Customer Reviews

Krush

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the first 50 second mix, you know this Japanese mixer of beats and scratches holds a special talent above us all. Enticing the skills of Monday Michiru on vocals for 'Keeping the Motion' on track 2; a fantastic sound that puts the DJ in the back seat holding a flowing and steady beat. Most other tracks are interesting twists of jazz and blues blended perfectly with the beat master Krush. Guitar, trumpet, piano, vocals, bass, sax, flute all collide with simplistic ingenuity that the listener often gets lost in the beat my the melodies of the cameo instrumentalists. 'Ruff-Neck Jam' exemplifies this in the album's conclusion with a mix classic enough to be on the Blue Note label. 'Into the Water' involves a classic/jazz guitarist who supports the hard-driving beat with a rhythym that seems it is actually under water. 'Edge of Blue' is another jazz-based orchestration with smooth bass lines and crashing trumpet squelches that sear the soul. 'Big City Lover' is ano! ther of the vocal elements that lose the listener in the steady beat, while immersed in Sonya Vallet's beautiful lounge-style melody.

If you like your jazz hard, heavy with a slight of R & B, and hip-hop, this is a must for your collection.

Combining experimental minute-long excerpts to tease the ears, Krush never strays from that pounding jazz sound that can move any audience onto their feet.

Other personnel include Kim Shima on piano, Takeharu Hayakawa on wood bass, Carla and Sonya Vallet on vocals, Kazufumi Kodama and Nobutaka Kuwabara on trumpet, Osamu Marumoto on bass, Akihiro Ishiwatari on guitar, Koichiro Samukawa on alto sax and flute, DJ Hide and DJ Red on turntables, with samples from Ernie Hines and The Gil Evans Orchestra.

Krush is a very consistant producer. He may not cut the most flashy stuff you will ever hear, but he is much more consistent and covers a lot of ground. His first LP is a sleeper classic. Some of the songs will sound familiar even on the first listen, like it was supposed to happen. It's a recording that makes more sense to me than "Message at the Depth" and "Zen". It is more consistent throughout. There are standout tracks, although it depends on your taste which are your favorites. I particularly like the dark jazz inspired hip hop tracks, which is most of this lp. If you feel like kicking back one night and have a few cold ones or do whatever you do when relaxing, go ahead and order this to accompany yourself, it's awesome.

There is no doubt that this album is one of Krush's best works. With a sound unique from the rest of his stuff, "Krush" gives you a taste of DJ Krush's early vibes. Jazzy, headnodding beats perfect for chilled, late night hours. The creativity put into the production and sequencing is flawless, giving birth to a perfect combination of downtempo, dub, and hiphop mixed with just enough jazz to call it smooth. Also check out the "HipJapHop Project", "ColdKrushCuts", and "Strictly Turntablized" for more of DJ Krush's best sounds. Headphones recommended...

I don't know of any other artist who has been able to master the art of blending tranditional jazzy horns and electronic beats as well as Krush does. He has a way of doing it with an almost ethnic flavor thats hard to discribe.

Anyone who has listened to this CD has fallen in love with it. DJ Krush's other stuff is great, but this is exponetially better then his, or any other Acid Jazz artist.

DJ Krush's album "Krush" offers you a mix of classic smooth Hip-Hop, jazz, and electronic all rolled into one. He has a similar sound to DJ Shadow, but he manages to keep all of his work genuine and uniquely DJ Krush. To get a good idea of what's in store, check out some of the tags for the songs while reading the reviews (however these don't do justice). If you're a fan of Shadow, then I'm sure you be into Krush and his sound.

This Krush album is quite good, however it's not his best effort. I might be holding him to higher standard. It is his first major release so you hear traces of the genius that would come years down the road. Personally I think its missing something. Start with Meiso and Millight.

Keeping the Motion, Into the Water and especially Big City Lover are standouts.

Often an artists debut album will be wonderful - as this one is - but subsequent albums get progressively worse. This is not the case with DJ Krush. His first album (this one) is great, as is everything else he has released since.

About this album - like most of his work, there are some dark and heavy (dare I say depressing) beats with elements of jazz, rap, ambient, etc. mixed in. It is all orchestrated in a manner only a master musician like Krush could pull off, and the results are stunning.

Only thing I don't like is that the play time is 48 minutes - but who cares, it is 48 minutes of perfection, and there are well over a dozen more hours to be had on his other CD's. If you like this, hopefully love it, you MUST buy his other stuff - it is all excellent.

A final note - this album was released in May of 1995, almost 12 years ago as of this review. It sounds like it was just released, it is aging well.

Whether you're driving, lounging, or just looking for some more great music, this is where you should be looking. His production is creative and inspiring. Everytime I play it, I just zone out and get in this meditative-like state. It makes you wanna jump on the 1 and 2's yourself and just start creating. Anyway, brilliantly done all the way through. A+

Classic Krush. One I've bought once or twice on tape, CD and vinyl. Premiere's discovery proves his worth in the hip hop nation.

dj krush upmost track ever : big city lover (classic 5 stars)
the remaining tracks... jazz-like style mixing in with hiphop/triphop beats
well,.... just press-repeat button on 'big city lover' that will do.