Denki Groove

Denki Groove
Denki Grove performing live in Japan (2011)
Background information
Origin Tokyo, Japan
Genres Shibuya-kei, synthpop, hip hop, J-pop
Years active 1989–present
Labels Ki/oon Records
Website Denki Groove Official Homepage
Members Takkyū Ishino
Pierre Taki
Past members Yoshinori Sunahara
Jun Kitagawa
Wakaōji Mimio
Kouji Takahashi

Denki Groove (電気グルーヴ, Denki Gurūvu, "Electric Groove") is a Japanese synthpop group founded in 1989. Influenced by Yellow Magic Orchestra and Kraftwerk, Denki Groove is a part of Sony Music Japan's Ki/oon Records sublabel. Current members are Takkyū Ishino and Pierre Taki. Former members are Yoshinori Sunahara and Jun Kitagawa.

Their works are particularly popular in Germany, where a handful of singles as well as solo releases from Ishino have been published, and Denki Groove is regularly booked for live performances and DJ sets for the Mayday festival. The duo performed in front of 15,000 people on the Green Stage (mainstage) at the 2006 Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba, Niigata.

History

Early works have a focus more on pop sensibilities, with a mixture of hip hop and breakbeat. With later releases the style evolved through several types of electronic dance music, though often with many asides in unrelated genres. Recent work has largely been composed of German-style techno. The group's lyrics are often tongue-in-cheek and sometimes quite bizarre. One of their biggest hits was "Shangri-La", which peaked at number 10 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Charts in 1997. After their 2000 album Voxxx, the band went on hiatus, but during the break released the best-of album Singles and Strikes and collaborated with Scha Dara Parr on the singles "Twilight" and "Saint Ojisan" (聖☆おじさん, Seinto Ojisan) that were included on an album that the groups released in 2005. Their popularity had a resurgeance in 2006 when their 1995 single "Niji" (虹, "Rainbow") was featured in the final episode of Eureka Seven; former member Jun Kitagawa had previously collaborated with Eureka Seven's main writer Dai Satō on the soundtrack of Macross Plus. The following year they began recording new material, such as their new single "Shonen Young" (少年ヤング, Shōnen Yangu),[1] the first new single in eight years, and "Mononoke Dance" (モノノケダンス, Mononoke Dansu) as the theme song for Hakaba Kitaro, the 2008 adaptation of the manga by the same name, popularized as GeGeGe no Kitaro. Both would be included on their 2008 album J-Pop, which was followed by single "The Words" and Yellow later that same year. The year 2009 saw the release of 20, an album commemorating their 20th anniversary. In 2011, they released a new best-of album Denki Groove Golden Hits: Due to Contract and in 2012 and 2013 released new singles "Shameful" and "Missing Beatz" which were used to promote the 2013 album Human Beings and Animals.

Band members

Current members

Former members

  • Wakaōji Mimio - guitar (1989-1990)
  • Kouji Takahashi - programming (1989-1990)
  • Jun Kitagawa a.k.a. CMJK - sequencer, DJ (1990-1991)
  • Yoshinori Sunahara - programming (1991-1999)

Discography

Albums

  • 662 BPM by DG (June 26, 1990)
  • Flash Papa (April 10, 1991)
  • U.F.O. (November 21, 1991)
  • Karateka (lit. practitioner of karate) (October 21, 1992)
  • Flash Papa Menthol (remix album of Flash Papa) (May 21, 1993)
  • Vitamin (December 1, 1993)
  • Drill King Anthology (August 1, 1994)
  • DRAGON (December 1, 1994)
  • ORANGE (March 1, 1996)
  • A (pronounced like 'Ace') (May 14, 1997)
  • recycled A (remix album of A) (March 1, 1998)
  • VOXXX (February 2, 2000)
  • Ilbon 2000 (イルボン2000, Irubon Nisen, 일본2000) (live performance) (July 19, 2000)
  • The Last Supper (remix and rarities collection) (July 25, 2001)
  • SINGLES and STRIKES (greatest hits collection) (March 24, 2004)
  • Denki Groove toka Scha Dara Parr (電気グルーヴとかスチャダラパー, Denki Gurūvu toka Suchadarapā, "Denki Groove and also Scha Dara Parr") (collaboration with Scha Dara Parr) (June 29, 2005)
  • J-POP (April 2, 2008)
  • YELLOW (October 15, 2008)
  • 20 (August 19, 2009)
  • Denki Groove Golden Hits: Due to Contract (電気グルーヴのゴールデンヒッツ～Due To Contract, Denki Gurūvu no Gōruden Hittsu ~Due to Contract, greatest hits & rarities collection) (April 6, 2011)
  • Human Beings and Animals (人間と動物, Ningen to Dōbutsu) (February 27, 2013)
  • TROPICAL LOVE (March 1, 2017)

Singles

  • "Zinsei" (人生, Jinsei, August 28, 1991)
    • As Masaru Taki
  • "MUD EBIS / COSMIC SURFIN'" (October 10, 1991)
  • "SNAKEFINGER" (October 12, 1992)
  • "N.O." (February 2, 1994)
  • "Popo" (ポポ, November 2, 1994)
  • "Kame Life" (カメライフ, Kame Raifu, December 10, 1994)
  • "Niji" (虹, April 21, 1995)
  • "Dareda! (Radio Edit)" (誰だ! (Radio Edit), May 22, 1996)
  • "Shangri-La" (March 21, 1997)
  • "Pocket Cowboy" (ポケット カウボーイ, Poketto Kaubōi, December 1, 1997)
  • "FLASHBACK DISCO" (July 1, 1999)
  • "Nothing's Gonna Change" (December 1, 1999)
  • "Technopolis (Denki's Techtropolis-RMX)" (2000)
  • "Twilight" (April 27, 2005)
  • "Saint Ojisan" (聖☆おじさん, Seinto Ojisan, June 22, 2005)
    • As Denki Groove × Scha Dara Parr
  • "Shonen Young" (少年ヤング, Shōnen Yangu, December 5, 2007)
  • "Mononoke Dance" (モノノケダンス, Mononoke Dansu, February 14, 2008)
  • "The Words" (February 4, 2009)
  • "Upside Down" (November 18, 2009)
  • "SHAMEFUL" (April 18, 2012)
  • "Missing Beatz" (January 16, 2013)
  • "Man Human" (January 10, 2018)

References

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