I went to see Prins Thomas at Unit in Daikanyama last week. This was the 3rd time I've been to see him in the last 3 years, so I was very interested to see how his Tokyo shows differed from the 2 shows I had previously been to in Osaka. With Tokyo hogging the Saturday nights, and another city getting first nabs on the Fridays, both of the Osaka shows had taken place on a Sunday, and not before a public holiday. This had lead to a rather poor turn out both times, particularly last year when half way through his set I noticed that the other handful of people that had been on the dancefloor had gone home leaving myself, my girlfriend and this one other guy the only ones left there. As much as a private show for 3 people from one of my favourite DJs playing some of the best music ever made is almost the stuff of dreams, it doesn't really need explaining that the atmosphere wasn't fantastic.
先週休みに入る日にPrins Thomasを見に代官山のUnit行って来た。過去３年で彼を見るのはこれで3回目！２回とも大阪で見たから、東京での彼のプレイはどんなんになるかなって興味があった。大阪では日曜日にあって、しかも特に月曜日が休日ってわけでもなく、１階がバーエリア、２階がルーフトップのバー、地下にDJブースってかんじで、５時間のロングセットにもかかわらず、気付いたら僕と、彼女と、クラブを経営してる子と三人しかダンスフロアーでPrins Thomasが、今まで以上最高にいいセットでDJしてくれてた。ほぼ照明がないぐらい暗く、でもそのおかげでひとつひとつの音が明確に聞こえて、こんな経験めったにないと悟った。
The Tokyo event was of a different world. Firstly Unit is a great venue, especially when they open all 3 of the floors like they did for this event. It's also a cleaner and classier venue than I had expected, a notable contrast from the Boho caverns that he has been booked to play at in Osaka. The staff were professional yet friendly, and it was refreshing to find a premier-league club in Japan not acquainting endowment with champagne & chandelier tack. Secondly by the time the support act Sly Mongoose kicked off, the place was packed.
もちろん東京は違う世界で、初めて入るUnitはいいベニューだった。３階のフロア全部開けてて、地下３階のちっさめのDJブースは洞窟の中のようなかんじで、でも音もよく、ほどよい空間。たぶん天井がやや高めに設計されてるから？？VJ２人組もまたまたおもしろいVJ流してて、スタッフの人はちゃんと仕事こなしてるし、他のクラブのようにシャンデリアあって、かならずお高いシャンパンがないと！ってとこより、その分他の部分で徹底的にプロフェショナル。これやったら、海外アーテイスト呼んでも恥ずかしくないベニューやと思う。やっぱり質は大事。
ほどよい時間でSly Mongoose のライブスタート。で人も超満員に！
Sly Mongoose, a 5 piece Japanese ensemble, were a treat in themselves, playing a vibrant set that, although a couple of times moved a little too close to ska for my liking, mixed cosmic synths, classic funk, and hoards of percussion to create a performance that prompted comparisons with LCD Soundsystem, Ozomatli and Herbaliser live shows.
Sly Mongooseは５人組のバンドでちょっとスカっぽいかんじな音楽があったり時折、コスミックシンセ、クラッシックファンクを交えたLCD Soundsystem, Ozomatli、 Herbaliser のライブショーを彷彿させるかんじ。でもスカっぽくない方がSly Mongooseの音って思う。
Sly Mongoose - Snakes & Ladders
Sly Mongoose - Bad Pulse (Padded Cell Remix)
Traditionally just after New Year in Japan, families visit shrines to pray for happiness for the following year. At the shrines it is a custom buy omikuji (a fortune telling slip not too dissimilar to the kind found in Chinese fortune cookies). The omikuji have a range of up to 12 blessings, from dai-kyo (a great curse) being the worst to dai-kichi (great blessing) being the best. Although dai-kichi is the best Japanese people feel that this is kind of a curse in itself as there is no room for improvement in your life, meaning that your luck can only down from here. So as Prins Thomas took to the DJ booth laying the foundations for an predictably amazing 4 hour set with Yello's The Race, the same kind of dai-kichi feeling came across me. I knew he was going to play a set that I would love, but there was probably no room for ecstatic surprises.
日本人は正月になったらお参りにいっておみくじひくと思うけど、人によるけど、大吉がでたらやったーって思うけど、これってあとは下がるだけ。。？
って思う感情と一緒で、Prins Thomasのセット中もそんな感情だった。自分が好きなものをかけるって知ってるこそ、それ以上の最高なものはかからないと。
However, because this year I was witnessing him playing to a large crowd in a very big club there was room for surprises. I was given the opportunity to observe for the first time his excellent ability to flexibly manage the flow of his set to suit a crowd and their reactions. For example, I noticed a very interesting phenomenon that I hadn't seen before. After his initial opening records, naturally some of the crowd (mainly the small female percentage of the audience and their boyfriends) migrated towards the bar leaving just a disco-otaku collective on the dancefloor. Thomas, reacting to this by going deep, much to the excitement of the hardcore fans. Seeing the crowd go nuts, the girls and more apathetic clubbers would flood the dancefloor and in a reflex action Full-Pupp san hoisted the mood into a more camp 70s disco vibe. As the girls gradually meandered off again, he shifted the gear back to deep and the boys went mental. This cycle of ebbing and flowing continued right the way through to the end of his set and truly demonstrated his prowess as a DJ beyond his impeccable music selection.
とにかく、今年はめちゃ人もいて、大きなクラブで彼のプレイを見る事になった中でちょっとした発見があった。今までに見た事がない現象があって、始まってからしばらくして、ちっちゃい女の子を連れた彼氏がたくさんバーに流れ込んでく姿。そしてダンスフロアーにはディスコおたく達が！！
それをPrins Thomasはどうリアクトしたかというと、ぐんぐんディープに、ハードコアなファン達を狂わせていく。十分にファンが狂ったところで、女の子やあまり興味がないクラバー達が、ダンスフロアーに流れて来て、７０年代のディスコみたいな曲が次々と流れてく。それで彼女らを踊らせた後は、またまたぐんぐんディープにもどりそれに男の子のテンションはぐぐっとアップ！
この引いて押してのサイクルが彼のセットおわるまで続き、そのスイッチの入れ方、完璧なセレクト、ますます彼は大きくなって素晴らしいセットだった！！！
One of my personal highlights was the Escort remix of Zombi's Sapphire from which he went on a brief excursion into a very deep disco-tech number before suddenly pulling back and dropping the original. Utterly brilliant stuff.
セットの中でのハイライトはZombiのSapphireのEscort remix。突然そのサイクルに戻る前に、横道にそれてめちゃディープなディスコテックをかけたときにかけたのがこれ。最高としかいいようがない！
Zombi - Sapphire (Escort Remix)
Here's a selection of some of my favourite production and remix work he has done over the years:
これは僕が好きな、今までに彼がてがけてきたプロダクションとremix work:
Justus Kohncke - Elan (Prins Thomas Version)
Toby Tobias - A Close Shave (Prins Thomas Disko-Tek Miks)
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Turkish Delight
