Eurasia

Area	54,759,000 km2
Population	4,620,000,000 (2010)
Pop. density	84/km2
Demonym	Eurasian
Countries	92 (list)
Dependencies	9
Unrecognized regions	8
Time Zones	UTC to UTC+12

Eurasia with surrounding areas of Africa and Australasia visible

Afro-Eurasian aspect of Earth

Eurasia is a geographical continent. It refers to the uninterrupted landmasses with their associated islands and regions, surrounded by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, along the Sinai Peninsula, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the east.

Overview[link]

Physiographically, it is a single continent;^[1] the concepts of Europe and Asia as distinct continents date back to antiquity and their borders are geologically arbitrary. Eurasia, in turn, is part of the yet larger landmass of Afro-Eurasia, whereby Eurasia is joined to Africa at the Suez Canal.

Eurasia is inhabited by almost 5 billion people, more than 72.5% of the world's population, 60% in Asia and 12.5% in Europe.

History[link]

Eurasia was the host of many modern civilizations, including those based in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

Jared Diamond, in his book Guns, Germs and Steel, credits Eurasia's dominance in world history to the unique east-west extent of Eurasia and its climate zones, and the availability of Eurasian animals and plants suitable for domestication. He included North Africa in his definition of Eurasia, due to it having a similar climate and peoples.

The Silk Road symbolizes trade and cultural exchange linking Eurasian cultures through history and has been an increasingly popular topic. Over recent decades the idea of a greater Eurasian history has developed with the aim of investigating the genetic, cultural and linguistic relationships between European and Asian cultures of antiquity. These had long been considered distinct.

Geology[link]

Eurasia formed 325 to 375 million years ago when Siberia (once an independent continent), Kazakhstania, and Baltica, which was joined to Laurentia, now North America, to form Euramerica, joined. Chinese cratons collided with Siberia's southern coast.

Politics[link]

Every two years since 1996 a meeting of most Asian and European countries is organised as the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Members of the ASEM

Use of term[link]

History of the Europe and Asia division[link]

In ancient times, the Greeks classified Europe (derived from the mythological Phoenician princess Europa) and Asia (derived from Asia, a woman in Greek mythology) as separate "lands". Where to draw the dividing line between the two regions is still a matter of discussion. Especially whether the Kuma-Manych Depression or the Caucasus Mountains form the southeast boundary is disputed, since Mount Elbrus would be part of Europe in the latter case, making it (and not Mont Blanc) Europe's highest mountain. Most accepted is probably the boundary as defined by Philip Johan von Strahlenberg in the 18th century. He defined the dividing line along the Aegean Sea, Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara, Bosporus, Black Sea, Kuma-Manych Depression, Caspian Sea, Ural River, and Ural Mountains. This distinction between Europe and Asia has spread to the rest of the world, even though Asia contains multiple regions and cultures as large and populous as Europe, and as different and geographically separated from each other as they are from Europe.

Anthropology and genetics[link]

In modern usage, the term Eurasian usually means "of or relating to Eurasia", or "a native or inhabitant of Eurasia".^[2] However, it may also refer to a person of both Asian and European parentage, especially in 'New World' countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United States.^{[citation needed]}

West or western Eurasia is a loose geographic definition used in some disciplines, such as genetics or anthropology, to refer to the region inhabited by the relatively homogeneous population of West Asia, Europe and related areas, especially North Africa. The people of this region are often described collectively as West or Western Eurasians.^{[citation needed][original research?]}

Geography[link]

Located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres, Eurasia is considered a supercontinent, part of the supercontinent of Afro-Eurasia or simply a continent its own right.^[3] In plate tectonics, the Eurasian Plate includes Europe and most of Asia but not the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula or the area of the Russian Far East east of the Chersky Range.

Post-Soviet countries[link]

Single markets in European and post Soviet countries; European Economic Area and Common Economic Space

Eurasia is also sometimes used in geopolitics to refer to organizations of or affairs concerning the post-Soviet states, in particular Russia, the Central Asian republics, and the Transcaucasian republics^{[citation needed]}. A prominent example of this usage is in the name of the Eurasian Economic Community, the organization including Kazakhstan, Russia, and some of their neighbors, and headquartered in Moscow and Astana.

The word "Eurasia" is often used in Kazakhstan as the name of the continent or region in which that country is located. Numerous institutions in that country use it in their name, e.g., L. N. Gumilev Eurasian National University (Kazakh: Л. Н. Гумилёв атындағы Еуразия Ұлттық университеті; Russian: Евразийский Национальный университет имени Л. Н. Гумилёва)^[4] (Lev Gumilev's Eurasianism ideas having been popularized in Kazakhstan by Olzhas Suleimenov), the Eurasian Media Forum,^[5] the Eurasian Culture Foundation (Russian: Евразийский фонд культуры), the Eurasian Development Bank (Russian: Евразийский банк развития),^[6] or the Eurasian Bank.^[7] In 2007, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed that a "Eurasia Canal" be built to connect the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea via the Kuma-Manych Depression in Russia, providing Kazakhstan and other Caspian-basin countries with a more efficient access path to the ocean than the existing Volga-Don Canal.^[8] This usage is somewhat analogous to the U.S. usage of the term Western Hemisphere when referring to the concepts and organizations dealing with the Americas (e.g., Council on Hemispheric Affairs or Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation).

Use in fiction[link]

This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience. Please help relocate any relevant information, and remove excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia inclusion policy. (November 2008)

Eurasia is a fictional country, state or supranational entity appearing in several works of speculative fiction, including books, movies, television series and video games:

• A Eurasia comprising approximately the same land area as the real-life landmass appears in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. This superstate excludes Britain and Ireland (both controlled by Oceania) and Eastasia, the latter of which was formed after a 'decade of confused fighting' by an alliance of the states of the real-life East Asia region, the most important three being Korea, China and Japan. India was a contested border zone between Eurasia and Oceania and was the most famous state involved.
• Robert A. Heinlein's story Solution Unsatisfactory, written in 1940, describes a future 1945 (now to be considered an alternate history) in which the Soviet Union is transformed into the 'Eurasian Union'.
• In S. M. Stirling's dystopian Draka alternative history series, the analogue to World War II is known as "The Eurasian War". Somewhat similar in its geography to Orwell's scenario, the war ends with most of Eurasia—excluding the British Isles, India and southeast Asia—being conquered by the extremely oppressive Draka who literally enslave everybody else.
• In the universe of the Earth game series (Earth 2140, Earth 2150, Earth 2160), one of the major factions is the Eurasian Dynasty.
• Eurasia is a large and powerful terrestrial state and member of the Earth Alliance in the Cosmic Era series of the anime franchise Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
• Eurasia is also used as the name of the fictional space colony that X and Zero must stop from colliding with Earth in the video game Mega Man X5.
• Eurasia is also the name of the super-state in the Japanese film Casshern. Unlike most other fictional "Eurasias" this one has more Chinese/Japanese motives than Russian, although Russian seems to be the official written language.
• In the 1980 animated film Animalympics, some of the athletes come from "Eurasia". Although not specifically noted in the film, the names and accents of these athletes suggest that "Eurasia" signifies the Soviet Union at the time. The Soviet Union was, by far, the largest country in the Eurasian continent at the time.
• "United States of Eurasia" is the title of a song by the British alternative rock band Muse from their fifth album The Resistance, alluding to the superstate found with George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty Four, from which the album draws inspiration.
• "In the book series Artemis Fowl, the protagonist's bodyguard Domovoi Butler is mentioned as Eurasian".
• "Kenshi from the video game franchise Mortal Kombat has some ancestry who belongs to Eurasia".

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	Asia portal
	Europe portal

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eurasia

Look up eurasia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• EurasiaNet
• Eurasia Group
• Eurasia Researchers Virtual Meeting

v t e Regions of the World Africa Northern Middle East Sub-Saharan Central Southern Western Eastern Oceania Australasia Australia Zealandia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia America North Northern Middle Central Caribbean South Southern Northern Western Guianan States Anglo Latin (Hispanic) Polar regions Arctic Antarctic Asia Central Eastern Northeastern Northern Southeastern Mainland Maritime Southern Indian subcontinent Western Middle East Oceans World Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Southern Europe Central Eastern Northern Southeastern Middle East Southern Western Seas List of seas Related Continents of the world List of seas Physical Earth

vep:Evrazii

Jools Holland
Holland at the British Academy Television Awards 2009
Background information
Birth name	Julian Miles Holland
Born	(1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 54) Blackheath, London, England
Genres	Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B
Occupations	Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader
Instruments	Piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Website	Official site

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.^[1]

Life and career[link]

His great grandfather came from Ireland.^[2]

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."^[3]

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.^[3]

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks.^[4] He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005

In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album Soul Mining. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.^[3]

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.^[5] Since 1992 he has presented the music program Later... with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootenanny.

In 1996, Holland signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records,^[3] and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff.

Personal[link]

Holland lives in the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath in South East London, where he had his studio, Helicon Mountain, built to his design, inspired by Portmeirion, the setting for the 1960s TV series The Prisoner.^[6] Holland owns costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie.^[6] Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland performed a number towards the end of the program. His younger brother, Christopher, also plays organ in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as being a singer-songwriter.

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film Spiceworld as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.^[7] He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay,^[8] and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings.^[9] He is also patron of the Drake Music Project^[10] and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.^[11]

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, before they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.^[12]

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, an Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.^[13]

Writing[link]

His 2007 biography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts was BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" in the week beginning 8 October 2007 and was read by Holland. He is the author or joint author of four other books.

Discography[link]

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications[link]

Releases[link]

• 1978 "Boogie Woogie '78" (EP)
• 1981 Jools Holland and His Millionaires
• 1984 Jools Holland Meets Rock 'A' Boogie Billy (U.S. release only)
• 1990 World Of His Own
• 1991 The Full Complement
• 1992 "Together Again" (single with Sam Brown)
• 1992 The A-Z Geographer's Guide To The Piano
• 1994 Solo Piano
• 1994 Live Performance
• 1996 " Jazz & Rock & Roll
• 1997 Lift The Lid
• 1998 Best Of
• 1999 Sunset Over London
• 2000 Hop The Wag
• 2001 Small World Big Band
• 2002 SWBB Volume Two: More Friends
• 2003 Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)
• 2004 Tom Jones & Jools Holland
• 2005 Beatroute
• 2005 Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska
• 2006 Moving Out To The Country
• 2007 Best of Friends
• 2008 The Collection
• 2008 The Informer (With Ruby Turner)
• 2008 "The Informer" (single with Ruby Turner)
• 2009 "I Went By" (single with Louise Marshall)
• 2010 Rockinghorse

Film and television[link]

• 1981 Urgh! A Music War
• 1982 Police: Around the World
• 1982 - 1987 The Tube (Host for 121 editions)
• 1983 Rebellious Jukebox: Compere
• 1984 The Young Ones: Punk (Episode entitled "Summer Holiday")
• 1985 Walking To New Orleans (Jools Holland in New Orleans)
• 1987 Eat the Rich: Sun Reporter
• 1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap: Strip Show Pianist (Episode #1.3)
• 1987 The Laughing Prisoner: No. 7
• 1987 French and Saunders (Episode 1.5)
• 1988 Sunday Night: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 Juke Box Jury: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 The Groovy Fellers Himself, 6 episodes
• 1991 Mr Roadrunner (Jools Holland in Memphis)
• 1994 There's No Business: Pianist
• 1994 - 1995 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
• 1995 The Beatles Anthology
• 1997 Spice World: Musical Director
• 1997 Name That Tune: Host and Pianist
• 2003 Jool's History of the Piano : Presenter
• 2006 Top Gear: Star in a reasonably priced car.
• 2007 Fairport@Forty: Interview
• 2009 Chop Shop Rover Concept: The Jet 1 Car : Customer

Current television programmes[link]

• 1992–present Later... with Jools Holland
• 1993–present Hootenanny

Books[link]

• "Rolling Stones": A Life on the Road, (with Dora Loewenstein), Viking/Allen Lane (1998), (ISBN 0-670-88051-5)
• Beat Route: Journeys Through Six Counties, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (1998), (ISBN 0-575-06700-4)
• Ray Charles: Man and Music, (with Michael Lydon), Payback Press (1999), (ISBN 0-86241-929-8)
• Hand That Changed Its Mind , International Music Publications (2007), (ISBN 1-84328-645-9)
• Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts , Michael Joseph Ltd (2007), (ISBN 0-7181-4915-7)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jools Holland at the Internet Movie Database
• Jools Holland's Radio 2 show at BBC Programmes
• Later...with Jools Holland at BBC Online

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (January 2007)

Gui Boratto
Boratto performing at MUTEK
Background information
Birth name	Guilherme Boratto
Origin	São Paulo, Brazil
Genres	House Progressive house Tech house Techno Minimal techno
Occupations	Disc jockey Record producer
Years active	2004 – Present
Labels	Kompakt
Website	guiboratto.com.br

Gui Boratto (born 1974 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian electronic music producer. In the 1990s he was a member of Sect.

His album Chromophobia^[1] was awarded the title of Mixmag Album of the Month. Regarding why he chose the name Chromophobia, Boratto said: "The same meaning as monochromatism in architecture, which means simplicity. That’s all. I don’t have a morbid fear of colors at all. But also, I was ironic. My music is really colorful." ^[2]

On stage, Gui uses a laptop equipped with Ableton Live, a JazzMutant Lemur, a monome and an Evolution Uc33e. He sometimes invites a guitar player to join him.^[3]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Chromophobia, Kompakt, 2007
• Take My Breath Away, Kompakt, 2009
• III, Kompakt, 2011

Singles and EPs[link]

• "No Turning Back" Take My Breath Away, 2009
• "The Rivington EP" (12"), 2008
• "Tales From The Lab", 2008
• "Royal House", Plastic City, 2007
• "Beluga" (12") Audiomatique Recordings, 2006
• "Brazilian Soccer - Edition (Paralelo, Tipologia)" (12") Killa Beat Recordings, 2006
• Division EP (12") Harthouse Mannheim, 2006
• "Gate 7" (12") K2, 2006
• "It's Majik" (12") Plastic City, 2006
• "Like You" (12") Kompakt Pop, 2006
• "Sozinho" (12") K2, 2006
• "Speicher 38 (The Rising Evil)" (12") Kompakt Extra, 2006
• "Arquipélago" (12") K2, 2005
• "Sunrise" (12") Plastic City, 2005
• Twiggy EP (12") Circle Music, 2005

Remixes Drum & Bass / Synth-Pop[link]

• Kaleidoscopio - "Feliz de Novo" (Gui Boratto Remix)
• I Rava One Drean -
• Kaleidoscopio - "Meu Sonho" (Star Guitar by Gui Boratto Extended)
• Helen Christina - "Canto de Ossanha" (Gui Boratto's extended mix)
• Groovetronick vs. Gui Boratto - Sem Mais

Remixes Minimal / Techno[link]

• Agoria featuring Scalde - "Baboul Hair Cuttin" (Gui Boratto remix) 6:43
• Eyerer and Chopstick - "Haunting" (Gui Boratto remix)
• Guy J and Sahar Z - "Hazui" (Gui Boratto remix) 7:13
• Monoroom - "Memory Inc" (Gui Boratto remix) 6:32
• Zentex - "Pimioe" (Gui Boratto remix) 07:04
• Oliver Klein - "Re-Kraft" (Gui Boratto version) 7:43
• Alexis Tyrel - "Rebecca Loos" (Gui Boratto Remix) 8:13
• Tube and Berger featuring Vanity - "Funky Shit" (Gui Boratto Remix) 6:41
• Delon and Dalcan - "Beyond Clouds" (Gui Boratto remix) 7:03
• Robert Babicz - "Sin" (Gui Boratto remix) 8:35
• Sian - "Flood" (Gui Boratto remix) 09:03
• Will Saul and Tam Cooper - "Sequential Circus" (Gui Boratto remix) 7:34
• Patrice D Angello and Nick Holson - "One Day" (Gui Borratto Remix) 8:20
• Tocadisco Feat. Lennart A. Salomon - "Better Begin" (Gui Boratto Remix) 8:22
• Philip Flindt - "Forward (Gui Boratto Remix)" 6:54
• Phonique - "Space Cruise" (feat Gui Borrato Phonique Version) 6:40
• Pet Shop Boys - "Love etc" (Gui Boratto remix), 2009
• Solee - "Impressed" (Gui Boratto Remix) Parquet Recordings, 2009
• Adam Freeland - "Silverlake Pills" (Gui Boratto Remix), 2008
• Bomb the Bass - "Black River (featuring Mark Lanegan)" (Gui Boratto Remix), 2008
• Sam Taylor-Wood & Pet Shop Boys - "I'm In Love With A German Film Star" (Gui Boratto remix), 2008
• Goldfrapp - "A&E" (Gui Boratto Remix) Mute Records, 2007
• Agoria - "Baboul Hair Cuttin'" (Gui Boratto Remix) Different Recordings, 2006
• Oscar - "Freak Inside" (Gui Boratto Remix) Confused Recordings, 2006
• Kaleidoscopio - "Você Me Apareceu" (Gui Boratto Horn Mix) Cuadra, 2004
• Adam Freeland - "ManCry" (Gui Boratto Remix), 2008 (Unreleased)
• Moby – "Pale Horses" (Gui Boratto’s Last Window Remix), 2009
• Massive Attack - "Paradise Circus" (Gui Boratto Mix), 2009
• Trentemoller - "Sycamore Feeling", 2010
• Battles - "Wall Street (Gui Boratto Remix)", 2012

References[link]

External links[link]

• Gui Boratto Official Website
• MySpace
• Boratto interview
• Stylus magazine article
• (French) Interview Gui Boratto - Actualites Electroniques
• (English) Interview Gui Boratto - Actualites Electroniques

Susumu Hirasawa (平沢進, Hirasawa Susumu^?, born April 2, 1954 in Tokyo, Kantō region) is a Japanese electropop artist and composer.

In 1972, he enrolled at Tokyo Designer Gakuin College. From 1972 to 1978, he performed in his first band Mandrake, a progressive rock group influenced by King Crimson and Yes. In 1979 he formed a New Wave synth-rock & techno-pop band called P-Model, along with two former members of Mandrake. They released a string of albums through the 1980s, and in 1989, Hirasawa began releasing solo work, while also continuing to work with the reactivated P-Model beginning in 1992. The P-Model project continued until 1999; in 2004 Hirasawa started a new unit known as Kaku P-Model, which is effectively a solo continuation of P-Model.^[1]

Compositions and performances[link]

Hirasawa uses Amiga computers extensively in his work, using applications such as Scala, Bars and Pipes, and OctaMED in the production of his music. One of the factors that set him apart from other Japanese electronic artists is ever-changing production techniques. For 2001's Solar Ray album, his recording studio was powered completely by solar energy.^[1]

His subject matter can be equally unusual. A constant source of inspiration for his music has come from Thailand. In fact, the concept behind his 1995 album Sim City was drawn from his experiences travelling there, and more specifically, from Thai transsexuals. Guest Thai vocalists appear throughout that and proceeding albums, including 1996's Siren, which was also a concept album based on Thailand. As for his lyrical inspiration, Hirasawa references the philosophies of yin and yang, his travels and the principles of nature vs. machines.

Hirasawa occasionally stages interactive live performances. They merge computer graphics with his music to tell interactive stories, and involve heavy use of computers, particularly Amiga systems, motion capture cameras and video projectors. The flow of each live show is determined by audience participation; for example, Interactive Live Show 2000 was formatted as a maze, and the audience was allowed to choose which path to follow. Sometimes, audience participation plays a part in the performed music, as it did in Interactive Live Show 2000. He provided the phone numbers to four cellular phones during one song, and the audience was allowed to call the numbers to have him play the corresponding ringtone. This provided an improvised harmony between the background music and the ringing phones.^[2]

Hirasawa's live music is based on samples he activates with various hand-crafted sampler machines, pre-recorded tracks without vocals, and no regular backup performers. For the Solar Ray live tour, he used solar power and a power-generating wheel, inspired by bicycles, to power his electronic equipment. DVDs are available of his innovative award-winning live performances via his website (and ordering through Teslakite).

Activism[link]

Hirasawa spoke out against "the nations that are headed towards carnage while ignoring international law" and the actions of the Japanese government in aiding such actions. Specifically, he pointed to the American response after the September 11, 2001 attack, which he believes to involve excessive murder of innocent people. As a result of his convictions, Hirasawa has offered free downloads of his music, which he hopes will be used as tools of objection.^[3]

Discography[link]

P-Model[link]

Original albums[link]

As KAKU P-Model (solo)[link]

Soundtracks[link]

These are all animation soundtracks, except Kamui Mintara which is a documentary soundtrack.

Singles[link]

Videos[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• English translation of an interview with Susumu Hirasawa from Ikir Sector, an Italian-language website
• Susumu Hirasawa's official site (in English)
• Susumu Hirasawa's "Free Distribution Against the Carnage" anti-war protest page
• Teslakite, Susumu Hirasawa's online store (Japanese)
• The most comprehensive and current English information site
• A review of Interactive Live Show 2000 DVD Version 1.4
• RocketBaby's Interview
• Susumu Hirasawa discography at MusicBrainz
• Jmusic.fr.tc Biography and complete discography at the jmusic section (in French)
• Susumu Hirasawa discography at Discogs