A label offshoot of Tokyo event series Mariana, called Mariana Wax, is set to launch this month.

The Mariana party, which began back in 2009, is the brainchild of Dave Twomey, a globetrotting DJ and producer with a soft spot for deep and dubby techno. (The name refers to the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world's oceans.) Mariana Wax will offer another way to showcase that sound, with tracks set to come from Twomey himself, producing as Tr nch, and many of Mariana's previous guests.

Mariana Wax 000 begins with a Tr nch ambient piece which, according to a press sheet, features "the voice of Captain Jacques Picard describing the first descent in 1960 to ... the bottom of the Mariana Trench." Also on hand with more rhythmic material are US producer Mike Parker (his contribution, "Below Zero," was previously put on a very limited test-pressing via his own label Geophone) and Tokyo-based artist and DRONE resident Wata Igarashi.

Fans in Tokyo can celebrate the launch of the new label—as well as Mariana's fourth anniversary—with Twomey, Igarashi and party favorite Peter Van Hoesen, among others, at eleven this Saturday night, before it closes for renovations. Tickets are available here on RA. Mariana fans around the world will also be able to join in the fun with today's Dommune live stream, featuring Van Hoesen and Igarashi. The three-hour session will start at 9 PM JST, 1 PM GMT.

Tracklist
A1 Tr nch - Challenger Deep
A2 Mike Parker - Below Zero
B Wata Igarashi - Valve

Mariana Wax will release Mariana Wax 000 on May 20th, 2013.

Tokyo club eleven will close on May 25th for renovations.

The Nishi-Azabu venue opened in Febraury 2010 on the site of Space Lab Yellow, keeping most of the same staff as the former club. It's become home to regular parties like Sound of Berghain/Panorama Bar and Fumiya Tanaka's Chaos, as well as midweek bass and hip-hop events. The club has also welcomed a steady stream of established US DJs like Francois K, Joe Claussell, Timmy Regisford and Theo Parrish. eleven's owners have confirmed the venue will close at the end of the month while renovations take place. Whether it will reopen with the same name and concept is still unclear.

Sónar is coming to Japan this April, with editions of the Barcelona-based festival taking place in Tokyo and Osaka.

The festival, with roots in Barcelona dating back to 1994, has become an increasingly international concern over the last decade or so. The Tokyo version of the festival, called SonarSound Tokyo, was part of the first wave of global versions. (São Paulo, Seoul, Guadalajara and Reykjavík are some of the other cities that have hosted Sónar outposts over the years.) This will be the sixth time Sónar has come to town, and all told, SonarSound Tokyo will feature more than 40 artists. About half that number have been confirmed so far, and the roster includes a mix of international and local talent. A number of electronic luminaries will be on hand, including Underworld's Karl Hyde (who's debuting a new solo project) and LFO. The UK will be well represented with performances by Adrian Sherwood & Pinch, Actress and Darkstar, and John Talabot will help fly the flag of Sónar's hometown. Green Butter, Sapphire Slows and Submerse are among the artists representing the Japanese scene, and Red Bull Music Academy's SonarDôme stage will host a number of the organization's Japanese alums.

A handful of the artists playing the Tokyo festival, including RA's 2013 top live act Nicolas Jaar and Japanese producer Altz, will also perform at a two-night showcase in Osaka called A Taste of Sónar. As with SonarSound Tokyo, the lineup for these Osaka shows is set to expand in the coming weeks.

Mule Musiq will issue a compilation from the legendary experimental artist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, entitled Selected Pieces 1990 to 2011, in February.

Roedelius's prolific musical career stretches back more than four decades. A German native now living in Austria, he's best known as a member of the pioneering krautrock outfit Cluster, which disbanded back in late 2010. Down the years he's been active in dozens of solo and collaborative projects with the likes of Brian Eno and Tangerine Dream's Peter Baumann.

In an accompanying press release, label head Toshiya Kawasaki explains that he first asked Roedelius about the idea of releasing on Mule Musiq last summer. Ultimately, Kawasaki says, "He sent me a lot of unreleased songs, and I selected my favourite eleven." Fans of Roedelius should have a good idea of what to expect: the compilation features plenty of airy synth work alongside a handful of more overtly rhythmic passages.

Selected Pieces 1990 to 2011 adds to a busy beginning of the year for Mule Musiq, which recently revealed details for a new mix CD from DJ Sprinkles and a new album from Eddie C on the Endless Flight sub-label. This compilation, adorned with cover art from Mexican painter Emi Winter, will be made available on CD and vinyl.

Tracklist
01. Per Se
02. Out Of The Dark
03. Vienna 2020
04. Coulours
05. By The Way
06. Endless
07. Once Upon
08. Quasi
09. Frolic At Six
10. Ultimate Feeling
11. As Simple As

Mule Musiq will release Selected Pieces 1990 to 2011 on February 18th, 2013.

DJ Sprinkles will release a mix CD, Where Dancefloors Stand Still, in March.

The mix is intended to be a response to Japan's "fuzoku" laws, which place restrictions on people dancing in nightclubs and sees a 1:00 AM curfew regularly enforced across the country. Although the legislation has been in place since 1948, recently Japanese authorities have implemented the restrictions with extra zeal. Born and raised in the US, Thaemlitz moved to Japan in 2001 and has lived there ever since. As Terre Thaemlitz and under other aliases such as Kami-Sakunobe House Explosion (K-S.H.E) and DJ Sprinkles, the producer has explored deep house, ambient and experimental music.

Where Dancefloors Stand Still will see release on Tokyo's Mule Musiq, the same label that released the acclaimed Midtown 120 Blues LP, which was voted RA's number one album of 2009. The mix's tracklist reveals a selection of classic deep house from the likes of Braxton Holmes, Fingers Inc and Sound Mechanix mixed with more contemporary fare from Alex Danilov and MyMy. A press release claims that Where Dancefloors Stand Still "transforms dancing into a ritual in which dancers do rhythmic body painting that amalgamates the individual identity into a collective". Having written and lectured extensively on gender and social issues, Thaemlitz is known to mix music and politics.

In addition to the 14-track CD, a 2x12-inch vinyl sampler with nine tracks will also be released. Where Dancefloors Stand Still will be the first major offering from Thaemlitz since last year's exhaustive Soulnessless release, which was described as the world's first "full-length mp3 album" and contained more than 30 hours of music and video.

Tracklist
CD
01. Braxton Holmes - 12 Inches Of Pleasure (Ron's Foreplay)
02. Alex Danilov - Deep S
03. Sound Mechanix - I Can't Forget
04. The Rhythm Slaves - The Light You Will See (Trentemoller's Deep Dub Mix)
05. Lectroluv - If We Try (Ambient Dub)
06. Manoo & François A - The Deep
07. Classic Man - Rapid Winds (75 MPH Mix)
08. Understars - Forestfunk I (No Damkkb Mix)
09. Gene Farris - Good Feeling
10. The Rude Awakening - The Dip (5AM Dipsco Mix)
11. MyMy - Everybody's Talkin' (Original Mix)
12. Choo-ables - Hard To Get (BT's Massive Groove)
13. Fingers Inc. - Never No More Lonely
14. Keys & Tronics Ensemble - Calypso Of House (Paradise Version)

Mule Musiq will release DJ Sprinles's Where Dancefloors Stand Still in March 25th, 2013.

Eddie C will release his second album, Country City Country, on February 18th.

The 16-track set will arrive two years after the Canadian producer, full name Edward Currelly, released his debut LP, Parts Unknown. As with that album, Country City Country will see release on Endless Flight, an offshoot of Tokyo's Mule Musiq. Following a slew of singles and EPs for labels like 7 Inches Of Love, Sleazy Beats and Home Taping Is Killing Music, Currelly first appeared on Endless Flight in 2010 with the Between Now And Then EP. According to the label, Country City Country sees Eddie C combining his love of hip-hop with his trademark soul-tinged house and disco. Mule will host an album launch party at the Seco Lounge in Tokyo on February 2nd, and there's a remix package slated for release soon.

Tracklist
01. Got I Own Thing
02. Stoney Pharmacy
03. Fool On The Hill
04. Motsa
05. Drinkin and Thinkin
06. Jam On Dallas Road
07. Erase
08. Every Life Under The Invisible Hands
09. Black Meat Dance
10. Always
11. Eisbergen
12. Surprise Pass
13. It Goes Free
14. La Palette
15. (Be Aware) Nothing For Free
16. Let's Stay Together

Endless Flight will release Eddie C's Country City Country on February 18th 2013.

Richie Hawtin will return to Womb Adventure this weekend in Tokyo.

Since it started five years ago, Womb Adventure has been one of the biggest electronic music festivals on the calendar in Tokyo. Minus has always been a cornerstone of the event, and this year will be no exception, with Hawtin bringing his Enter. concept to Japan for the first time. Aside from Hawtin himself, the lineup features Dubfire, Loco Dice and Matador (playing live) in the main room. Daddy G of Massive Attack is billed in the Womb World Wide Arena, along with Darren Emerson, Nina Kraviz and Mark E. There's an afterparty scheduled the next weekend Womb, though lineup details for that one are still under-wraps.

Chatting via email earlier this week, the crew behind Womb Adventure gave us some inside perspective on the annual event:

How did Womb Adventure start? What was the original idea or concept behind the festival?

When womb was ranked as one of the world’s top venues in 2004, we became more aware of all the other venues in the world. But all these top-class venues hold 3,000-6,000 people, whereas Womb holds about 1/3 of that. So we thought about putting Womb club outside of it’s space for one night with a 3,000+ capacity. This concept was the start of Club Phazon, which was the former of Womb Adventure.

Club Phazon offered Tokyo’s dance music scene a lineup that always fit the times. Like showcasing Richie [Hawtin] and Ricardo [Villalobos], a special joint appearance of Sasha with John Digweed. We put on events that would have been too big for Womb. Club Phazon grew bigger, eventually reaching 3,000 people capacity; in 2007 we sold out Laforet Museum Roppongi. After this we thought about evolving this festival and decided to build another stage, making it even bigger with better sound and overall production. This turned into Womb Adventure.
At first we aimed for 10,000 people, and since then it has become an exceptional event. This year will be our fifth.

How would you describe the atmosphere of the event to someone who's never been?

It has a higher production value than Womb,larger scale and with a bigger audience. It’s an opportunity to meet and get to know people with the same tastes. Even for those who’ve just begun to take an interest in dance music, and don’t have an extensive knowledge on it, it’s a chance to see many artists. The real thrill of it is in that experience.

How did Minus end up being so integral to the festival? How has the programming changed over the years?

It started from the connection between Yuuki Ito, who was in charge of bookings at Womb, and Richie Hawtin. Hawtin visited Japan again and again, so there was a good relationship between him and the club. When we did the CLub Phazon party with Richie and Ricardo, that was kind of a trigger: our name got bigger alongside Richie’s. It was Richie’s idea to do the Contakt showcase for Womb Adventure. From then on we’ve begun to think about what we can work on next.

What's new with this year's edition? What are you looking forward to most?

It’s got to be Richie's new party, Enter, which caused a storm in Ibiza this summer. There’s also the fact that Richie is a Japanophile, and he’s taken four great things about the country: sake, music, technology, and entertainment. The idea was that he’d take these things as inspirations from Japan and bring them to Ibiza. This was the concept of Enter. Now he’s bringing all that back to the land where it came from.

Sapporo-based artist Kuniyuki Takahashi will release a new album in January called Feather World.

Kuniyuki, who also records under the name Koss, has devoted much of his career to blending deep house with more organic styles of music, especially jazz. Feather World shows him further exploring this combination of sounds. He teams up with a number of guest musicians along the way, including Innervisions staple Henrik Schwarz, who shares Kuniyuki's knack for jazz and house crossover. Other appearances come from Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, Japanese sax player Tetsuro Kawashima and West African vocalist Sona Diabaté among others. Like most of Kuniyuki's music, Feather World will come out on Mule Musiq.

Tracklist
01. Before Creation
02. Inner Groove feat. Bugge Wesseltoft
03. Africa Univers feat. Sona Diabete
04. Shout feat. Tetsuro Kawashima
05. The Big Wall
06. The Session 2 feat. Henrik Schwarz
07. Between Shadow and Lights feat. Anne Clark
08. Get Up With You feat. Fumio Itabashi
09. After Creation
10. Forst Song feat. Joyce Bowden

Mule Musiq will release Feather World in January 2013.

The full lineup is now confirmed for this year's Labyrinth festival, taking place from September 15th through the 17th at Naeba Greenland in Niigata, Japan.

Mindgames, the outfit behind the esteemed boutique festival, have been drip-feeding Labyrinth's lineup for the past month or so, revealing one or two names each week. Per usual, the end result is a concise bill of mostly techno artists, plus a few deep house DJs, some experimental acts and a bit of bass music. Festival staples Donato Dozzy and Peter Van Hoesen are both confirmed, with the former DJing and the latter delivering a live/DJ hybrid. Croatian techno artist Petar Dundov will DJ and play live separately. Fred P, Steffi and Appleblim will all DJ Labyrinth for the second time; Svreca, Dasha Rush and Shed will make their debuts. Raster-Noton artist Uwe Schmidt will showcase his new routine as AtomTM Alpha Txt, which presents more ambient versions of his music as Atom TM. Japanese DJs So and Hiyoshi are both confirmed as well, along with Spectrum Spools artists Outer Space and Bee Mask, both performing live (Mark McGuire from Emeralds was originally confirmed but was forced to cancel).

Electraglide have announced the initial lineup for their 2012 festival, taking place in Tokyo on Friday, November 23rd.

The large scale indoor festival has long been one of Japan's most important electronic music events, having hosted the likes of Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Underworld and Orbital since the first edition in 2000. What's been revealed of this year's lineup shows a characteristic taste for forward-thinking live acts. Flying Lotus will headline, just a month after the release of his upcoming album, Until the Quiet Comes. He shares the bill with fellow luminary Four Tet (who also has a new full-length in the pipeline) and IDM veteran Squarepusher. Amon Tobin will deliver his visually-enhanced ISAM performance. DJ sets will come from UK heavyweight Andrew Weatherall and Hyperdub boss Kode9. More acts will be announced over the next few months.