Rhythm Incursions » Skratch Evolution

SE2 week 4 – Ken One Skratch Evolution mix

Laurent — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:41:55 +0000

We finish our Skratch Evolution 2 special with two mixes from the official CD that Ken One released ahead of the show. Ken One takes the control here on Rhythm Inc while over on Turntable Radio it’s DJ Duct doing the honours. The SE2 special has been a month-long series of mixes and exclusive live audio from the event podcasted jointly between Rhythm Incursions and Turntable Radio. Catch up on all the Rhythm Inc episodes here which have featured Ichiro_, DJ Duct, XLII and Dolbee.

Ken One is in charge of the first Skratch Evolution mix showcasing a rather tasty and eclectic selection of tracks alongside some of his trademark routines. Regular listeners of Turntable Radio will be no stranger to the man, though for the Rhythm Inc listeners that may not be familiar with him suffice to say that Ken is one of Tokyo’s best scratch DJs, having been holding it down on the underground for near enough a decade now. You can find out more about him and his releases over on his myspace and I also recommend checking out the TTR archives for more mixes and audio from him we’ve featured over the last couple of years.

When I was living in Tokyo, Ken was largely responsible for hooking me up with a host of people and making it possible to do some of the most enjoyable live sessions I’ve recorded. So it’s a pleasure to be able to return the favour and showcase the good work he’s done with his Skratch Evolution event. The live sets we’ve aired over the last 3 weeks are a truly unique look at parts of the Tokyo musical underground that most people never get to hear.

So without further ado get stuck into half an hour of fine music chopped and mixed by Ken One. And don’t forget to check Turntable Radio for the rest of the audio from this special. Once more massive thanks and shout to Ken as well as all the artists for their support. Look out for more joint specials in the future.

Download Ken One Skratch Evolution mix (right click and save as)

SE2 week 3 – XLII & Dolbee live @ Star Pines cafe

Laurent — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:26:52 +0000

Week 3 of our joint Rhythm Incursions and Turntable Radio special featuring exclusive live audio from Ken One’s ‘Skratch Evolution 2′ event. If you’ve missed the first couple of weeks you can catch up here for week 1 featuring Ichiro_ and here for week 2 featuring DJ Duct.

This week we have edits from live sets by XLII, Audace and Dyna alongside Dolbee and Sibitt. Over on Turntable Radio we’ve got an amazing half hour jam session featuring Ken One, Ichiro_, Naoki, XLII, Keita, Audace and Duct. Full schedule of the month-long series at the bottom of this post.

As mentioned this week’s SE2 Rhythm Inc show features edits from two of the live sets from the show.

First up is DJ Dolbee feat Sibitt on vocals. Dolbee is a rather long-standing member of the Tokyo hip hop underground, becoming a DJ and producer following a stint on the US West Coast in the mid 90s. Since then he’s produced for a range of underground Tokyo labels, including Lo-Fi Recordings and TempleADS, with the majority of his releases garnering popularity and interest in his homeland but rarely seeing light outside of Japan, like happens to many of the city’s most interesting producers.

This set features some rather unique sounding productions, on a very mellow and laid back tip and with a distinct Japanese edge to them. Complimenting the music are vocals by Sibitt, who adds yet more of a Japanese edge to the music with a mix of sung and spoken lyrics that compliment the music perfectly.

The second half of this week’s show features the international talents of XLII, Audace and Dyna a trio of Tokyo-based artists who come from Japan (Dyna), France (Audace) and Ukraine via the UK (XLII). XLII and Audace have both featured on the show before, most recently for the release of XLII’s new album and Audace’s new project Musou Productions. Having had the pleasure to meet them and become friends while I was living in Tokyo in ’07, it’s been nice to follow their output and growth. The trio often play together, with Audace adding cuts and elements to XLII’s beats, while he tweaks his productions live and shares mic duties with Dyna. Edits from their SE2 set show this nicely as well as their cohesiveness. As XLII put it to me in the past, it’s his way of trying to make the live shows more entertaining than your usual rapper and DJ or rapper and producer, and I think it shows nicely in the audio.

XLII’s recent album, Ego Friendly, is out now on Fubar Recs/Raid System with worldwide distro so finding a copy shouldn’t be too difficult. Audace’s Musou Productions debut EP, Daydreaming, is also still available – check the label site for more. Both come heavily recommended.

Dolbee and Sibitt have a new DVD called ‘Animation’ out now on TempleADS.

Get stuck into these two rather interesting live shows with a stream or direct download below. And don’t forget to also check Turntable Radio for a jam session from Skratch Evolution 2 with all the artists we’ve featured so far. Not to be missed. We’ll be back next week for the last installment in the series.

Download Skratch Evolution 2 live edits (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

SE2 week 2 – DJ Duct live @ Star Pines cafe

Laurent — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:01:47 +0000

We continue our Rhythm Incursions and Turntable Radio 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.

This week we have DJ Duct on Rhythm Incursions, and Naoki over at Turntable Radio. Full schedule for the special, which runs over 4 weeks, is at the bottom of the post.

DJ Duct is a Tokyo turntablist and producer who I first came across a few years ago thanks to Waxfactor and our common obsession with underground Japanese music. When I lived in Tokyo, Ken One introduced me to more of his work and his rather famous live sets performed solely with one turntable and a loop station and effect units. His are no standard turntablist loopstation sets though, the man rocks party sets and the likes with just one turntable reconstructing audio on the fly. The only other person I’ve seen do this on a similar level of both detail and skill is Tayone, who does it using Serato’s Scratch Live.

A bit more on Duct from his official bio:

DJ DUCT’s ‘less is more’ approach to turntablism has led him to establish his current unique style of performing. Using one turntable, a DJ mixer, a sampler, Kaoss-pads and other effectors, he collages and reconstructs the bits and pieces of sounds he captures from the records on the spot. It involves a lot of sampling, real-time editing, effect mixing and scratching all taking place on stage. Since all the sounds come from the records (and no preliminary recorded materials on the sampler), it’s definitely a live performance, and an extension of DJing more than anything else.

Being a fan and friend of his, Ken One invited Duct to perform at Skratch Evolution 2, the audio of which we’re putting out today for everyone to discover and enjoy. It’s a rather short set, just under 30 minutes but with plenty going on in that time with classics and newer tracks from across the musical spectrum chopped up and looped in fine style. If you like what you hear be sure to come back for the last week of our SE2 special when we’ll be podcasting the SE2 mix CD which features Ken One and Duct.

More information on Duct is available at the myspace, alongside links to his releases on labels like Think Rec and Lybrus Music, two of Japan’s most interesting indie labels.

For now though sit back and enjoy 30 minutes of one of Japan’s finest DJs and best kept secret. And don’t forget to check Turntable Radio for more SE2 action which this week features a live set from Naoki, undoubtedly one of the most talented and interesting turntablist from Japan’s new generation.

Download DJ Duct 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

SE2 week 1 – Ichiro_ live @ Star Pines cafe

Laurent — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:41:38 +0000

As mentioned a few weeks back 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:

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

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 on Rhythm Incursions with Ichiro_, a producer based in Tokyo’s Nerima district who I first came across via Twitter (hat tip to Scaloni) and then started to see appear in various other places, including Monday Jazz and most recently on a series of 7″s alongside producer Yoggyone (check our Jan 2010 show for that). Ichiro_ has primarily released on and works with Olive Oil’s excellent Oil Works label. While his approach to the whole beat thing may not be the freshest, he has a certain quality to his beats that I find really interesting, verging on ‘narcotic’ but in a good way. The more I listen to his stuff the more it grows on me, I guess you could say it’s rewarding in its own special way.

This live set he performed at Skratch Evolution is the perfect example of this and serves as a great introduction to his work for those that don’t know him yet, featuring primarily his Oil Works material alongside other bits.

For more on him be sure to check the myspace as well as the recent joint release with Yoggyone. His Oil Works EP is still available, and I believe Juno still has copies for non-Japan buyers. He also has stuff available on iTunes and a brand new single dropping on Oil Works. Be sure to check the myspace for full link details.

Look out for more from him this year, as we’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on his output. And if you like what you hear be sure to head over to Turntable Radio for Ken One’s live session!

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 Ichiro_ live at Star Pines cafe (right click and save as)