics and electro-acoustic arrangements. Acclaim greeted her initial efforts Shojo Toshi (2001) and From Tokyo to Naiagara (2003), drawing listeners from both IDM and indie pop circles. Among her partners in experimental electronic music are Peter Rehberg (under the DACM moniker), Lawrence English and Nobukazu Takemura. After completing experimental short films across her career, she produced her debut full-length instrumental soundtrack, Kuro, in 2019. The double album of expansive ambient music Crépuscule I & II followed in 2023.
Born in Osaka in 1976, she issued her primarily self-composed first album, Keshou to Heitai (Make-Up and Soldier), in Japan in 2000. Mego, the Austrian experimental label, presented her international debut Shojo Toshi in 2001, at that point the imprint’s most accessible offering. In 2002 the same label brought out the EP I Forgot the Title (drawn from the debut plus one live track), the full-length Hard Ni Sasete (Make Me Hard) and Showroom Dummies, the DACM collaboration with Rehberg. Tomlab released From Tokyo to Naiagara, a collection of melancholic pop songs described as beautiful and heartbreaking, in 2003. Asphodel issued Stéréotypie, the second DACM album, the next year.
The year 2005 saw multiple joint projects: 28 with glitch artist Aoki Takamasa on FatCat, Blurred in My Mirror on Room40 featuring Lawrence English and Aki Onda among others, the RATN album J with Riow Arai, and the Portradium EP Melancholic Beat. Editions Mego reissued Shojo Toshi on CD in 2006, appending the tracks from I Forgot the Title; Solo appeared on the label in 2007. Nature Bliss issued the remix-heavy Trust in 2008, while Room40 released U, recorded with English and John Chantler.
Following several years devoted to her family, Tujiko reemerged in 2012 with GYU, credited to Tyme. x Tujiko and made with Tatsuya Yamada, alongside East Facing Balcony, a project with Nobukazu Takemura. My Ghost Comes Back, featuring Maxwell August Croy and Martin Brandlmayr, arrived in 2014. She appeared on AGF’s 2015 digital single “I Am: New Woman.” In 2019 she co-directed, starred in and scored the film Kuro, whose soundtrack PAN subsequently released. Surge, a score composed with Paul Davies, surfaced in 2022. Editions Mego issued Crépuscule I & II in 2023; the solo album, which contains several lengthy ambient pieces, was dedicated to the label’s late founder Rehberg.
Born in Osaka in 1976, she issued her primarily self-composed first album, Keshou to Heitai (Make-Up and Soldier), in Japan in 2000. Mego, the Austrian experimental label, presented her international debut Shojo Toshi in 2001, at that point the imprint’s most accessible offering. In 2002 the same label brought out the EP I Forgot the Title (drawn from the debut plus one live track), the full-length Hard Ni Sasete (Make Me Hard) and Showroom Dummies, the DACM collaboration with Rehberg. Tomlab released From Tokyo to Naiagara, a collection of melancholic pop songs described as beautiful and heartbreaking, in 2003. Asphodel issued Stéréotypie, the second DACM album, the next year.
The year 2005 saw multiple joint projects: 28 with glitch artist Aoki Takamasa on FatCat, Blurred in My Mirror on Room40 featuring Lawrence English and Aki Onda among others, the RATN album J with Riow Arai, and the Portradium EP Melancholic Beat. Editions Mego reissued Shojo Toshi on CD in 2006, appending the tracks from I Forgot the Title; Solo appeared on the label in 2007. Nature Bliss issued the remix-heavy Trust in 2008, while Room40 released U, recorded with English and John Chantler.
Following several years devoted to her family, Tujiko reemerged in 2012 with GYU, credited to Tyme. x Tujiko and made with Tatsuya Yamada, alongside East Facing Balcony, a project with Nobukazu Takemura. My Ghost Comes Back, featuring Maxwell August Croy and Martin Brandlmayr, arrived in 2014. She appeared on AGF’s 2015 digital single “I Am: New Woman.” In 2019 she co-directed, starred in and scored the film Kuro, whose soundtrack PAN subsequently released. Surge, a score composed with Paul Davies, surfaced in 2022. Editions Mego issued Crépuscule I & II in 2023; the solo album, which contains several lengthy ambient pieces, was dedicated to the label’s late founder Rehberg.
Albums
Crépuscule I & II
2023
My Ghost Comes Back
2014
Trust
2008
U
2008
Solo
2007
Blurred In My Mirror
2005
From Tokyo To Naiagara
2003
Make Me Hard
2002
Shojo Toshi+
2001
Singles
