DJ Baku new album, Kaikoo compilation and Japanese music download shop

April 17, 2008 by Laurent
Filed under Tablist News

Dharma Dance cover

Update: I’ve just found out today that you can buy the POPGROUP compilation, ‘Kaikoo Planet’, from Play Asia of all places! Click on this link to be taken to the page where you can place your order for worldwide delivery, it’s a little more expensive than you would normally pay for it, but it’s all hassle free, and Play Asia are a reliable shop as any gamer will tell you.

Lots of exciting news from Japan this month, mainly from DJ Baku and his label POPGROUP.

First up is the release of Baku’s second album, ‘Dharma Dance’, which came out earlier on this month on POPGROUP. Following from 2006′s ‘Spinheddz’, the new album shows Baku’s musical maturity with a sound that is a lot more cohesive than in his first outing (not that this was a bad thing first time round mind), and aims square for the dancefloor and getting your head bopping. Baku keeps its short but concise, not wasting any of the 12 tracks. His rock and heavy influences still shine strong, as do a lot of inspiration from dance music, without forgetting some straight hip hop numbers. There are only 2 guests this time round, including the legendary Doseone who puts the vocals down on ‘Void It Out’.

What struck me most on the album is the quality of the production, especially the drums. It seems Baku has been working hard since his debut, and in a strange way the drums on this album remind me a lot of those on DJ Krush’s recent ‘Self Remixed Best of’ compilations – hard hitting, crisp and packing a serious punch. Considering how the album is a lot more upbeat than his previous, the drums form the perfect backbone for the melodies and keeping the energy of the tracks. The album is a definite grower, which only gets better on repeated listens, and on a loud system too preferably.

I’ll be airing a couple of tracks from the album on the forthcoming podcasts (which will be live in the coming week), and you can also check his myspace page for more previews.

Now as is always the case with most Japanese releases, the album is primarily available from Japanese retailers, including the big shops like HMV, Amazon and Tower Records. You can also check the POPGROUP homepage for an online shop where you can buy the album and singles directly.

But the good news is that there is a new Japanese music download shop that has recently opened, called Hear Japan, and which is offering tracks from Baku’s new album for download, DRM-free and in VBR quality at a reasonable price. This is great news for fans of Japanese music, as it can be difficult and frustrating to buy music directly from Japan if you’re knowledge of the language is limited or non-existent. And with Hear Japan being an English site, aimed at catering for non-Japanese fans of the music, that’s the language barrier problem solved.

Hear Japan have a page dedicated to Baku’s new album, where you can preview and buy the tracks. You will find it here.

Be sure to also check the rest of the site while you’re there, as there is plenty already for your ears and the plan is to keep on expanding it.

Back to POPGROUP, there are a few more releases worth keeping an ear out for this month on the label including a Baku remix 12″ and a label compilation.

The remix 12″ is a wicked little slice of Japanese dance music business, with 2 tracks taken from Baku’s debut album, ‘Kannibalism’ and ‘Spin Street’. The first gets a heavy remix courtesy of Goth Trad, who’s been making a serious amount of noise this year on the dubstep scene with his intricate productions and bass manipulations. On this 12″ he turns what was an already dark track into a low-slung head nodder complete with the excellent vocal from MC Kan. Meanwhile, Oak, another POPGROUP artist, give the energetic ‘Spinstreet’ an even more energetic refix, chopping up the original and its catchy melody and building it up into a frenzy. This 12″ comes heavily recommended for anyone who’s a fan of forward thinking electronic music.

As for the compilation, it’s entitled ‘Kaikoo Planet’ and while you might expect it to feature previous releases and the likes it’s actually mainly unreleased tracks, remixes and previews of forthcoming releases and past side projects. Included in there is Baku’s new single with Japanese crew Mic Jack Production, ‘I Ain’t Gangsta’, the two tracks from the aforementioned remix 12″, as well as tracks from other POPGROUP artists including Slipstream, Ratville (with a wicked Teledubgnosis remix), Yas-Kaz and Black Gannion. Two of Baku’s side projects also feature on there, as well as the excellent Skyfish, with a wicked take on the Sleng Teng riddim, the very dark but interesting Dokkebi Q and last but not least DJ Ken One also makes an appearance with his excellent remix of ‘Spinheddz’ which we featured on the podcast back in December last year.

With all these gems on one CD, there’s really no excuse not to get on it and grab a copy. And you also get a DVD with the video for ‘I Ain’t Gangsta’, the whole rolled into a wicked package with great artwork from POPGROUP’s resident artist.

Again for those who don’t speak Japanese, the best place to get your copy of these is on the POPGROUP shop, or check imports at your local shops. Even better, if they don’t carry it, ask them to order a few copies. You can check previews from the tracks on the POPGROUP site and the respective artists myspace pages. All the major chains I mentioned before will also be carrying these releases.

And of course look out for future podcasts as I’ll be airing a bunch of these tracks.

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