Antennasia first hit the Tokyo club scene in 1999. Founded by programmer nerve and vocalist san. Their sound takes form gradually and they get recognized in the down-tempo community with their early two albums in the CD-R format and their works get marked no.1 in Japans internet charts, steadily spreading overseas in forums and webzines. Still with a decent dash of dub and triphop beats, antennasia released “Phased” in 2002 from Double Life Records, this time on international scale, leading to the single “Mamma, Mamma” getting airplay in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Followed some radio and paper interviews, and a tour in Belgium and Holland in 2003 as well as in 2004, where antennasia appeared on festivals, sharing the bill with Sven Van Hees, Vive La Fte to name a few. As a consequence, antennasia won many hearts and, back home, received features in numerous paper magazines. Meanwhile their 4th album “Cinemice” was released in 2005. In a blend of deep electronics sound, dub and jazz, san’s vocal became more soulful and individual. In 2005, antennasia supported the Lemongrass & Weathertunes live in Yokohama, it brought them the opportunity that their songs appear on Lemongrassmusic’s compilations. Also Ryuichi Sakamoto picked up their new songs for his Radio Sakamoto. Being nominated and played on the program many times up to the present. antennasia’s most successful album so far “23 Bluebird Street, Velo-City” was released in 2006 from forestnauts records. Ryuichi Sakamoto made a comment for the album : This is the music that I can be extremely relaxed to. It might be pop, and by arranging it can be danceable. I want them to make more music. I think they are a unit with a bright future. Derrick May says about the song “Sorrow (version about me)” from the same album : Sounds Beautiful. Sounds like Erykah Badu. I like it, it’s good! Good song. Recently, world famous producers/DJ’s like DJ3000, Rob Smith, Embee, Lemongrass etc. remix antennasia’s songs and their first remix album “Velo-City : remixed” was released in Nov 2008 in Japan. antennasia is also working on collaborations with many musicians all over the world.
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Reviewed by - John Dunphy

Some albums just feel so good, so cool, you can’t help but feel good while listening to them.

Emancipator’s Soon It Will Be Cold Enough is such an album. Incorporating hints of jazz, electronica, trip-hop and down-tempo into its violins, keys, various samples and the occasional female voice, this 19-year-old college student has put together a release worthier of the attentions of a record label.

Taking a liking to music at an early age, the quality and professionalism of the production is in stark contrast to the fact this artist can’t even legally buy booze yet. “Eve” sweeps in with some modified harmony vocals then shows off both Emancipator’s piano skills as well as the beautiful violins of Cindy Kao, whose work is peppered throughout the 65-minute epic. “Soon It Will Be Cold Enough To Build Fires” plays around with some lovely acoustic guitars, a sampled horn and some left over vocal cuts from another track.

The rhythm of programmed drums and wash of beautiful violin on “Anthem” reminds me a little of Moby and DJ Shadow, the tribal beat opening and subsequent electronic bass on “Good Knight” feels like some of Bobby Cochran’s (Hands Upon Black Earth) best work, the driving bass and Kao’s violin on “Lionheart” feel like the soundtrack to dusk, while the voice of Thao Nguyen on “When I Go” sings “off key,” as she puts it, but really her style is addictive, sexy and the sound of her lovely speaking voice when she says, “You are nourishing. That’s what he said” gives me a chill.

The amount of work that went into this album is amazing. As Emancipator himself states, “ …instrumentation on the album was either played and recorded by myself, or was programmed from scratch using individual ‘oneshots,’ which are basically just recordings of single notes being played. Many of the melodies or bass lines were constructed in this way – by pitch shifting and moving around individual sounds like sound legos.”

The fact that this is funded not by a record label, but by a college student who does this in his spare time, is admirable. Pop onto his site you can even download some remixes (including his mash up remix pairing Sigur Ros with Mobb Deep. Hearing Mobb Deep rap “I’m only 19 but my mind is old” has so much added weight when melded like this). And, to boot, the music is damn cool. Highly recommended.

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A new concept from Black Era,

WIPPING WILLOW - WATCHA WEIA @ FLECHE D'OR from Tiou23@hotmail.com on Vimeo.