Studio Apartment is a Japanese
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
duo, formed in 2000 by DJ and music producer Masanori Morita, and keyboardist Noboru Abe.
Biography
Studio Apartment initially began as a three-member group including a bassist, focusing on a Brazilian
bossa crossover style.
They released their debut album ''Paraiso Terrestre'' in April 2002.
With the release of their 2004 album ''World Line'', the band gained considerable recognition not only in the Japanese dance music scene, but also internationally. Their song “Flight” featuring Monique Bingham on vocals became a worldwide hit, and from there, they continued to produce house tracks. Over time, noted house music singers like Kenny Bobien, Stephanie Cooke, Kimara Lovelace, and AK helped solidify SA's support worldwide.
In 2006, they established their own dance music labels, Apt. and Apt. International. Through these labels, they have released works by Japanese artists such as
Daishi Dance
Daishi Dance (born in 1976) is a male Japanese DJ and record producer.
Summary
Daishi Dance performs in the heart of Sapporo, creating melodious house mixes that feature vocals conveying grief and discontent, and using three turn tables in a hy ...
and Hideo Kobayashi. They have also released works from global house music icons such as
Dennis Ferrer
Dennis Ferrer (born December 26 1970) is a New York–based DJ, producer and remixer. He currently resides in Union City, New Jersey. A veteran of soulful house music production, he has worked with the likes of Masters at Work (MAW), Little Loui ...
,
Kerri Chandler
Kerri Camar Chandler (born September 28, 1969) is an American DJ and record producer. He has been dubbed a pioneer within house music, a genre in which he has an "eclectic brand".
Biography
Chandler's influences go back to New Jersey, growing up ...
, and
Jerome Sydenham,
helping introduce world-standard dance music to Japanese audiences. They have released music through international labels such as
Defected Records
Defected Records, or simply Defected, is a British independent record label specialising in house music recordings, compilation albums, events, publishing, artist bookings and management.
Defected is one of the longest running independent lab ...
in the United Kingdom, and King Street Sounds in the United States.
In 2007, they crossed over to the mainstream Japanese pop scene, after being commissioned to remix "Rock The Party" by
Double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
, "
Bubble Strip" by
Anna Tsuchiya
is a Japanese singer, actress and semi-retired model. Since 2005, she is primarily known as a singer.[Oricon p ...](_blank)
, in addition to producing
Ami Suzuki
is a Japanese recording artist, DJ, and actress from Zama, Kanagawa, Japan. Following her late 90s fame as a popular teen idol, Suzuki went on to become known for her self-penned lyrics and music production.
In 2000, Suzuki entered a legal bat ...
's song "Bitter..." for her album ''
Dolce
Dolce may refer to:
Places
*Dolcè, a municipality in Italy
*Dolce (Plzeň-South District), a municipality and village in the Czech Republic
*Dolce, a village and part of Jesenice (Příbram District) in the Czech Republic
People
* Dolce (sur ...
''.
In 2012, they signed a deal with
EMI Music Japan
, formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Wh ...
(currently
Universal Music Japan
, often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in Japan regarding music distribution. The company is responsible ...
) to release their album ''Nihon no Uta'', which solidified their intentions to go mainstream, as they included songs aimed mainly at
J-pop
J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...
listeners,
featuring appearances by
Su from
Rip Slyme
Rip Slyme (often stylized as RIP SLYME) is a Japanese hip hop group composed of four Master of ceremonies, MCs (Ryo-Z, Ilmari, Pes & Su) and a Disc jockey, DJ, Fumiya. Their sound is influenced by old-school hip hop and other Rapping, western rap ...
,
Meisa Kuroki
Satsuki Shimabukuro (Japanese: 島袋 さつき, ''Shimabukuro Satsuki'', Born on 28 May 1988 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan), better known by her stage name Meisa Kuroki (Japanese: 黒木 メイサ, ''Kuroki Meisa''), is a Japanese actress, mod ...
,
Kishidan
is a Japanese rock band. They have a retro image, wearing Japanese school uniforms in the style of bōsōzoku. The lead singer, Sho Ayanokoji (often styled as "Show Ayanocozey"), was DJ Ozma, until he retired in December 2008. Kishidan annou ...
,
May J.,
TRF, and
Miyavi
, better known by his stage name MIYAVI (雅, ''Miyabi'', stylized in all caps), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger- slapping style of playing a guitar.
He has been active since 1999, f ...
, among others.
In 2014, they composed and produced the song "Hohoemi Mode" by Japanese voice actress
Kana Hanazawa
is a Japanese actress and singer. A prolific voice performer in anime, she has amassed several film and television credits since her debut in 2003. She won the Seiyu Awards, Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015, and won the Newtype A ...
.
In 2020, the duo released ''2020~'', their first studio album in eight years.
Solo projects
In 2015, Noboru Abe participated as sound creator on
Ai Otsuka
is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan. She is a popular artist on the Avex Trax label and is best known for her 2003 hit " Sakuranbo", which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 103 weeks.
A piano player ...
's album ''
Love Tricky'', where he also co-wrote all its songs.
In 2021, Abe began his solo side project under the name ''roiro''.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Paraiso Terrestre'' (2002)
* ''World Line'' (2004)
* ''People to People'' (2005)
* ''For Her For Him For You'' (2007)
* ''2010'' (2010)
* ''Nihon no Uta'' (2012)
* ''2020~'' (2020)
References
External links
*
*
* {{Discogs artist, Studio Apartment, Studio Apartment
Japanese house music groups
Electronic dance music duos