SE2 week 2 – Naoki live @ Star Pines cafe
January 31, 2010 by Laurent
Filed under Guest Mixes, Live Sessions, Podcasts (all)
We continue our Turntable Radio and Rhythm Incursions Japan special with week 2 of exclusive audio from Ken One’s Skratch Evolution 2 event, held in Kichijoji, Tokyo in December 09. If you missed part 1 check it here.
Up this week we have a live set from Naoki, while over on Rhythm Incursions we have a DJ Duct live set. Full schedule of the 4-week long special is at the bottom of this post.
Naoki is someone I discovered thanks to Ken One when I was living in Tokyo. Well actually I met him alongside Ken, as he’s one of the few fluent DJs living in Tokyo and was an integral help in setting up the sessions we did in Tokyo in 07 and 08. It’s at that time I learnt he had already been making a name for himself on the Tokyo and Japanese tablist scene, most notably coming runner up at the 05 Vestax freestyle battle. He lost to Enfoe, from Texas, in a battle many agree is one of the closest and best Vestax ever ran.
Following this he’s been working alone, as well as with Ken One and Shige with whom he forms the Exsample band. Unfortunately I don’t think he has a myspace or website, but last I heard he was working on a break record that should be out now. We’ve also aired a few exclusive tracks of his in the past so be sure to check the archives for more.
EDIT: Turns out he does have a myspace, which you can check here for tracks and videos.
This live set is quite different from some of the music we’ve featured from him in the past and it’s a refreshing listen – electro and house styles sitting comfortably alongside more straight forward live tablist action and some seriously heavy drumming and cutting. I think it’s fair to say that this live set shows just why this young man is one of the country’s most talented tablists. I sure hope we get to hear more from him in the future.
So sit back and enjoy 40 mins of Naoki live, and be sure to also check Rhythm Incursions for some DJ Duct action this week.
Download Naoki live at Star Pines cafe (right click and save as)
SE2 special line up:
- Week 1
- Rhythm Incursions – Ichiro_ live
- Turntable Radio – Ken One live
- Week 2
- Rhythm Incursions – DJ Duct live
- Turntable Radio – Naoki live
- Week 3
- Rhythm Incursions – XLII + Dolbee&Sibitt (志人） live edits
- Turntable Radio – Skratch Evolution jam session
- Week 4
- Rhythm Incursions – Ken One Skratch Evolution promo mix
- Turntable Radio – DJ Duct Skratch Evolution promo mix
- Week 1
- Rhythm Incursions – Ichiro_ live
- Turntable Radio – Ken One live
- Week 2
- Rhythm Incursions – DJ Duct live
- Turntable Radio – Naoki live
- Week 3
- Rhythm Incursions – XLII + Dolbee&Sibitt (志人） live edits
- Turntable Radio – Skratch Evolution jam session
- Week 4
- Rhythm Incursions – Ken One Skratch Evolution promo mix
- Turntable Radio – DJ Duct Skratch Evolution promo mix
SE2 week 1 – Ken One live @ Star Pines cafe
January 24, 2010 by Laurent
Filed under Guest Mixes, Live Sessions, Podcasts (all)
As mentioned a few weeks back on Rhythm Incursions we’re starting a series of weekly podcasts, lasting a month, featuring exclusive live audio from Ken One‘s recent ‘Skratch Evolution 2‘ event. Held at Kichijoji’s Star Pines cafe, this musical evening featured a rather interesting mix of Tokyo’s underground music scenes with scratch DJs, producers and MCs coming together for a series of live showcases alongside some live painting. This was Ken’s second such event, up a notch from the first which was a more scratch-centered affair.
These podcasts also form the first joint Rhythm Incursions and Turntable Radio series, something I’ve been wanting to do for a while but hadn’t yet been able to. Every weekend for the next month we’ll be airing two exclusive live sets from the event, one on Turntable Radio and one on Rhythm Incursions showcasing the majority of the acts that appeared on the night. The schedule goes something like this:
So as you can see plenty to get stuck into, from the laid-back beats of Ichiro_ to the electronic hip hop of XLII via some of the best scratchers on the Tokyo underground.
We start the series on Turntable Radio with our old friend from Tokyo Ken One himself, who delivered a live set on the night that is true to form – plenty of quality routines, scratches and re-interpretations. Ken’s live sets keep getting better it seems, as he doesn’t rely on old tricks and always brings something new to the sets, whether it be a re-interpretation of previous productions/routines or something entirely new. Regular listeners will know that we’ve featured a fair bit of his live stuff in recent years and this is by far my favourite live set of his I think. If you’re new to his work then I suggest you hit up our archives to keep up to speed on the man and the music.
Not only was Ken’s set on the night rather good, he’s also to thank and congratulate for pulling this event together – a step up from his first attempt and definitely a nice opportunity for people to discover the variety and talent on the Tokyo underground, something that is too often difficult to discover when you’re not on the right side of the world.
For more info on Ken and his recent releases (including an excellent mix he released for free) head over to his myspace.
And if you like what you hear than be sure to check Rhythm Incursions for Ichiro_’s live set, which is also a keeper.
Massive thanks go to Ken One and all the artists for making this possible. It’s a real pleasure to be able to showcase more of the Tokyo underground to the rest of the world like this.
We’ll be back next week with part 2, featuring the rather incredible DJ Duct and Naoki. Till then crank up the volume and 聞いてください！
Download Ken One live at Star Pines cafe (right click and save as)
Beat4Battle TV: Japan – Episode 3
January 5, 2010 by Laurent
Filed under Live Sessions, Podcasts (all), Video Podcasts
We return for 2010 in full effect with our roving scratch reporter Yoshi and his Beat4Battle TV series. This is episode 3 of the Japan series, which sees Yoshi hooking up with, and filming, a selection of the best, and often slept-on, Japanese turntablists.
For episode 3 he went all the way to Tanashi (actually not that far, it’s in the suburbs of Tokyo) to film DJ Rockhill, a seriously talented guy who I think most people definitely aren’t really up on – I know I wasn’t, even if the name was a little familiar from my time in Japan.
As with our previous episodes B4B TV is brought to you in .m4v format, optimised for iPod and iTunes viewing but viewable on all media players and computers. If you have any problems we recommend updating your codecs before anything else. This episode is 9 mins long and comes in at 105mb in size.
Many thanks to Yoshi for his work and time and to Rockhill for coming through. A seriously tasty show to start us off in 2010!
Look out for a series of special joint Turntable Radio and Rhythm Incursions podcasts coming up later this month and focusing on the Japanese scene once more, this time featuring both producers and scratch DJs that appeared at Ken One’s ‘Skratch Evolution’ party. This series will feature both audio and video podcasts.
For now though, sit back and enjoy Rockhill’s freestyles. You can stream the episode above and download it below. And if you don’t want to miss another one than we suggest you sign up to either our RSS, iTunes feed or email newsletter to be informed everytime a new podcast goes out.
Download Beat4Battle TV:Japan ep 3 (right click and save as)
Beat4Battle TV: Japan – Episode 3
Featuring: DJ Rockhill
Filmed and Edited by Yoshi. Filmed at Rockhill’s studio, Tanashi, Tokyo in September 2009.
