Theory Therapy 102: Takayuki Shiraishi
Experimental electronics from Tokyo
A true legend of Tokyo’s underground, Takayuki Shiraishi has gifted us with a beauty for #102. Since the late ’70s, he’s been involved in some of the city’s most interesting musical corners, from being in post-punk bands to producing ambient techno classics. Feeling very honoured to have him contribute to the series.
Hey Takayuki. How are you today?
In recent years, large-scale natural disasters have been occurring frequently around the world-including in Japan-and the political situation is becoming increasingly chaotic, which makes me feel very anxious every day; still, I managed to wake up feeling reasonably well today.
What was the last song you listened to?
Just like with his other alias, African-American Sound Recordings, I like how hard it is to pin down the genre.
What's your favourite place to listen to music?
I like listening to music in my room while watching the colors of the sky change at dusk.
What’s the best music discovery you’ve made recently?
As for recent releases, I’m particularly fond of the track by Inweys that I’ve used in this mix. It’s an experimental session by Glasgow-based Conal Blake and Murray Collier, featuring a simple yet deeply hypnotic track. I’ve been keeping an eye on Murray Collier ever since I heard ‘Driving Pool’, which he released under the name Grim Lusk in 2022.
Tell us a bit about your musical background – what was the first album that really stuck with you, and when did you start exploring electronic production?
It is a single rather than an album track, but I am referring to ‘Kaette Kita Yopparai’ (The Drunkard Returns) by the group The Folk Crusaders. It was a novelty song that made extensive use of sped-up tape effects and numerous sound effects, becoming a massive hit in Japan in 1968. I was five years old at the time and would laugh as I listened to the record over and over; I believe this song was what first drew me to the "texture of sound" rather than just the lyrics or melody. I became certain of this when, around the age of fourteen, I heard a track called "Cassetto" from Neu!'s second album—a song created by playing tape back in slow motion.
I began making my own music in early 1979, the year before I released an album under the name BGM on Vanity Records. Inspired by the post-punk, industrial and no wave scenes of the time, I would record whatever ideas came to mind onto cassette tapes every day.
Do you have a favourite of your own albums, and does it still sound the way you remember it?
‘Slow Shoutin'’ (2002). I view this work as an intersection of my two musical roots: the raw, experimental music of the period around 1980, and the dance music—such as house and techno—of the era around 1990.
I still listen to it from time to time, and I feel that there is something timeless about this album.
What's something valuable you've learnt about making music all these years?
I have learned that music is a living entity that is constantly changing form through the repeated clash and fusion of different cultures. It is precisely this insatiable vitality that draws me most to music. I love music that has yet to be named more than music whose true nature has already been revealed.
Talk us through your Theory Therapy mix – where it came together and what kind of space you were in mentally or musically.
I enjoy creating free-form mixes like this one, as they allow me not only to link one rhythm to the next, but also to experiment with various mixing techniques. I approached the project with the intention of combining fragments of music from a variety of backgrounds to create a one-hour ‘picture scroll’. A total of 34 songs are used, including three of mine.
Where would you recommend listening to it?
On a packed train in Tokyo, or while gazing at Earth from the Moon...
Tell us something exciting that's coming up in your life, music or otherwise.
I have various concerns, but since the start of the 2020s, I’ve found the process of making music enjoyable again, and I’ve built up a stockpile of tracks that fall roughly into three categories. The first consists of pieces that represent a modern evolution of the experimental sounds I created in the 80s; the second is ambient-style music; and the third is left-field house music. I’d like to release these first.