Toshinori Kondo & DJ Krush - Ki-Oku
A review of Ki-Oku, an album by turntablist DJ Krush and jazz trumpeter Toshinori Kondo.
Artist: Toshinori Kondo & DJ Krush · Year: 1996 · Rating: ★★★★½
A collaboration between avant-garde jazz artist Toshinori Kondo and pioneering turntablist and Monkey Radio staple DJ Krush. Released in 1996 in Japan, and 1999 elsewhere. It received its first-ever repressing in 2024 on vinyl in honor of the third anniversary of Kondo’s passing.
The sound
Much of triphop leans on its jazz roots; this album basks in them. The sound is easy to listen to, but often unsettling – even upbeat pieces like the opening Toh-Sui have wistful notes mixed in, and much of the album is thick with barroom smoke and enough grit to make you feel it. Tracks like Shoh-Ka shuffle quietly with muted lines over reverb and drifting synth backdrops.
This is an album that rewards repeat listens–there’s more under the surface than the jazzy melodies imply at first blush.
Monkey Radio Tracks: 10/13
- Sun Is Shining
- Ko-Ku
- Bu-Seki
- Ki-Gen
- Mu-Getsu
- Fu-Yu
- Toh-Sui
- Ha-Doh
- Mu-Chu
- Shoh-Ka
