Ken Ishii

Born in Sapporo in 1970 and active since the early 1990s, Ken Ishii has established himself as one of the Japanese producers associated with the international rise of techno. Trained within Tokyo's electronic scene, he released his first tracks on the Belgian label R&S, notably Garden on the Palm in 1993, and then developed a writing that blends Detroit techno, ambient, electro, and futuristic textures, often structured around precise rhythms and meticulously crafted atmospheres. Ken Ishii then released several landmark albums of this period, such as Innerelements in 1994, Jelly Tones in 1995, Metal Blue America in 1997, and Sleeping Madness in 1999, while getting his music circulated in clubs and festivals in Europe as well as in Asia. His career also includes projects under other names, among them FLR and Rising Sun, as well as work for film and video games. In 1998, Ken Ishii composed for the opening ceremony of the Nagano Winter Olympics, and the Extra video clip, directed by Koji Morimoto, received MTV Europe’s Best Dance Clip award in 1997. Subsequently, he continued a steady trajectory between DJ sets and productions, with albums such as Sunriser in 2006, Music for Daydreams in 2012, Taiyo in 2013, and Möbius Strip in 2019.