Saturday, April 24, 2010

tokyo twitter techno...

dommune in full swing

one thing we've talked about on SSGS is the desire for different ways to engage and enjoy with techno music. in this regard, there is an interesting new development in the tokyo scene i wanted to talk about. on monday i went to a new club here called 'dommune', which has been open for about a month or so. it is a small one room space in a basement, decked out with some really nice funktion ones. the concept is an interesting one: it is only open sunday through thursday, 21:00 - 24:00. the purpose is twofold: (1) by not operating on weekends they complement other clubs, rather than directly competing. (2) they provide an alternative for people who simply don't have the stamina and/or desire to do the allnight clubbing thing. this way you can go, dance for a couple of hours, and be in bed by 1 or 2am. not bad at all... by being open on weekdays, it has also allowed them to have follow up gigs from internationals that have come to town - steve bug, sammy dee and maurice fulton have been some of the people to have spin there so far.

given the small size of the space, the club is limited to 50 people, and you have to register online to get a ticket. if you are not lucky enough to be one of the 50, all is not lost, as video and audio of the party is streamed live on ustream. this has been very popular in japan, with each night regularly getting a couple of thousand viewers (it has already had over 1 million visitors in total since it started streaming). the result is a rather interesting dynamic: both people at the club and those watching at the home are using twitter throughout the party. being at the club this made for a weird situation where probably half the people on the dancefloor had an iphone in their hands the whole night. so more interaction with people on the interwebs, less with those around you - real virtual partying (or something like that). the other consequence of the live streaming is there is some serious attention whore action going on, as partygoers do their best to get on camera. this did my head in a bit, but was also pretty amusing... put together the whole thing is all a bit surreal. then again, when you've got maurice fulton killing it on a funktion one, it is going to make for a fun night.

i'm not completely sure what to make of dommune. i really like the basic concept, but the whole interactive component with twitter and video streaming makes for a dynamic that is definitely a bit different from the usual club and quite different from my preferred mode of engagement: a dark anonymous space... anyway, it is great to see developments like this happening and it is a sign that the tokyo scene is really becoming stronger again, which can only be a good thing.

for more info on dommune, check their homepage. and try tuning in sometime...

7 comments:

  1. Maurice Fulton's set earlier this week was a blast. Was indeed rather surreal to be digitally engaged with a Tokyo nightclub while putting together a project from my 9 to 5 job. Dommune (and to a lesser degree, Awdio) may be the next best thing since the podcast for music lovers worldwide.

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  2. People who spend their time on a phone while on a dancefloor can fuck off, tbh.

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  3. derrick may is playing tuesday night this week for those interested...

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  4. I agree with Kenny on his comment, but that aside, great concept ! Often is the time's I wanna make shapes just for just a 2 or 3 hrs so love this concept. Bring it on !

    Maybe I am getting old but earlier clubbing is just so much better. I went to a gig here (Sydney) on Sat night that was 1800 to 0200. Perfect ! (Well would have been if the ear bleedingly loud volume didn't drive me and others out after 90 min, so missed Apparat as a result : (

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  5. the nightclub is one of the best places to put the phone away. if i am looking at my phone at a club, someone is not doing something right.

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Say something constructive, bitte. Or if you're gonna take a swipe, at least sharpen your nails.

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