Micro of Def Tech - Laid Back 8 August 2007
Def Tech is the duo of Micro Yuuki Nishimiya and Shen Shenan Brown. They first met during one of Shen’s many trips to from Hawaii to Japan; his father is English-Japanese linguist James Dean Brown, author of “Understanding Research in Second Language Learning” 1988 and professor at the University of Hawaii, which I’m just mentioning because I think that book is worth reading if you’re interested in linguistics. Anyways—the important aspect of these circumstances is that Shen and Micro hit it off quickly, sharing interests not only in music but in the surfer culture in general. They officially debuted in 2005 with a reggae sound that borrowed from both Japanese and Hawaiian cultures.Their eponymous Def Tech album, released in January of 2005, was an immediate and surprising success. It sold nearly two million copies and spent time at the top of the Oricon charts. In June they released the E.P. Lokahi Lani, setting a new sales record for an indie label along the way. Def Tech was getting lots of air time on radio stations. They had a number of commercial tie-ins. Their 2006 album Catch the Wave provided the title track for a Japanese film of the same name, in which Micro has a cameo as a surfer. Def Tech was selling out concerts with their energetic performances. They were winning awards for their singles, their music videos, and more.And then in 2007 Def Tech suddenly broke up. The official reason given was that they disagreed about the musical direction of the group. One month prior to their break-up Micro released Laid Back, technically a solo album but one which featured contributions from a variety of artists. Def Tech’s disbandment quickly painted Laid Back in a different light; it originally appeared as a semi-experimental solo album from half a duo, something that is not rare enough to be an instant warning siren. But when Def Tech announced their split almost one month to the day after the release of Laid Back it became easy to look back at the album, the large number of collaborations it features, and realize that it was likely the fruit of a splintering seed that appeared within Def Tech months prior.The music of Laid Back is entirely appropriate for its title, and not significantly different from anything Def Tech created as a duo. As a whole it is slower in tempo and there is a small but noticeable tinge of emphasis on Japanese reggae and rap. Which was no surprise, as Micro was the half of Def Tech that brought those elements to the table. That said, Laid Back is an enjoyable solo endeavor.Def Tech would reunite three years later and remains active, making this album a rare break from the norm for either artist.