Fantastic Plastic Machine

The most producer-driven act in the Japanese pop movement known as Shibuya-kei, Fantastic Plastic Machine was formed by Tomoyuki Tanaka. Though he has the basic stylistic tastes requisite of the Shibuya-kei artist (namely lounge music, bossa nova, French pop, and soft rock), Tanaka has more of a club mentality, driven by his long experience as a DJ. Born in Kyoto, he entered the music business in the late '80s as a bassist for a ten-piece trad rock band known as Margarine Strikes Back. Absorbed into dance music and the acid house movement near the turn of the decade, he formed a DJ team called Sound Impossible and began spinning a mix of French and Brazilian pop, soundtrack music, and exotica. At one Sound Impossible show, longtime Deee-Lite turntablist Towa Tei convinced Tomoyuki Tanaka to begin recording again, and Fantastic Plastic Machine was born. Tanaka contributed tracks to two compilations (Sushi 3003, Fish Smell Like Cat) and remixed Combustible Edison before signing to Pizzicato Five's Readymade Records. His self-titled debut album was released in 1998, and distributed in America by Emperor Norton. Luxury followed one year later; Beautiful and Take Me to the Disco appeared in early 2001. A series of theme-based DJ mix releases entitled Sound Concierge appeared during the 2000s; other Fantastic Plastic Machine albums during the decade have included Too (2003), Imaginations (2006), and FPM (2009). ~ John Bush, Rovi