DJ Klock feature - Published in Serie B magazine, 2006

This feature was based on a longer online feature on DJ Klock and his work which is available online at spinscience.org.uk.

DJ Klock – Non-circular music

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Japan is a fascinating country to many people for many reasons – personally the one thing that never ceases to amaze me about Japan and its culture is its constant ability to surprise. Musically speaking this translates into the discovery of new artists whose work always bring something fresh. In the last few years I’ve discovered artists such as O N O, Goth Trad, Kentaro, DJ Baku, Tatsuki, Shing02, and DJ Klock who all produce and work across the hip hop, electronica and turnablist scenes. While their work can be seen within the frame of such genres, what’s truly interesting about it is that it is sometimes so different and ahead of what is being done in the West, it sounds like something entirely new. Back in issue 8 I looked at the new generation of Japanese DJs, turntablists and producers such as Baku, Kentaro and Tatsuki, who over the last 5 years have been pushing things in new directions, unhindered by what was happening outside of Japan. But there was one artist amongst this new generation who I didn’t really touch on – DJ Klock. Alongside Baku and Tatsuki he was part of Japan’s first turntable band, Whakhakha, and he’s also one of the country’s most interesting electronica artist blurring the boundaries between hip hop, glitch, house, live instrumentation and scratching and bringing all his influences together in a mix that works surprisingly well.

On the eve of the release of Klock’s third solo album, I was sent a package by his label of all his recent projects. Having first discovered him through his debut album, ‘Human Essence’, and then through his work with Whakhakha, both of which are over 4 years old, I was looking forward to the chance of hearing his more recent work and see how different it was to his early stuff – which was already on a level all of its own.

‘Human Essence’ was released on the leading Japanese techno label Sublime, giving an early sign of Klock’s attitude to production and inability to be pinned down under any genre or style – something which is a hallmark of the new generation of Japanese artists who are direct descendants of DJ Krush and his own far reaching productions and musical style. The album was a weird mix of electronica, techno and hip hop created in a freeform manner on turntables and computers – that is Klock didn’t use grids when programming the album. He broke away from the norm by shedding the templates of modern music making and found harmony and rhythm in a place halfway between chaos and organised confusion. This approach was also reflected in the Whakhakha project and his more recent work. Though Klock also works in more ‘traditional’ ways as exemplified by the releases of the band Cacoy, an outfit regrouping Klock on production alongside musicians and Japanese pop singers. Cacoy’s work has been incredibly popular in northern Europe and Japan with its blend of pop, glitch and hip hop.

Ahead of the new album, Klock released the Rainbow Trilogy – a work in three parts released on three different mediums. The first part called ‘Direction of Rainbow’, released on cassette, is a live mix recorded in NY during Klock’s first US tour. A snapshot in time the mix is eclectic, chaotic and challenging – like a lot of his own work – and breaks away from the accepted ‘smooth and seamless’ approach of most DJs. Part two, ‘View of Rainbow’ is a CD album released under the Turntabrush moniker, and the most experimental work of his so far. Produced entirely on turntables the tracks are mainly short improvisations composed of sounds, noises and other sonic artefacts created on the turntable and used to paint a sonic landscape, living up to the name Turntabrush. Rhythms and structures are largely absent – in fact the album owes more to the work of people like Christian Marclay then Birdy Nam Nam or D-Styles. The last piece of the trilogy is the ‘Rainbow EP’ released on vinyl and featuring tracks from Klock’s new album – from electronica and glitch to house rhythms and stuttered MPC beats laced with live instrumentation and vocals. All the releases come with artwork from painter and visual artist Kenji Hitara (member of the Barnstormers crew) who adds another dimension to the music that is too often forgotten by labels and artists.

Kenji’s work also graces the cover of ‘San’, Klock’s third solo album released this autumn on his Clockwise Recs label, and on Ropeadope in the US. The new album’s material shows a departure from the more freeform work of his early releases. Like his work with Cacoy, the tracks on ‘San’ are more ‘traditional’ though they still contain the same freedom and break from the norm as his more experimental work. Fusing electronic production with live instruments and vocals, Klock navigates freely through styles – glitched out hip hop, house, smoked out jazz – without staying in one place for too long. The instrumentation and vocals are provided by Klock’s new band, Trilo, adding bright, simplistic melodies to the sometimes discordant and stuttering rhythms of his productions. The mix of the human elements and programmed music and the contrast between the apparent coldness of the production and warmth of the instruments and voices are the album’s most interesting aspects. Some of the nicest things in life come from trying something different and with ‘San’ Klock shows that this is most definitely true in music too.

‘San’ is out now on Clockwise Recs and Ropeadope. The Rainbow Trilogy is also out now on Clockwise Recs. Cacoy’s first album, ‘Human is Music’, is out now on Rumraket. More info at www.clockwise-rec.com, www.ropeadope.com and www.rumraket.net.

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written by Laurent