To celebrate the launch of INTERSECT BY LEXUS RECORDS, the new record label by LEXUS supervised by INTERSECT sound producer TOWA TEI, a party was held at INTERSECT with TEI and many other guests from the world of music and beyond.

TEI invited a wide range of creative people from his personal network to the latest gathering in the series of hINT events at INTERSECT.

July 22nd saw the first release from INTERSECT BY LEXUS RECORDS, a 7-inch LP featuring two tracks: on the A-side is “Cul de Sac” by TOWA TEI with Leo Imai, while the B-side has “Amai seikatsu” by Maki Nomiya and Hiroshi Takano, recorded live at the “Neighboring House” event at INTERSECT in March. The record is available at INTERSECT BY LEXUS – TOKYO, HMV, Disk Union, Tower Records, JET SET, and more.

For the launch event, DJ duties were handled by TEI himself and DJ Hico.

The party kicked off with a greeting from Lexus International’s General Manager, Atsushi Takada. “Recently we’ve seen a big revival in interest in analog music in America, Europe, and Japan,” he said. This cultural renaissance was the inspiration behind launching INTERSECT BY LEXUS RECORDS with TOWA TEI.

The DJ then took over, introducing the painter Tomoo Gokita, who created the original artwork used on the LP jacket. Joining Gokita and TEI was art director Keiji Ito and music writer Shunichiro Nakaya.

The four discussed the important role jacket artwork plays for an LP record. To illustrate the theme, TEI, Gokita, and Ito had brought along some examples, which they played while discussing how the jacket design worked with the music.

TEI presented a “super rare” record called “Black Saturday Volume 4” with a silkscreen-printed jacket. Ito, on the other hand, had a record with a jacket featuring art by cult American cartoonist Robert Crumb, “Banana In Your Fruit Basket – Red Hot Blues 1931-36” by Bo Carter.

Party guests like art director Mitsuo Shindo and interior designer Uichi Yamamoto also shared interesting examples of record cover art.

The food for the party was inspired by the white colors of the LEXUS vinyl release. The mouth-watering treats included Milk & Cookie Shot, a shot glass-style cookie filled with white chocolate sauce by New York-based Dominique Ansel Bakery.

To close the party, Maki Nomiya and Leo Imai performed their tracks from INTERSECT BY LEXUS RECORDS #001.

“Thanks for coming down to INTERSECT to celebrate the release of our first record,” said TEI as he bid farewell for this installment of hINT.