Ki-Oku

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Pairing DJ Krush, known throughout the beat underground for his subdued, trippy soundscapes, with Japanese avant trumpeter Toshinori Kondo may seem an odd pairing. This record, however, is instantly knowable and intuitively easy to grasp. Krush's beats, while certainly up-front, don't come at the price of the composition, nor do they blast Kondo's trumpet out of the tune. DJ Krush is not only able to drive the direction and tempo, but he's also quite adept at creating mood--often mixing up somber, downtempo collages that glide with an underwater grace. His uptempo work is direct, solidly propelled by someone who knows how to handle bass and breaks. Thankfully, the canvasses Krush mixes up are large enough to include Kondo's color work. The trumpeter (who's worked with the likes of Herbie Hancock and John Zorn) takes full advantage of the opportunity. Kondo is a breathy, richly toned player, and his meshings add to the dreamy, psychedelic feel of the recording. He's effective whether he's drifting beside Krush's swirling dub coiled in a haze of effects or punctuating beats with pure blasts of horn fire. A hip-bop classic. --S. Duda

From Jazziz
Willfully dry and barely funky, this album runs the risk of embracing the double-edged racist stereotype that haunts Japanese musicians working in heavily African American-based styles: polite Asians too intellectual for gritty black music. Thankfully, enough contrary evidence exists on Kondo and Krush's other recordings to dispel this myth elsewhere (and anyone dim enough to think black music isn't cerebral needs a lot more help than a CD review can give). Krush often gets labeled jazzy by critics out of laziness as much as for his easy tempos and willingness to float the occasional horn sample through his atmospheric mixes. Really, he specializes in manipulating thick swashes of sculpted ambient sound over loping, deliberate beats. On his well-conceived hip-hop albums, instrumentals alternate with appearances by guest rappers and vocalists to excellent and varied effect. Kondo, a veteran of collaborations with Peter Brötzmann, Derek Bailey, and Herbie Hancock, deploys none of the expected avant-garde pyrotechnics here, beyond an occasional slight sharpness in tone. Clichéd, smooth-jazz trumpet musings, smothered in echo, are the disappointing fare instead - when someone says an unimaginative trumpet player has a Miles-like sense of phrasing, this is the sort of effort to which they're referring. Still, it's hardly an unpleasant album. A few bright points are the use of Middle Eastern melody and Krush's innovative, spare turntable work. Because it seems interested in little beyond simple mood-setting, ultimately it remains ineffectual and inconsequential.

Ki-Oku,DJ Krush,Toshinori Kondo,Instinct Records,Pop,Popular Music,Rap & Hip-Hop,Trip Hop

Ki-Oku

Tracks:

Toh-Sui
Tobira-1
Mu-Getsu
Ha-Doh
Sun Is Shining
Mu-Chu
Tobira-2
Fu-Yu
Ki-Gen
Ko-Ku
Shoh-Ka
Bu-Seki
Tobira-3

Amazon.com

Pairing DJ Krush, known throughout the beat underground for his subdued, trippy soundscapes, with Japanese avant trumpeter Toshinori Kondo may seem an odd pairing. This record, however, is instantly knowable and intuitively easy to grasp. Krush's beats, while certainly up-front, don't come at the price of the composition, nor do they blast Kondo's trumpet out of the tune. DJ Krush is not only able to drive the direction and tempo, but he's also quite adept at creating mood--often mixing up somber, downtempo collages that glide with an underwater grace. His uptempo work is direct, solidly propelled by someone who knows how to handle bass and breaks. Thankfully, the canvasses Krush mixes up are large enough to include Kondo's color work. The trumpeter (who's worked with the likes of Herbie Hancock and John Zorn) takes full advantage of the opportunity. Kondo is a breathy, richly toned player, and his meshings add to the dreamy, psychedelic feel of the recording. He's effective whether he's drifting beside Krush's swirling dub coiled in a haze of effects or punctuating beats with pure blasts of horn fire. A hip-bop classic. --S. Duda

Customer Reviews:

Jazziz Magazine is right on the money (scroll up).......2007-01-09

The trumpet throughout most of this album is unhelpful enough to make me wish it wasn't there at all on some songs. There are brief moments when Kondo's playing illuminates and enhances Krush's moody, earthy beats, but throughout much of the album the horn playing is uninspired and unfocused enough to become distracting and actually diminish the effect of the beats. In places, it kind of sounds as if Kenny G. wandered into a Tokyo ghetto and couldn't find his way out. Those familiar with Krush's other collaborations with edgier, more bombastic Jazz horns (e.g. Edge of Blue) will recall how well they worked out. The album isn't all bad, though. Krush's signature soundscapes make Ki-Oku a satisfying listen when they're being complimented by Kondo, and still listenable when they're not. Recommended for background music more so than for attentive listening.

great album for relaxation with quality music.......2006-01-29

As a trumpet player, I was looking for an album featuring a trumpet with a jazz/free form style and interesting production and beats. This album is exactly what I was looking for, and I'm hoping to do something in this style myself.

Mostly Good Stuff.......2005-07-21

dj krush rarely does much for me as a solo act, but when i noticed he had teamed up with a trumpeter, toshinori kondo, my interest peaked. the collaborators turn out a simple album. dj krush lays down the beats and toshinori kondo plays the trumpet over them. krush and kondo switch between upbeat and slower numbers, most of which don't deviate much from what you would probably expect from krush. on a personal level, i find that the more ambient tracks work better. the beats tend to be more spatial, thus allowing kondo the drivers seat and giving him more room to explore. kondo plays mostly muted melodic notes in a cool jazz fashion, and occasionally he'll play the electronic trumpet - which usually sounds like multiple trumpet parts. the more upbeat tracks have a monotonous beat underneath that just grind my nerves after a while, although they may be a nice spin for you dj folk. for comparison sake, focus somewhere between miles davis 'doo-bop' release and graham haynes 'music for the 21st century.'

One of the most Consistent fusions of Jazz/Trip-Hop.....(Miles Davis would be Proud!!!).......2005-07-05

Dj Krush has been a premier figure in the art of stylished, beat arrangements, for some 12 years now, and he's produced a level of albums that have remained remarkably consistent. veering from hard-edged, hypnotic beats, to Slow cerebral laid-back grooves, as well as ominous and brooding soundscapes, and defining nocturnal and slightly detached tempos. Dj Krush has relatively explored the vast majority of avenues that a DJ/Producer can reasonably expect, encompassing: 'Trip-Hop, Breakbeat, Electronica, Acid-Jazz, Hip-Hop, Ambient'. And he is also remarkable for not only having collaborated with a great many artists, but seemingly able to generally always get the best, out of whomever he decides to collaborate with. Probably one of the more unexpected collaborations, was with celebrated Japanese trumpeter "Toshinori Kondo", who is able to manipulate the trumpet to perform in a sort of lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, that at times is refined, confident and mannered, but then also able to remain inventive with his performances and change the dynamic with a reflective, detached and atmospheric arrangement. Dj's taking Jazz instrumentation and implementing it within the confines of Trip-Hop/Hip-Hop isn't anything new, but instead of making a fairly uptempo Jazz/Hip-Hop record, Krush scales back on the BPM, and produces something far more cerebral and in tune with the relaxed feel, or something like 'Miles Davis'' seminal "Kind of Blue".

What DJ Krush actually contributes himself, is a level of slow burning production, that pays full respect to the trumpeter, providing the programming and beats and more importantly in giving the music a subtly shifting quality, and beautifully coupling the laid-back grooves and low-slung beats with the lushly passionate arrangements, that work perfectly with the tonal and structurally harmonic orchestrated trumpet. Toshinori Kondo himself centres himself perfectly around the widely sensual, atmospheric textures, and languid, mid-tempo break-beats that Krush is able to provide, and rather than remain completely reliant on one form of trumpet, the various tracks across this remarkable album feature him using acoustic and electric trumpet. With some of the tracks that feature electric trumpet owing a sizable influence and debt to Miles Davis's late-period electric albums.

If you've become accustomed to the more uptempo, and breakbeat/Trip-Hop albums, that DJ Krush has become famous for, so long as your aware that no Vocal collaborations with Rappers or singers exists on this record, or that there is nothing here, that largely resembles the blunted, smoked-out beats of other albums, most will find this to be a supremely well-produced and surprisingly soothing album. Think more like an album that has more in common with steamy, soundtrack-type music, with the emphasis on slow beats, scratching, and mellow horns, and intimate grooves layered on top of other grooves. It has the sort of introspective and reminiscing quality of 'Miles Davis's' electric trumpet, fusion of jazz/electronic masterpiece: "In a silent way", but with a heavy emphasis towards beats fused with cool trumpet. Krush fans shouldn't hold back in any hesitation in purchasing this, as it really does fit within the brilliantly consistant run of albums that Krush has produced, and is arguably some of his most melodic and breathtakingly gorgeous work. And such is the elegantly stylish nature of this album, that places a firm emphasis on cerebral intimate harmony, that it has the accessibility & sheer brilliance to grab DJ Krush a whole new set of fans......unquestionably reccommended.

Jazz for blade runners.......2005-06-18

I'm forever in search of the perfect jazz/electronica hybrid, but 99.99% of the albums that are classified that way are just jive dance music with badly-played trumpets or tablas or some damn thing thrown into the mix. Some of Nils Petter Molvaer's music, particularly an obscure remix CD called "Recoloured," comes close; Erik Truffaz's "The Mask" tried to come close, but was too simple and pallid; but Ki-Oku is THE stuff -- the music that Miles Davis would be playing now if he was still alive and awake. Using trumpets and turntables only, two Japanese guys invent vast, brooding sonic landscapes that sound like what Deckerd of "Blade Runner" would be listening to if he had really good taste in jazz. The first track, "Toh Sui," was obviously at attempt to make a "dance-friendly" opener, but after that, the album dives deep into echoey, lonely spaces that are perfect for 3am stoned listening. I gave a copy to one of the guys who helped create "The Matrix" and he said, "This album makes me hallucinate."

Average customer rating:

Sketches of Spain for the Nineties

Ki-Oku
Toshinori Kondo & DJ Krush
Manufacturer: R&S
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Trip-Hop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Experimental Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music

Rap & Hip-Hop | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000007WX3
Release Date: 1998-03-02

Tracks:

Toh-Sui
Tobira-1
Mu-Getsu
Ha-Doh
Sun Is Shining
Mu-Chu
Tobira-2
Fu-Yu
Ki-Gen
Ko-Ku
Shoh-Ka
Bu-Seki
Tobira-3

Album Details

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Customer Reviews:

Sketches of Spain for the Nineties.......1998-12-31

If you like a Miles Davis-esque trumpet layered with trip/hip-hop beats, then you will love this import. All the tracks are consistent, but I wish the beats were a bit more creative, with some more variation. (Well, I suppose some people dig the repetition because it's more danceable, perhaps?) The second to last track is the best on the album in this regard. Listen more for Toshinori's trumpet than for the beat, scratches. The interpretation of Bob Marley's piece caught me off guard. It's a foggy harbor, a Whistler painting, a Los Angelican dusk on Codeine, a hazy-rainy dawn - it's all sfumato all the time. Listen with blue lights on. If you've 2 stereos, try it with some solo jazz piano in the background. You may also enjoy Courtney Pine's Underground for a "jazzier" experiment with hip-hop beats.