Casino Versus Japan or Casino vs. Japan (born Erik Paul Kowalski; May 5, 1973) is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

-based musician who works in

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

Influences

As a child, Erik Kowalski was originally heavily influenced by Jan Hammer's music for ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'', as well as

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

and

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompani ...

. Kowalski taught himself

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

in the early '90s while in high school.

Early work and releases

Recording guitar-based, ambient/experimental music as Radiogate in 1996 and 1997, Kowalski matured in the underground electronic music community in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. He worked at

Atomic Records Atomic Records was an independent record label based in Hollywood, California, which was founded in 1945 by trombonist Lyle Griffin. Among the notable recording artists on Atomic were Slim Gaillard, Barney Kessel and Griffin himself. In 1947, Grif ...

for 14 years and also wrote for the alternative

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

Milk Magazine Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

'' which also informed developments within many styles of innovative music. During this time he interviewed many of his favorite artists and influences. In early 1998, he approached Mike Bailey (d. 2019) of the local electronic label Star Star Stereo with some demo tapes, and shortly thereafter, released his self-titled debut ''Casino Versus Japan''. This subsequently led to live performances (including several dates opening for Low) with Charles Wyatt (Charles Atlas) accompanying Kowalski on guitar, as well as a subsequent tour opening for Deerhunter in 2010. In January 2000, ''Go Hawaii'' was released on CD by Wobblyhead (later on double-vinyl LP by

City Centre Offices City Centre Offices is a record label based in Manchester, England, with an affiliate in Berlin, Germany. The label, founded in 1998 by Shlom Sviri and De:Bug magazine writer Thaddeus Herrmann, has released music from several notable acts, in ...

, 2001). By the Summer of 2002, the track "It's Very Sunny" was used in a

Hummer Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

commercial. His third album '' Whole Numbers Play the Basics'', followed in September, 2002 on Carpark Records. The song "Manic Thru Tone" was used in

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's " Choose Or Lose" campaign in the Fall of 2002. In 2012, the title track from ''Go Hawaii'' was covered by Adam Peters for use as the incidental theme music for

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

's film '' Savages''.

Collections and collaborations

Hitori Hitori (Japanese: "Alone" or "one person"; ''Hitori ni shite kure''; literally "leave me alone") is a type of logic puzzle published by Nikoli. Hitori is NP complete.{{citation, title=Games, Puzzles, and Computation, title-link=Games, Puzzles, ...

Kaiso Kaiso is a type of music popular in Trinidad and Tobago, and other countries, especially of the Caribbean, such as Grenada, Belize, Barbados, St. Lucia and Dominica, which originated in West Africa particularly among the Efik and Ibibio peop ...

(1998–2001)'', a collection of unreleased tracks, appeared in 2004. The album was compiled and released by Attacknine Records from a large archive of material initially presented as a gift to Nick Huntington of

Freescha Freescha is the musical collaboration of Nick Huntington and Mike McGroarty, based in the San Fernando Valley, California. Huntington and McGroarty have been friends and partners since they met in high school. The duo has released most of their m ...

, and not intended for public release. Huntington enthusiastically encouraged a release, however, which also resulted in the 2010 collection ''Night on Tape'', another batch of selected tracks from the same archive. Casino Versus Japan and

released a Split EP together in 2004. Tracks by Casino Versus Japan have featured heavily during the intermissions of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

Radiolab ''Radiolab'' is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. The show is nationally syndicated and is available as a podcast. Live shows were first off ...

'' podcast. In July 2011 ''Radiolab'' were licensed to allow followers to download Casino Versus Japan's ''Miano: A Pink Night For Snowmen'' from the ''Night on Tape'' album.
Online. Accessed: July 13, 2011.

Discography

Albums and collections

* ''Casino Versus Japan'', CD (1998, Star Star Stereo) * ''Go Hawaii'', CD (2000, Wobblyhead) 2x12" LP (2001,

) * '' Whole Numbers Play the Basics'', CD and LP (2002, Carpark Records) * ''Hitori + Kaiso (1998–2001)'', Double CD (2004, Attacknine) * ''Casino Versus Japan'' eissue(2010,

Moodgadget Moodgadget is an independent electronic music label with the mission of exposing the diversity in electronically made music. Founded in 2004 in Ann Arbor, Michigan by Jakub Alexander and Adam E. Hunt, the label began as an effort to popularize ...

) * ''Night on Tape'' (2010, Attacknine) * ''Frozen Geometry'' (2016, self-release) * ''Suicide By Sun'' (2018, self-release) *''Echo Counting'' (2020, self-release)

Singles and EPs

* Casino Versus Japan +

Jessica Bailiff Jessica Bailiff is an American singer-songwriter from Toledo, Ohio. Her music is largely classified as slowcore, although it contains elements of post-rock and shoegaze. Bailiff was discovered by Low's Alan Sparhawk, who recommended her ear ...

, split 7-inch (2000, Star Star Stereo) * "Via", 10-inch (2001, Wobblyhead) * "Silver And Gold" b/w "64 Colors" Split 7-inch w/ Am Boy (2004, Wobblyhead) * "Casino Versus Japan +

" plitCDEP/12" (2003, Wobblyhead) * "Damaged Errata", "Scenic Loop" (2015, Attacknine)

References

External links

Casino Versus Japan on BandcampCarpark RecordsWobblyheadOfficial MySpace PageAttacknine Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casino Versus Japan 1973 births American electronic musicians Intelligent dance musicians Living people