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Junya Hirano

Vanity/Remodel Mix 1

Label: Shrine.jp, Vanity Records

Format: CD

Genre: Experimental

In stock

€14.00
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This is a DJ mix of more than two hours using only sounds from Vanity Records and remodel(Yasuyuki Nakamura, label owner of remodel), two labels founded by the legendary music critic and producer Yuzuru Agi. As if to prove his unparalleled sense of taste, the two labels, separated by almost 30 years, blend together without any sense of discomfort, neutralizing the listener's time axis and distorting the space. This is a work that embodies the paradox that "truly radical expression is universal at the same time.

Vanity Records, founded by Yuzuru Agi in 1978, is considered to be the first independent label in Japan. With the aim of giving unknown but talented artists the opportunity to produce records, Vanity Records has become a crucible for a variety of radical musical expressions such as post-punk, new wave, progressive rock, electronics, contemporary music, and experimental music. In spite of a very limited distribution (300-500 copies of each title) and a short activity period of less than 4 years, the label has become a legendary existence.

For a long time, the whole story of the label has been shrouded in mystery, but with the successive reissues in 2020, we can finally grasp the substance of its activities. Even after the demise of Vanity Records, Yuzuru Agi continued to explore new forms of expression through his activities as a DJ (he called it "Bricolage", following Lévi-Strauss) and through editing and writing for the art zine "0g (Zero Gauge)". In 2011, he established his last label, remodel (Yasuyuki Nakamura, label owner of remodel) which specializes in cutting-edge electronic music. "We want to be like 'boys' who share the dreams, new senses of our time," he said. This mix is produced by Junya Hirano, who has inherited and expanded on Agi's intentions by managing Osaka's environment 0g and directing remodel, using only sounds from Vanity Records and remodel. By disrupting the past and the future, this mix vividly re-presents the extremes of musical expression that Yuzuru Agi pursued, and is the perfect introduction to the huge legacy like a monolith that he left behind.

 

Details
Cat. number: SRSW-498
Year: 2021