One hat was really nice and gray, and I saw it in the street behind me after I heard someone grunt, just in time to see a car drive over it and then have it disappear from view.
The other hat belonged to a very young girl who was on the back seat of a bike being driven by her dad, or possibly grandfather. I picked up the hat and gave it to the dad, and he was thankful. But what I remember the most was the little girl’s cries of “Daddy! Daddy!” In her voice I could hear that she loved that neon pink and green hat and that it would tear her heart apart to lose it. It reminded me of my little sister and my eyes got watery on the way home. The little girl looked back at me for a brief moment and I wondered if she would remember it in the years to come — the time some weird foreigner rescued her beloved hat.
Laptop Battle Tokyo Vol. 5 at Super Deluxe was far more incredible than I was expecting it to be. There was a fairly wide range of interesting performances and music styles, such as Taishin Inoue and Back in Tokio. But more than anything, I got to hear some wonderful breakcore by JaQwa, so good that I would put it up there with Venetian Snares, the genius himself.
Unfortunately, JaQwa got beat out in his second round by the dance party antics of DJ Take. I felt pretty let down by this since DJ Take was just spinning other people’s music, like Chemical Brothers and Fat Boy Slim. It was a little interesting to see him sample himself beatboxing, then scratch it on his digital turntables, but this could have been executed much better, and the crowd was far more into it than they should have been.
Thankfully, DJ Take was beat out in the end by Plapla Pinky, with whose performance I was pleased. One of his pieces had a reggaeton feel to it and made my eyes watery (the second time of the night — the first by JaQwa), but I neglected to get a recording of it.
I’m not usually a fan of the chill lounge sound, but this is also a good track.
Towa Tei – “Technova”
I knew I had encountered Towa Tei before, but I couldn’t quite place him. Then it hit me — which explains the sample in “German Bold Italic.” Groove is in your heart.
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