Audio Active’s shimmering brew of dub reggae and club music influences, has created fans all over the world, while at home in Japan establishing out a solid if non-mainstream following. The band have amongst their influences, Jimi Hendrix, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti and Lee Perry, and use imagery of altered states of consciousness and outer space, which serves to project a science fiction like atmosphere about them. The band’s first album
Tokyo Space Cowboys in 1993 firmly sent them in their extraterrestrial direction, and drew international attention. The band has since often collaborated with many foreign musicians, including Adrian Sherwood, Bim Sherman, Laraaji, Mark Stewart and Asian Dub Foundation. The group has toured Europe six times, including appearances at Glastonbury in the UK, and other major festival dates, as well as the States, various Asian cities, performing in a total of sixteen foreign countries. In Japan, the band has also played major festivals, including Fuji Rock and the Tibetan Freedom Festival. Audio Active’s music has been released on a variety of foreign labels, including On-U Sound, All Saints and Warner. Their single “Free the Marijuana” drew heavy radio in Australia, being released as it was around the time the marijuana laws were up for revision. Calling attention to another dubious law, Audio Active released “328 in Police State”, supporting club owners who were being harassed by the police for allowing customers to dance after mi...
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Audio Active’s shimmering brew of dub reggae and club music influences, has created fans all over the world, while at home in Japan establishing out a solid if non-mainstream following. The band have amongst their influences, Jimi Hendrix, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti and Lee Perry, and use imagery of altered states of consciousness and outer space, which serves to project a science fiction like atmosphere about them. The band’s first album
Tokyo Space Cowboys in 1993 firmly sent them in their extraterrestrial direction, and drew international attention. The band has since often collaborated with many foreign musicians, including Adrian Sherwood, Bim Sherman, Laraaji, Mark Stewart and Asian Dub Foundation. The group has toured Europe six times, including appearances at Glastonbury in the UK, and other major festival dates, as well as the States, various Asian cities, performing in a total of sixteen foreign countries. In Japan, the band has also played major festivals, including Fuji Rock and the Tibetan Freedom Festival. Audio Active’s music has been released on a variety of foreign labels, including On-U Sound, All Saints and Warner. Their single “Free the Marijuana” drew heavy radio in Australia, being released as it was around the time the marijuana laws were up for revision. Calling attention to another dubious law, Audio Active released “328 in Police State”, supporting club owners who were being harassed by the police for allowing customers to dance after midnight, which technically is against the law in Tokyo. While Audio Active does not shy away from controversy, they are much in demand as collaborators. They have done countless remixes, for artists as diverse as
Yellow Magic Orchestra, Asian Dub Foundation,
Friction,
The Mad Capsule Markets, and on a Godzilla tribute album. Their music has been used in Sony Playstation game “Urban Chaos”, in TV programs, and in a project related to Todd McFarland’s
Spawn.
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