Kam

As the vocalist for Sugar Soul, Aiko Machida was instrumental in helping popularise R&B in Japan in the late '90s, only to disappear from the public eye after the group disbanded in 2001. She returned last year with a rather different group: Kam unites Machida – or Aikosun, as she now prefers to be known – with former Mute Beat keyboardist Hirofumi Asamoto and drum'n'bass master of ceremonies MC Cardz. Their poppy take on drum'n'bass is either coming about 15 years too late, or else just in time for the inevitable revival (judging by the recent success of Chase & Status in the UK, it might be the latter). Kam's latest live date is in support of a pair of mini albums, Spiritual and Material, due out on June 1.