Zainichi Korean musician (born 1964)
Towa Tei
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![Towa Tei in 2007](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/TeiTowaJI1.jpg/220px-TeiTowaJI1.jpg) Towa Tei in 2007
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Also known as
| Sweet Robots Against the Machine
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Born
| (
1964-09-07
)
September 7, 1964
(age 59)
Yokohama
, Japan
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Origin
| Tokyo
, Japan
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Genres
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Occupation(s)
| |
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Instrument(s)
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Labels
| Elektra
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Musical artist
Towa Tei
(
鄭 東和
,
Tei T?wa
, born September 7, 1964)
is a Japanese artist,
record producer
, and
DJ
. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa was a member of
Deee-Lite
, from the US
label
Elektra Records
in 1990 and shot to fame via their international
hit single
, "
Groove Is In the Heart
". He made his solo debut with the album
Future Listening!
in 1994. He has since relocated from New York to rural
Nagano prefecture
in Japan.
[1]
Towa's second studio album,
Sound Museum
(1997), became his highest charting effort at number 17 on the
Oricon
charts. Its single, "
GBI (German Bold Italic)
" featuring
Kylie Minogue
and
Haruomi Hosono
, reached number 50 and 63 in Australia and the United Kingdom, respectively. He saw continued success with 1999's
Last Century Modern
as its single, "
Let Me Know
" featuring
Chara
, peaked at number 34 in Japan, his highest entry.
Towa has collaborated with
Ryuichi Sakamoto
,
Yukihiro Takahashi
,
Akiko Yano
,
Ringo Sheena
, and
Arto Lindsay
, among others. His concept party, "Hotel H", started in 2009 as a social spot for music industry people in Tokyo.
[2]
Biography
[
edit
]
Towa is a third-generation
Korean-Japanese
.
[3]
[4]
Towa began making demo tapes at the age of 16 having bought his first synthesizer, a
Korg MS-10
. While studying at
Musashino Art University
Junior College of Art and Design, he sent his tape to a radio program of
Ryuichi Sakamoto
titled
Sound Street
.
In 1987, Towa moved to the U.S. to study graphic design and joined house act
Deee-Lite
, a trio with Supa DJ Dimitry and
Lady Miss Kier
, enjoying almost instant success after debuting in 1990 with their album
World Clique
and the single "
Groove Is In the Heart
".
In 1991, Towa collaborated with his idol
Ryuichi Sakamoto
on Sakamoto's album
Heartbeat
. He also appeared on Sakamoto's follow up album
Sweet Revenge
.
In 1994, Towa returned to Japan after seven years in New York.
[1]
He sustained a back injury falling from a stage during a performance with Deee-Lite in Brazil. While recovering, he began to drift toward other musical styles.
[5]
[6]
He debuted as a solo act with
Future Listening!
that same year, incorporating an array of styles, including electronic, bossa nova, house, jazz and pop. It featured collaborations with
Joi Cardwell
,
Bebel Gilberto
,
MC Kinky
,
Hiroshi Takano
,
Ryuichi Sakamoto
,
Haruomi Hosono
,
Toshihiko Mori
,
Satoshi Tomiie
,
Yuichi Oki
of
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
and
Pizzicato Five
vocalist
Maki Nomiya
.
Sound Museum
followed in 1997, then
Last Century Modern
in 1999. 2002 brought the album
Towa Tei
, under the pseudonym
Sweet Robots Against the Machine
.
Flash
surfaced in 2005
[1]
by which time Towa was DJing regularly in Japan. He has admitted, though, that he does not enjoy performing and prefers producing and using computers.
[1]
Big Fun
, featuring
Verbal
and
Mademoiselle Yulia
, was released in 2009 and was the third album to feature the artwork of San Franciscan painter and
graffiti artist
Barry McGee
.
[1]
For the album, Towa utilized
MySpace
to collaborate with artists from around the world, even if he didn't know them, such as with German act Taprikk Sweezee.
[1]
Another collaborator he worked with for
Big Fun
was
Miho Hatori
of
Cibo Matto
, though they also met only on MySpace.
[1]
Towa has established his own creative company, hug inc, which, among other things, manufactures his trademark sunglasses.
[1]
Discography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Robert Michael Poole (February 19, 2009).
"Towa Tei wallows in optimism for art's sake"
.
The Japan Times
. Archived from
the original
on February 15, 2009
. Retrieved
May 6,
2011
.
- ^
"Oops-music.com"
. Oops-music.com. Archived from
the original
on July 27, 2011
. Retrieved
December 21,
2011
.
- ^
McClure, Steve (July 5, 2000).
"Towa Tei Finds Solo Success as a DJ-Producer : Life After Deee-Lite"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on August 29, 2017
. Retrieved
August 29,
2017
.
- ^
Levinson, Hugh (November 14, 2002).
"Korea's pop diplomacy"
. BBC News.
Archived
from the original on December 1, 2017
. Retrieved
November 22,
2017
.
- ^
Hadfield, James (May 18, 2011).
"Towa Tei: The Interview"
.
Time Out Tokyo
. Archived from
the original
on August 4, 2011
. Retrieved
July 8,
2011
.
- ^
Smith, Dakota (May 7, 1998).
"Towa Tei's Music On Display In
Sound Museum
"
.
MTV News
.
Archived
from the original on October 13, 2018
. Retrieved
December 10,
2018
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Studio albums
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Remix albums
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Singles
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Related topics
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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