Thursday, December 09, 2004
I’ve been listening a lot to the latest DJ Krush CD Jaku. It’s actually the first of his records I’ve ever owned, which is surprising as he has released a ton over at least the last ten years. I’m liking it A LOT. The feel is pretty mid-tempo to laid-back, but with a definite intensity at all times. Every piece seems to fit together perfectly. The somewhat slippy beats mix are often mixed with traditional Japanese acoustic instruments - I particularly like they way they utilize the shakuhachi. Perhaps to switch things up a bit, there’s also two vocal tracks featuring Def-Jux “stars” Mr. Lif (whose I Phantom was one of my favorites from 2002) and Aesop Rock. Krush manages to use each in a way I‘ve never quite heard them sound before, burying them a bit more than usual under the mix, but it works. There’s almost a soundtrack quality to a lot of the tracks, there’s a creepy feeling in there - some kinda monster from outer-space. But the ultimate highlights for me are the short instrumental tracks Road to Nowhere and Song 2 that seem to embrace repetition and truly get my head bobbin the most. Will be picking up more of the back catalog soon.
