Flare

A leader of Japan's techno scene for decades, DJ Ken Ishii was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in 1970. Inspired by Detroit techno, the synth-pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra, and the dance music kingpin Derrick May, he began releasing music during the early '90s, often using pseudonyms like Rising Sun, Utu, Flare, and Yoga. His debut album, 1993's Garden on the Palm, became one of the benchmark albums of techno music, its popularity driven by singles like "Pneuma" and "Deep Sleep." His 1994 follow-up, Innerelements, was similarly influential. One year later, Jelly Tones helped broaden Ken Ishii's popularity beyond the Japanese underground, thanks to a mix of dance tempos and mainstream pop hooks. Accompanied by a world tour, the album was followed by a string of landmark records that maintained Ken Ishii's reputation as a prominent techno DJ through the turn of the millennium and well into the 2000s. Highlights included 1997's Metal Blue America, 2001's Millennium Spinnin at Reel Up, 2005's Play, Pause and Play, and 2012's Music for Daydreams. Meanwhile, he also racked up a list of diverse accolades, winning "Best Dance Music Video of the Year" at the 1997 MTV Europe Awards for his single "Extra" and composing original music for the opening ceremony of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan. He also contributed to the soundtracks of video games like Tekken 3, LSD: Dream Emulator, and Lumines II as a producer, composer, and DJ, and launched another decade of music-making with the 2021 single "Bionic Jellyfish."

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