SE2 week 3 – Jam session live @ Star Pines cafe

February 7, 2010 by Laurent
Filed under Guest Mixes, Live Sessions, Podcasts (all)

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

Tags: Guest Mixes, Japan, Live Sessions, Naoki, Skratch Evolution, Tokyo

Beat4Battle TV: Japan – Episode 2

November 2, 2009 by Laurent
Filed under Live Sessions, Podcasts (all), Video Podcasts

1 Comment

We return to the B4B:TV Japan series after a little hiatus, and this time we bring you footage of some of Tokyo’s finest, including Turntable Radio friend and favourite Naoki.

Episode 2 was filmed at the August 2009 Scratch Day event, a freestyle scratch event which Yoshi has been organising in Tokyo over the last couple of years. Following his recent move to Europe he has moved the event from the Vestax PACO shop to what is possibly Tokyo’s most appropriate location: Miyajima’s scratch school in Tachikawa (which is located in the suburbs of the Japanese capital). Regular listeners and visitors will remember Miyajima from our Japan special podcasts, as well as from his appearance at DMC in 08 and in various DVD documentaries about the Japanese scratch scene. It’s fair to say that for many, including some of the country’s best scratch DJs, Miyajima is seen as the best freestyle scratch DJ in Japan, a real purist who approaches scratching with the same rigorous mentality some people approach martial arts. And yet he’s still friendly and approachable and far removed from scratch nerds – he’s just someone who takes what he does seriously. Scratch Day events are now organised everytime Yoshi goes back to Japan. The latest one took place last week and we should see footage from that in the near future. Anyone interested in finding out more about the events or taking part should drop Yoshi a line via the site’s contact page or any of the social networks.

For this episode, Yoshi’s chosen to feature 5 of the DJs who took part on the day: Shintaro, Audace (a French DJ and producer who we’ve also featured on Rhythm Incursions recently), LAN, Naoki and Samu. This time he has gone for a tighter edit highlighting each DJ and their cutting in more detail. The footage also gives a nice view of Miyajima’s school and what the day was like. Definitely reminds me of the couple of live sessions I organised while in Tokyo, with a similar, relaxed vibe.

So that’s it, sit back and enjoy episode 2 and look out for the next one coming this way soon.

This episode is 10 minutes long, and comes in at 109mb. As with all our video podcasts it’s optimised for iPod and iTunes (.m4v file) viewing but can be played with all standard media players as long as you have the latest codecs.

You can preview/stream it above and download it right below. To make sure you don’t miss an episode subscribe to our podcast feed on iTunes or in any feed reader/aggregator/podcatcher.

Download Beat4Battle TV:Japan ep 2 (right click and save as)

Beat4Battle TV: Japan – Episode 2
Featuring: Shintaro, Audace, Samu, Lan and Naoki
Filmed and Edited by Yoshi. Filmed at Miyajima’s school in Tachikawa, Tokyo in August 2009.

Tags: Audace, Beat4Battle TV, Japan, LAN, Live Sessions, Miyajima, Naoki, Samu, Shintaro, Video Podcasts, Yoshi

5th anniversary podcasts – Turntable Radio live from Shibuya

April 21, 2008 by Laurent
Filed under Fifth Anniversary Podcasts, Live Sessions, Podcasts (all)

4 Comments

Records

As announced earlier, we continue our 5th anniversary celebrations with another very special podcast, our second Japan live session.

This time we headed out to Shibuya, for the POPGROUP offices where DJ Baku, Exsample (Ken-One, Naoki and Shige) and Miyajima came together for the occasion. As with the first session, back in September, the idea was simple – ask the guys to come together, put them in a room with lots of gear and just record the outcome. With less space this time round, but still bags of enthusiasm, we took over one of the rooms in the POPGROUP offices and got down to business.

Unfortunately, Miyajima had to leave early as we had some delays in setting up (as always) and so he only appears on one of the tracks. For the rest, what basically happened was that Baku and Exsample jammed together for the best part of 3/4 hours and what you’ll hear on this podcast are edited takes from the jam session. Pretty much everything you’ll hear was done unrehearsed and off the cuff, with the guys chatting in between takes, bouncing ideas and just discussing a rough direction for what they would do.

The session also coincided with the release of Baku’s second album, Dharma Dance (check the recent news item below for more on that), and so Baku, who was using Serato and a Pioneer 909 mixer, primarily used sounds he had made and produced for his album, including drums, guitar melodies and synth lines. For the majority of the tracks you’ll hear in the podcast, Baku provided the backbone for the track with the Exsample guys adding on top, with melodies and vocal cuts. On a couple of tracks the roles were reserved with Naoki and Ken-One taking the lead on drums, and everyone else filling in. So for those who haven’t yet heard the album, this session should give you a pretty good idea of some of the tracks’ moods and influences.

In addition to all this, Ken-One also premiered a new loop routine for us and there is, as I said, a 3 way session between Baku, Ken One and Miyajima, as well as an Exsample freestyle.
Read more

Tags: Baku, Fifth Anniversary Podcasts, Japan, Ken One, Live Sessions, Miyajima, Naoki, POPGROUP, Shige

Turntable Radio – ‘Live from Kami-Kitazawa’ podcast

October 24, 2007 by Laurent
Filed under Live Sessions, Podcasts (all)

7 Comments

Kami-Kitazawa crew

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