News (March 26, 2015): This album has been nominated for the 14th Annual Independent Music Awards (The IMAs) in the Dance/Electronica Album category. “Tatsuya Oe has created one of the best electronic music efforts in recent memory and easily one of the most grandiose and memorable of 2014. The fact that his self-titled album as Dark Model is merely a debut should be nothing short of intimidating to all other producers within the world of EDM. (Score: 9.5/10)” Brian Lion, Under The Gun Review “Dark Model’s self-titled album offers up an electronic sound like no other. The symphonic experience is one of a kind as Dark Model provides listeners with an orchestral theme on 16 cuts. (5 out of 5 stars Final Grade: A)” Kyle Jarmon, Examiner.com "As the album comes to its end, it’s clear that Dark Model is a rarity - ambitious in its attempt to fuse cinematic scores with up-to-the-minute dub aesthetics, and overall it’s successful in what it has set out to do." Chris Marsh, Skopemag.com " What really sets Oe apart from his electronic peers is his originality. He creates a sound that cannot be compared to any artist who has come before him. Surely emerging artists will try to emulate Dark Model’s sound, but Oe brings a complexity to his work that is interesting and irresistible (5 out of 5 stars)." Laurie Fanelli, Veggie Fans “This disc really surprised me. It’s not exactly my kind of music. This album, though, just blew me away. In fact, it’s likely to make my best of 2014 list. I’m pretty impressed with this. It works really well and is a great ride.” G. W. Hill, Music Street Journal “His first album, self-titled Dark Model, is an audio storyboard or sorts, and unfolds just as you’d expect from a superhero sound engineer: thrilling adventure, dire downfalls, and triumphant victory.” Darby Bundy, Dance Music Northwest "Gotham City’s Electronic Hero – Dark Model" “In other words, if a Tron 2 were to be released, I think Daft Punk would know who to collaborate with next.” Rachele, What’s Good With It “Tatsuya Oe has created an album that many different music fans can enjoy. The skill demonstrated in this collection of tracks can not be ignored because Tatsuya Oe has a spectacular understanding of what he wants to do with each piece.” Garrett Jutte, Guardian Liberty Voice “Dark Model rides that wave the way a knight would ride into battle. Tatsuya Oe, the brain behind the name, and also known as DJ Captain Funk, blends cinematic orchestrations with new edged electronic music to create music with an intensity that few could achieve.” Victor Alfieri, Wordkrapht “Listening to Dark Model’s debut release really put me in a state of trance. His music does exactly what he wanted it to do, and that’s to build and tell a story.” Amanda Cowan, The DJ List “This is dancey to please most educated club kids , but also serves as his calling card to Hollywood as this album is almost a tapestry of would be soundtracks.” Wil Cifer, “Next Big Thing ?: Dark Model” on Soletron.com “You could call him an electroinc artist, but that would seem to sell him short.” Will Oliver, We All Want Someone To Shout For & Hype Machine “Dark Model is a collection of 16 awesome instrumental tracks that just keep you mesmerized.” Rob Perez, “Dark Model’s self-titled album is a soundtrack to those in a wormhole” on The Music Universe “Crossing genres is tricky to do and be taken seriously, but Dark Model is an example of how it sounds when you do it right. There is an obvious appreciation of diverse musical backgrounds in every track on the album with a flair for the heroic that can unironically be described with terms like “soundscape”. It’s music that truly transports the listener.” Scott Wilson, Quip Magazine "If you want electronic music with depth, this is it." Kimberly Jeong, DJZ -Who is at the helm of Dark Model? - Dark Model is a new project by award winning music producer Tatsuya Oe (who has also been well known as electronic music master/club DJ Captain Funk since the late 90s), which focuses on futuristic, emotional, and edgy orchestral electronic music. Tatsuya was born in Japan, now residing in New York. With his enormously diverse music background, he has produced several hundreds of music related works, including not only his own original releases but also remixes and collaborative projects with many other musicians such as James Brown, Serge Gainsbourg, Ron Sexsmith, Chic, Simon Lebon, Yoshihide Otomo. He has been referred to as “Remix Wizard,” “Unpredictable,” “Captain sailing into the uncharted waters of dance music” by music journalists, and Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) described his music as “F***ing insane!” All of Tatsuya’s fans would attest he has always been bold with the music he creates, adds heart-stirring excitement, has a mastery of style, and has music of real density. You can expect nothing less with his latest project, Dark Model. -What does Dark Model attempt to do in this album? - The basic concept of Dark Model is to make a kind of “Instrumental Narrative” by incorporating a diverse range of musical ideas and elements which Tatsuya has achieved throughout his career. As heard in his past works such as “Songs of the Siren” which was acclaimed by Billboard magazine, Tatsuya has had strong interest in “building and telling a story through music.” However, it is striking that he features much more cinematic elements and orchestral arrangements in this new project than he did previously. He even brings in a touch of traditional Japanese music and culture which he grew up with and was so inspired by, as you can hear in “Prayer for the New Moon” and see in the song titles of “Onibi (Demon Fire)” and “Ran” which means “Resistance” in Japanese. While Dark Model’s music may be on some common ground with film scores, his priority with his project is to make music which stands on its own, not as subordinate to any specific visual or motion elements. This attempt might remind you of “Let’s get killed” by Irish musician/DJ David Holmes who made and released imaginary soundtracks of his own before scoring “Ocean's Trilogy”. -So, what music is included ?- The opening cut “Dance of Wrath”, “Fate”, “Onibi”, and “Judgment Day” walk the line of EDM (Electronic Dance Music), i.e. Dubstep / Drumstep or Electro Funk, while there are so many other musical elements woven together that they can’t be simply pigeonholed as such. Intense orchestral tunes such as “Close to Infinity” and “Ran”, and an uplifting symphonic Trance “Hope Is Never Gone” incorporate the formula of modern dance music and emotional dynamism as heard in Hollywood film soundtracks, yet taking into the next level. Epic pieces like “Broken Arrows” and “I Will Return”, inspirational & psychedelic “Candle in the Desert”, and atmospheric traditional Japanese soundscape “Prayer for the New Moon” embody the concept of storytelling music. Psychedelic industrial tracks “Double Cross” and “Abandoned” throwbacks to soundtracks of the 60s & 70s suspense movies. -Have I ever heard Dark Model’s music? – You may already have heard it. Since the launch of the project in May 2012, Dark Model’s music has been licensed and featured in numerous media projects, including Box Office film promos / trailer for films such as "Elysium", “The Paperboy”, in Verizon “Droid” TV commercial, and in advertising campaigns for Lexus, Oakley, KFC, and many more. All music composed and produced by Tatsuya Oe (p) (c) 2014 Model Electronic & Tatsuya Oe (JASRAC) Art Direction Passion Yoko Graphic Design Richard Roberts