DJ Krush
Code4109

Do you think a DJ is a musician? People have been asking this question for decades, and the answers, of course, vary widely: sure, yes, no way, they just play one track after another in tasteless clubs, playing is something else, etc...

Honestly, I'm not interested in taking a position or joining a supposed faction (and after all, knowing my tastes, you can imagine what I think), I just want to make a small consideration: being a good DJ means first of all possessing an enormous musical culture, secondly being able to select from one's collection the right tracks to create a coherent set, and finally mixing it all together in an engaging way, with the aim of creating an uninterrupted and exciting flow of sound.

If that weren't enough, one could add that the leap to becoming a great DJ consists in making liquid what appears solid (the vinyl, indeed), transforming the grooves of a record into an instrument through which it is possible to produce new sounds, which were not there before, through manipulation or overlaying of various recordings.

So, a figure like DJ Krush undoubtedly belongs to this second category.

Originally from Tokyo (a city always used to receiving trends from abroad and reworking them in an original way), Hideaki Ishi has dedicated himself since the early nineties to spreading his mix of hip-hop, minimalism, and abstract sounds, a blend that reached its peak in the monumental Kakusei, a perfect and enigmatic work that continues to surprise with every new listen.

However, Krush is not only a refined producer, but also an incredible DJ, the creator of suggestive atmospheres where boom bap, the jazz of John Klemmer, and the most captivating ethnic music seem to coexist in a seductive embrace that only the magic of a sound alchemist can assure.

Code4109 is perhaps the most evident example of this skill, a selection of just over an hour in which Hideaki immediately immerses us in his enchanted, bewildering world, and indeed, listening to the very brief "Intro" he composed, one almost falls victim to a spell, an enchantment of which only the impassive sorcerer knows the secret.

Because yes, the sixty-eight minutes of Code4109 do indeed reflect that sparse and independent hip-hop usually associated with the Japanese artist, but... there's a but.

Firstly, because the choice of mostly instrumental tracks, except for a few exceptions, allows the listener to focus on the music and completely surrender, reaching almost a state of hypnotic trance; and then because what flows through our headphones (or our stereo speakers) is hip-hop but not only, in the sense that in Hideaki's set, the dry and direct beats of underground rap can overlap with languid saxophones or the sound of a tranquil oriental brook, in sometimes prodigious juxtapositions (fantastic the mash-up created by combining "Four Elements" by Nick Wiz, the solos of John Klemmer, and the vocal part of "Dub Be Good to Me" by Beats International, as well as the use of female choirs typical of Bulgarian tradition, endowed with mysterious, ancestral charm).

In my opinion, it is pointless to add more information and it is even redundant to mention that I slightly prefer the first part to the second, which is more dynamic and characterized by faster mixes.

These notes, in fact, would only be a sterile caption, an avoidable postscript when talking about albums like Code4109, an authentic emotional experience that, to date, represents one of the most successful works of the silent DJ from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Don't miss it.