Turntable Radio – ‘Live from Kami-Kitazawa’ podcast
October 24, 2007 by Laurent
Filed under Live Sessions, Podcasts (all)
Following from our summer extravaganza of podcasts (check the archives if you missed any of it) we’re very proud to bring you another first for Turntable Radio – a live session recorded last month in Kami-Kitazawa, Tokyo. For the first time we’re broadcasting an hour and a half of audio performed live and recorded exclusively for Turntable Radio.
The long and short of it: a few months ago I hooked up with Ken-One and Naoki, two of the finest and nicest tablists in Tokyo. The plan was to arrange for a session with some of Tokyo’s upcoming talents, record it and broadcast it for everyone to check out. The first time such a session would be arranged with Japanese turntablists to be heard outside of Japan. The session was arranged and happened last month, at the studio of the Human Rhythm crew in Kami-Kitazawa. Massive, massive thanks go to Ken-One and all the guys for making this possible. I wouldn’t have been possible to get much done with my still pretty basic Japanese.
The session lasted well over 6 hours, testament to these guys’ stamina and love for what they do. Basically the format was simple: get them all in one room with a bunch of equipment, let them jam and record it all. The result is an hour and a half of edits from the session. Everything you hear on this podcast is performed live, with little or no rehearsal, totally off the cuff for the most part. The only exception is a Ken-One track at the beginning.
As I mentioned the aim of this session is to showcase some of the talent in Tokyo which is rarely heard outside of Japan (though more and more seen thanks to the likes of youtube). Present on the day were: the Exsample crew (Ken-One, Naoki, Shige), Human Rhythm crew (ru, Satoshi, Tsuyoshi and ???) and Miyajima (current DMC Japan champion, and one of Japan’s best scratcher by a long mile). Together these guys represent some of the freshest talent in Japan right now – taking in influences and ideas from Japan and elsewhere and bringing their own elements to it.
Exsample is probably the most established lot, with Ken-One having been a part of the Tokyo scratch scene for many years. Ken-One has produced for the likes of Kan (MSC), and showcased alongside the likes of Kentaro, D-Styles, Qbert and more. Naoki was the finalist in the 2005 Vestax freestyle final against Enfoe, and will be releasing his debut break record soon. As for Human Rhythm, these guys have been working together for a while using a simple formula of 3 turntables and one MPC. They’re one of the most interesting crews to come out of the new generation of Japanese tablists. Having taken the concept of the turntable band pioneered by US and European artists, these guys have been doing their own thing, bringing in new ideas and sounds. As for Miyajima, he’s also been a fixture of the Japanese tablist scene for a while and he’s widely recognised as one of the country’s finest scratchers. This is a man who’s known for refusing to do anything but cut – focusing solely on scratching in its rawest form. He’s developed his own cuts over the years, documented in the excellent ‘Kaikoo’ DVD and soon to be featured in Q-Bert’s forthcoming scratch encyclopedia DVD as well. Miyajima has also battled in the past (he returned to battles this year and won DMC Japan) and for a while set up his own turntable band too (the name of which escapes me now). Amongst all the scratchers in Japan right now, Miyajima is definitely one of the most interesting, with a unique style as you’ll hear.
Alongside guys like Baku, Kentaro, Hifana, Kireek and others, these guys represent one of the facets of the tablist artform in Japan today – with its own unique and distinct sound and aesthetic. We hope you enjoy what you hear as much as we did putting it together. As I said everything on this podcast is live and wouldn’t have been possible without the kindness of the Human Rhythm crew who were the hosts for the day. Included in this podcast are edits from the many, many freestyles as well as some tracks performed by each crew. These tracks were all performed live, with little rehearsal.
There’s a tracklist below as well as a list of links for you to check if you want to find out more about the artists featured on this session. Look out for their forthcoming releases and if you like what you hear than please support. Also look out for a video of Ken-One live in Tokyo earlier on this year which will be podcast in the coming week to accompany this session.
There were more artists we wanted to feature on this special, including DJ Baku, unfortunately it wasn’t possible. But we’ll be working on doing some more live sessions in the coming months so watch this space for more info soon.
Enjoy!
DJ Ken-One – http://www.myspace.com/djken1
Human Rhythm – http://www.humanrhythm.jp
Turntable Radio – ‘Live from Kami-Kitazawa’ tracklist
Dj Baku – Turntable Radio intro
Exsample – Intro freestyle
Dj Ken-One – In-To-Yo (taken from Kan’s debut album)
Exsample & Human Rhythm – String freestyle
Exsample & Human Rhythm – Drums and cuts freestyle
Exsample, Human Rhythm and Miyajima – Freestyle
Human Rhythm – Intro
Human Rhythm – Track 1
Human Rhythm – Track 2
Human Rhythm – Track 3
Miyajima & Tsuyoshi – Freestyle
Exsample – Track 1
Exsample – Jam session
Exsample & Human Rhythm – Jam session
Tsuyoshi & Naoki – Electro freestyle
Exsample, Human Rhythm & Miyajima – Final freestyle pt 1
Exsample, Human Rhythm & Miyajima – Final freestyle pt 2
Dj Ken-One – Solo freestyle
Direct download link – right click and save as
bizzyfingers on Wed, 24th Oct 2007 7:24 pm
im looking forward to listening to this at work tomorrow, JUST A QUICK QUESTION. some time ago there was a really good podcast from yourselves. i cant remember who produced it but it was about the nuclear war in the world. i believe it had clips from war games. what and who made this, i cant remember and have lost the cast. please email me astranomicaslnova@yahoo.co.uk thank you and peace to all
Disquiet » Massive Japanese Turntablism Primer MP3 on Sat, 27th Oct 2007 2:01 am
[...] a crash course in Japanese turntablism? Set your dial to turntableradio.com, which is hosting an excellent hour-and-a-half-long mix of material performed by a variety of [...]
Martin on Sat, 27th Oct 2007 10:03 am
Ahhh man, that was dope. Real tight podacast man, i been waitin tiiiime for a look at the Tokyo table scene. Human Rhythm wa ichiban ongaku yo. Daisuki desu. Loved the live set of Track one using the Ghost in the Shell smaple. Aweseme!
You guys should get in contact with the people at Studio Rarekwai and get some of the podcasts recorded and distributed. A few years back Rarekwai did the ‘Scratching the Surface’ documentary in Japan, which was real real dope.
Again brilliant work man
Take care
Laurent on Sun, 4th Nov 2007 9:31 am
@bizzyfingers – the podcast you’re on about wasn’t on TTR, it was a Rhythm Incursions podcast, ‘Road To Oblivion’ by DJ Pain. Still available on the RI feeds – http://www.rhythm-incursions.com
@martin – thanks for the kind words. I actually know the SRK boys quite well, it was them who originally hooked me up with Baku’s manager and made it possible for me to do some of the stuff i did on the Japanese tablist scene while i was still in London. Those boys are big!
THere’s definitely going to be some more japanese tablism showcased in the future, including videos and more. it’s just time more than anyting but seeing how popular this has been it’s definitely something im gonna do.
bizzyfingers on Tue, 6th Nov 2007 5:37 pm
@laurent thank you very much for the response and to yourselves at ttr for opening my eyes to some of the artists you play. i wait for you casts patiently but… there needs to be more of them… more i tell thee!!!!!
Laurent on Sun, 18th Nov 2007 10:27 am
I need to have more than 24h in a day I tell thee!!
yeah i’d love to do more regular casts but time is of the essence and i’ve got fuck all of it at the moment, and i made a conscious decision when we moved to podcast to not compromise quality for quantity.
The new podcast should be done in the coming weeks and trust me it’s gonna be a good one. plus we’re working on some new things for the new year
jarvys on Sun, 25th Nov 2007 9:48 am
Jeee, very good!
–> The track with the intro from ghost i t shell is simply monster!