Search - DJ Krush :: Code 4109

Legend has it that there is a coffeehouse in Japan where people go solely to sit and listen to jazz records on the Blue Note label. DJ Krush brings this kind of obsessively curatorial (and sometimes a bit too laboratory coated) approach to hip-hop derived turntablism. Code 4109 is his fourth full-length release. This continuous 68-minute mix is the first devoted to capturing the effect of his live DJ sets as opposed to his own music in the studio, although he includes some of his own pieces (which are among the most weirdly interesting on the CD). The title of his second LP may have been Strictly Turntablized, but he doesn't lean too heavily on the wildly cut-up, gymnastic style of the North American turntablists such as Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Kid Koala, or Qbert. The first 15 to 20 minutes of the set contain a fairly downtempo blend that includes segments from France's DJ Cam, a bit of Eminem, the vocals from the Beats International/S.O.S. Band "Just Be Good to Me" and a couple of borrowings from jazz-lite pioneer John Klemmer. Tracks from Jazzanova, who hails from Berlin's easy-listening electronic scene, and Canada's Portishead-influenced Esthero continue the laid-back feel, although the latter third of the CD gets a little denser and stranger. --Bob Bannister