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Pornostalgia in spy-fi >> Catching up with Fantastic Plastic Machine
by RUPERT BOTTENBERG Busy, busy, busy. That's what Tokyo DJ/producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, aka Fantastic Plastic Machine, has been since he was here last March. Let's find out what he's been up to, shall we?
Mirror: Your song "Bachelor Pad" popped up in the movie The Spy Who Shagged Me. Do you like the Austin Powers movies? Tomoyuki Tanaka: Of course, I love them very much. It would be so much fun to have my own Mini-Tanaka. M: Those movies are based on the spy satires from the '60s, like Dean Martin's The Ambushers and the Flint movies with James Coburn. Are you a fan of those movies? TT: I started collecting records, and even got into this career, because of my huge love for spy movie soundtracks. I adore not only the movies you mentioned, but some spy films from Italy and Poland. I own a lot of those soundtracks--I enjoy picturing how the story goes from the album cover artwork. M: You've done a theme song for Marvin the Martian. How did that come about? TT: It was requested by Warner Bros. They asked me to sample the voices of Marvin and Bugs Bunny, the effects and the background music that has already aired. The track ended up sounding like my tune, "Dear Mr. Salesman." Even though I had fun making this, it was challenging to make it only two minutes long. M: I hear you're doing music for a Playstation video game... TT: A brand new game, in fact. It's got quite a simple main idea--you must get rid of bombs that are set in hidden places. But, there is a love story happening in the process, and this funky/weird '70s-style Japanese robot appears, too. Visually, it is a combination of computer graphics and real still photography. Oh, you can find me in the game, too--I'm in there as a DJ.
Pornostalgia M: Congratulations on getting props from both Vogue and Playboy. Two fine publications--you must be very proud. Here's a tough question: if you could have a subscription to only one of the two, which would it be? TT: Well... I would subscribe to '50s Vogue and '60s Playboy. I truly admire them. Frankly, I don't find the '90s versions amusing. M: Since the subject has come up, and I noticed you did a track based on Behind the Green Door (my favourite psychedelic porno movie) for a Pussyfoot compilation, I want to complain a bit about the declining aesthetic standards in pornography. In my opinion, '60s Playboy was the high point of porn. In fact, the advertisments were so well designed, they were almost as exciting as the girls. Good articles, too. Do you agree with this? TT: Yes! Completely! I'm in love with this perfect mixture of eroticism and fine art which you could find in the late '60s through the mid-'70s. I have a big collection of photography books and magazines from that particular period. The French magazine Plexus, for example, or the South African photographer Sam Haskins. Also, the hip, mature and stylish erotic comics like Barbarella, and the works of Allen Jones, an erotic pop artist from England, and so on and on and on. I know that after 1980, eroticism and pornography have been more open, but I just don't like them either.
Loving Montreal M: Any other news your fans in Montreal should know about? TT: I just told some interviewer how much I like Montreal, after he asked me where my favourite city in the world is. I really love Montreal. Right now, I'm in the process of making my third album, which should be out by spring. Alongside that, I'm thinking about putting my live band together, maybe with a string octet, computer, turntables and sampler. In fact, I've already decided on the musicians, and my recording is being done based on the live show concept. I'd love to bring my band to Montreal.
At Cabaret on Thursday, September 23, 9pm, $10
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