Jeff Mills announces two rare conceptual shows in Asia

Jeff Mills is scheduled to make a quick and rare jaunt over to Asia and there are, so far, two confirmed dates in Taipei and Tokyo. The full schedule is below.

Anyone that’s a fan of his, or techno in general, will tell you that just seeing this dance music legend perform is worth the flight over to either one of these two cities. But actually it gets even better than that – both shows appear to be more than just standard DJ sets.

The Taipei show is listed as being at the Taipei NASA Space Center. While Taipei doesn’t actually have a space center of this kind, it appears to be the marketing concept behind the event as the promoter has said that the idea driving the event is space travel and this theme will be enhanced by audio, visuals and lighting, however party-goers can still expect a DJ set from Mills. The address points to the event being at ATT Show Box, which is a studio in the heart of downtown Taipei often used for large-scale shows and concerts.

Fans of Mills should already have an understanding of his fascination with space, time and the future – and how he correlates it with music. Much of his previous work (both musical and other multimedia work) has been modeled after or inspired by one of the aforementioned concepts in some way, shape or form.

The Tokyo show will step away from a club environment and into a hall where Mills will premiere his project called ‘Where Light Ends’. The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra will accompany him and Hirofumi Kurita will conduct the performance. Timeout has said of the performance: “The piece takes the sumptuous sounds of the early Detroit scene as its cue for an expansive, euphoric techno-orchestral romp that includes ‘Where Light Ends’, created together with astronaut Mamoru Mohri, and ‘The Bells’, Mills’s iconic hard-minimal anthem.”

Jeff Mills is a man who needs little introduction to the dance music community. The Detroit native is unarguably one of the leading figures in the development of techno and its related culture. He co-founded music collective Underground Resistance in the late 80s which to this day is still a mainstay in the community. He also founded Chicago based label Axis Records in the early 90s which continues to operate today. Since then, he’s gone on to garner a prominent list of accolades not just in music but also in scoring films, filmography, various art exhibitions and much more. His work puts him in an upper echelon of artistry as he uses his unique perception of intricate topics and themes (often related to space) and explores them using his music.

Catch Jeff Mills at one of the two dates in Asia below. Mixmag Asia strongly recommends making a weekender out of it.

Friday March 18th @ ATT Show Box, Taipei, Taiwan | click here for tickets
Monday March 21st @ Bunkamura Orchard Hall, Tokyo, Japan