Wiki Chosen Album Review: "Ki-Oku" by DJ Krush & Toshinori Kondo

In an effort to keep this blog going, I am going to attempt to write an album review. I currently have an idea that originated from something I touched upon in my last blog entry. While I do have a record of some source material and references from the net (which brought me back to doing essays during my college years), it's something I would need a bit of time to write during a weekend, especially as I need to figure out how to go about it without giving too much away in terms of my private life. Also, I've been busy with work, birthdays, meeting old friends, weekend plans hospital visits and my ongoing battle with insomnia and disturbed sleep patterns. So, I decided to do something that came into my head a while back, but seems like a good idea for an article theme.

.....jeez, I hope to do away with these elongated intros once I have this blog up and running to some type of structure. Anyways, here is an explanation to the title of this blog entry.

A while back, I was thinking of how disillusioned by music nowadays, and how hard it is to find something that would interest me, whether it be newly released, or something from the past that I was never exposed to for some reason. In this day and age where the internet can provide you with music at the click of a button, legal or illegal, sometimes it's hard to know where to start. MTV has turned into a bunch of pointless reality shows that it's lost all meaning of its acronym (with it's only saving grace being re-runs of "Fresh Prince Of Bel Air".....yeah, go figure), and the music industry peddles out brainless, reality based talent shows knock-offs at an alarming rate. But I'm most likely telling you what you already know.

I know it's because I'm getting older, but for me, gone are the days of buying music magazines (which you could just read over the net), going to pubs and clubs (which play the same music every week), and taking recommendations from friends, when they either just end up either sticking with their old reliable tastes (people my age or older), or if their current taste just sounds like a load of crap (people younger than me). And I'm sure some of you may know what I'm talking about, so I won't elaborate any further.

That's all well and good, but get to the point already.....

A few days ago, I had an idea. While I was on Wikipedia, I hit the "random article" button, just to see what articles came up, which ranged from the lunar eclipse of January 1973, the Silver Age of comic books, and the plot of a Tom & Jerry cartoon. It gave me an idea that if I happen to stumble upon a Wikipedia page of a music album, no matter what artist or genre, I will (ahem) temporarily acquire the album through illegal means, with the intention of listening to it out of curiosity, with the possibility of purchasing said album if I deem it worthy enough to part ways with my hard earned euros. And so I clicked away, until finally, the first album page that came up was.....

No really, this album came up

.....yyyeeeaaahhh, I'm just gonna say that was a test run. So the first "proper" choice that came up was "Ki-Oku", a collaboration between two Japanese recording artists, DJ Krush and Toshinori Kondo.

What do I know of the artist(s)?

Absolutely nothing. I have never heard of the artists in questions, never mind their musical output, nor am I well versed in hip-hop (DJ Krush) nor jazz fusion (Toshinori Kondo).

And what did I think of the album?

With my initial reaction to stumbling upon this album's Wiki page, along with my lack of knowledge when it came to the artist and the genre, I must say I was surprised by the fact that I actually liked the album. The first few tracks, in particular "Toh-Sui", "Hah-Do" and "Mu-Chu", really caught my attention. Most of the tracks include a hyphen in the middle, with the exception of three interludes which include the word "Tobira" and their respective number after it, and "Sun Is Shining", which is a Bob Marley cover. The inclusion of this song is a tad bit confusing, while it is remade to fit the style of the album, it seems to be out of place when compared to the other tracks. I got the impression that this was to be released as a single, if this album was to have one.

While I did find the first half of the album listenable up to "Tobira-2", the second half left my mind wandering every now and them, with the tracks sounding directionless, therefore not grabbing my attention. Then again, I have only listened to the album a handful of times, one of which while I was on a bus on the way to work, and this is the only album of its kind that I have listened to, so I would say after a few more listens, maybe they would grow on me. But for now, I am writing purely on first impressions. The beats on this album are more in line with the "trip-hop" style of music, which bring up comparisons with Massive Attack and Wu-Tang Clan, if I was to think of similar artistic styles. The jazz trumpet sounds bring an interesting layer to a genre I would never think would mesh together properly, but I feel it does here.

What track would I recommend?

The opening track "Toh-Sui".

Would I buy this album?

The weird thing is, I would buy this album, even if possessing it would make me look like a pretentious music critic. Calling this album "a mixture of trip hop beats laced with jazz fusion sensibilities" sounds a bit snobbish while reading it out. The album also reminds me of something I would hear in either an arty coffee shop, or a high class trendy bar (well, if I can get past the bouncers who would not accept "my type" in that establishment). But I do think that I would play this album again, whether it be in the background while relaxing at home, or during another bus journey.

One slight problem though. It was hard enough to find this album to download, it seems even harder to actually buy a physical copy. I very much doubt that this album was released anywhere outside of Japan. According to Amazon, a new copy would cost me £35. There are second hand copies for sale, but for some reason, second hand goods cannot be sent to my home country. So I will have to make do with what I acquired from the internet. But for you folks reading this, you can check out the whole album below (courtesy of YouTube).