ALLMUSIC.COM
Anyone who remembers trumpeter Toshinori Kondo's work with such thorny avant-gardists as John Zorn, Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, and Peter Brotzmann's Die Like a Dog Quartet may be a bit taken aback by the extreme accessibility of his collaboration with pioneering turntablist DJ Krush. Much of the music on Ki-Oku flirts with smooth-groove jazz — Kondo's muted trumpet line on "Mu-Getsu" sounds an awful lot like something Chris Botti would play, while the duo's instrumental take on the Bob Marley classic "Sun Is Shining" comes off just a little bit muzak-y. On the other hand, "Ki-Gen" and "Ko-Ku" both find Kondo using synthesized treatments in a way that evokes Jon Hassell's work with Brian Eno, while on the latter DJ Krush layers slightly menacing keyboard washes beneath Kondo's unassuming trumpet lines. This is one of those albums that reveals more with repeated listens; if it sounds too easy at first, listen again — there's lots of interesting stuff going on beneath what sometimes sounds like a merely pleasant surface.
Amazon.com
Pairing DJ Krush, known throughout the beat underground for his subdued, trippy soundscapes, with Japanese avant trumpeter Toshinori Kondo may seem an odd pairing. This record, however, is instantly knowable and intuitively easy to grasp. Krush's beats, while certainly up-front, don't come at the price of the composition, nor do they blast Kondo's trumpet out of the tune. DJ Krush is not only able to drive the direction and tempo, but he's also quite adept at creating mood--often mixing up somber, downtempo collages that glide with an underwater grace. His uptempo work is direct, solidly propelled by someone who knows how to handle bass and breaks. Thankfully, the canvasses Krush mixes up are large enough to include Kondo's color work. The trumpeter (who's worked with the likes of Herbie Hancock and John Zorn) takes full advantage of the opportunity. Kondo is a breathy, richly toned player, and his meshings add to the dreamy, psychedelic feel of the recording. He's effective whether he's drifting beside Krush's swirling dub coiled in a haze of effects or punctuating beats with pure blasts of horn fire. A hip-bop classic. --S. Duda
From Jazziz
Willfully dry and barely funky, this album runs the risk of embracing the double-edged racist stereotype that haunts Japanese musicians working in heavily African American-based styles: polite Asians too intellectual for gritty black music. Thankfully, enough contrary evidence exists on Kondo and Krush's other recordings to dispel this myth elsewhere (and anyone dim enough to think black music isn't cerebral needs a lot more help than a CD review can give). Krush often gets labeled jazzy by critics out of laziness as much as for his easy tempos and willingness to float the occasional horn sample through his atmospheric mixes. Really, he specializes in manipulating thick swashes of sculpted ambient sound over loping, deliberate beats. On his well-conceived hip-hop albums, instrumentals alternate with appearances by guest rappers and vocalists to excellent and varied effect. Kondo, a veteran of collaborations with Peter Brötzmann, Derek Bailey, and Herbie Hancock, deploys none of the expected avant-garde pyrotechnics here, beyond an occasional slight sharpness in tone. Clichéd, smooth-jazz trumpet musings, smothered in echo, are the disappointing fare instead - when someone says an unimaginative trumpet player has a Miles-like sense of phrasing, this is the sort of effort to which they're referring. Still, it's hardly an unpleasant album. A few bright points are the use of Middle Eastern melody and Krush's innovative, spare turntable work. Because it seems interested in little beyond simple mood-setting, ultimately it remains ineffectual and inconsequential.
--- Patrick Hughes, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.
