Mo’ Wax — Where Are They Now: DJ Takemura (1993)
Mo’ Wax was a record label started by James Lavelle in 1992, which closed about ten years later. Initially they released 12" singles and licensed a compilation from Japan of Japanese Hip Hop, until 1994 when they began releasing albums of their artists original work. While some of these artists such as DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, and Money Mark continued releasing music after Mo’ Wax closed, others have seemingly disappeared from the music scene. In this series I will look at each artist on Mo’ Wax and try to find out where are they now…
DJ Takemura, aka Nobukazu Takemura, released Hoping For The Sun on Mo’ Wax in 1993. This was his Mo’ Wax debut and served to promote the UK release of Jazz Hip Jap, a compilation of Japanese Hip Hop and Acid Jazz inspired songs which featured artists such as DJ Krush and El-Malo (see our previous article for more on El-Malo). While the Jazz Hip Jap compilations were more popular outside of Japan, the series’ producer S-Ken (aka Tadashi Tanaka) also arranged for a handful of mini albums to be released in Japan by Big Chameleon, a sub label of NEC Avenue which appears to have been set up purely to release Jazz Hip Jap related releases. One of those releases was Nobukazu Takemura’s The Quest Is A Reward, which featured a similar tracklist to Takemura’s Mo’ Wax release, Hoping For The Sun, with both releasing in 1993.
The song Hoping For The Sun had actually had its UK debut in 1992. The Mo’Wax linear notes point out that people will know this song, and that it’s a remake of Ryo Kanasaki’s Trinkets & Things, but their release features new songs as well. Harmonium is described by the linear notes as “a journey through bossa grooves, vocal scats, heavy b-lines ’n’ luscious flute & piano solo’s,” and The Quest Is The Reward “kicks hard more fresh vibez hittin u with phata’ beatz, dope jazz drums, vibes & trumpet solo’s & scat vocals, basically a slice of classic japanese electro.”
The Wire were fans of Hoping For The Sun, reviewing Mo’ Wax’s release in their December 1993 issue they said:
“The Japanese affilliation with London’s jazz-dance geezers is producing some nice things. This is a lot better than most of the music hyped in London. The “Dew Drop” mix is unashamedly pastoral, tapping into the rural textures Roy Ayers signalled on the chorus of “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”. It bypasses hipness in favour of a wide-eyed beatitude and skirts beatnik banality by dropping vocals altogether.”
Following the release, Nobukazu Takemura continued releasing music with his group Spiritual Vibes, and Audio Sports, as well as releasing music under various names such as Assembler, and Child’s View. Takemura also founded the record labels Lollop, and Childisc, which both released music by Takemura and other artists he enjoyed.
In 1994 he released the Child’s View album, which was recorded in London, Tokyo, and Paris, with the London sessions recorded and mixed by Howie B, and the Paris sessions recorded by Philippe Zdar Ceboneschi of La Funk Mob and Cassius. The album also featured raps by French MC Menelik, who had previously appeared on RPM’s Sortie Des Ombres on Mo’ Wax. Takemura followed this with Child’s View Remix, an album of remixes by Roni Size, Aphex Twin, and Coldcut, which All Music suggest signalled Takemura’s “growing interest in the experimental fringes of dance culture.”
These experimental sounds fruition on Takemura’s next albums, Child And Magic, Funfair, and Scope. Child And Magic released in Japan in 1997 and left his hip hop influences behind, as All Music explained, “This album’s got a wild mix of spare minimal sounds, modal rhythms, and tonal schemata, a familiar Brazilian tinge, and many strange repetition bits that feel more like Terry Riley or Steve Reich than Takemura.” Funfair was released in the US in 1999 and continued the previous electronic explorations, incorporating CD skipping sounds and samples. When The Wire reviewed the album in their June 1999 issue they summarised it as “that rare jewel: a genuinely inventive yet beautiful album.”
Scope was released in the USA in June 1999 by Thrill Jockey, and continued Takemura’s use of clicks and CD skipping sounds to great effect. All Music felt it was Takemura’s most difficult album yet, but in their review called the album beautiful, and Takemura a genius. Both Exclaim and Pitchfork felt the album was derivative Oval and other similar acts, and while CMJ New Music Monthly agreed that it was similar, they also felt that “Takemura’s approach is more bright eyed” than that of his more theoretical minded peers.
Following Scope, Takemura continued releasing work with Thrill Jockey, as well as his own labels in Japan, and most recently the Japanese record label Happenings. In 2012 the label released a collaborative album between Takemura and Tujiko Noriko, which was followed by two further solo albums by Takemura, and in 2019 Happenings released a 7" by TNTN, a new project from Takemura and Tujiko Noriko.
While he has moved away from his early days as a hop hop battle DJ (according to a feature in The Wire’s July 1999 issue Takemura once battled DJ Krush among others), Nobukazu Takemura has continued to develop new and exciting sounds, exploring many different genres and ideas across his long career, from Acid Jazz on Mo’ Wax to the glitched clicks of his period on Thrill Jockey, and his current lullaby soundscape collaborations with Tujiko Noriko.
