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Album Details

• Artist: Dj Krush
• Album: ~Jaku~
• Label: Red Ink
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-12-16

I honestly don't know how DJ Krush keeps it fresh. As long as I've been into electronic/instrumental hip hop music, DJ Krush has been one of my favorite producers. He rarely falters and his music never ever seems repetitive, unlike a lot of his peers. He is able to cross boundaries and yet still keep things very cohesive. The album opens up with a couple of moody instrumentals, the first being "Still Island" that features the work of Shuuzan Morita, the second being "Road To Nowhere". If I was a movie producer, I would create a scene just for tracks like this. This mood music is far ahead of anything that Massive Attack has ever produced, easily. The first true hip hop track comes on track number three, "Nosferatu" featuring the fairly consistent Mr. Lif. It keeps the dark overtones that the previous two songs set us up for. "The Beginning" is a little more forward thinking that I recall DJ Krush ever being. It's got a heavy, almost Japanese drum sound going on that is groovy as hell. Then we get into his piano hip hop (made that one up). Ken Shima, a renowned pianist plays on "Stormy Cloud", a track that I would imagine being from a modern day Peanuts animation. Then we get to probably my favorite track on the album, the bottom heavy "Univearth" with some pretty cool flute happening. Aesop Rock makes an appearance on a track called "Kill Switch", a fairly strong track but far from the best. Then we even get into a little traditional Japanese music on "Slit of Cloud" featuring Japanese vocals from Akira Sakata. The mix of tradition and contemporary on "Beyond Raging Waves" needs to be mentioned too. I honestly think that not only is Jaku one of DJ Krush's finest outings but one of the best albums out this year.

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