![]() ![]() Definately for fans of Nujabes, Blazo, Nomak, Nitsua, Marcus D, heRajiKa tracks etc. Overall a nice album, with DJ Okawari playing to his strengths well. Not to detriment the quality of them however, it is perhaps just a personal taste as I find myself skipping these tracks and picking out the straight instrumentals. Best Sellers Rank: 752,686 in CDs & Vinyl ( See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl ) 32,557 in Dance Pop (CDs. A staple present in his previous releases, this is possibly the only qualm I had with the album, and the previous ones. Product Dimensions : 5.83 x 5.75 x 0.43 inches 2.96 Ounces. The album also feature’s a heavy line-up of female vocalists Amanda Diva, Stacy Epps, Lauren Amaris, Brittany Campbell and Tekitha. The choice of instrumentation, whether piano/violin etc, tends to be a lot more fleshed out and have a more substantial presence in the tracks than a lot of other similar artists. Whilst I can appreciate this opinion in certain circumstances, Okawari in my opinion does stand out and make distinctive releases. I’m aware there is some criticism of Japanese artists in this genre, and the seemingly blurry sonic boundaries that distinguish each one’s music. Click the image above for full size appreciation, and head over to the artist’s page for more at The albums artwork itself is amongst the most amazing, created by graphic artist, designer and illustrator Marumiyan, who has created all the cover art for DJ Okawari’s previous albums. The third full release by Japan’s DJ Okawari, Kaleidoscope follows on from Diorama (2008) and Mirror (2009) and brings a collection of tracks featuring the jazzy lounge sound synonymous with Okawari, as well as the emotionally charged compositions that follow a more progressive nature. After finally getting my ears around it after its release last week, the wait was worth it. The Ageing Young Rebel (featuring Ken Nordine)ĩ.This is something I’d been waiting on for a while. In an alternate reality it might have become ‘Kaleidoscope’ but now, 20 years on, it’s a companion to the original album.†And while we’re stuck with our reality this companion is ideal for anyone wanting to peer into mirrors of possibilities.Ħ. ![]() As Kev puts it, “It’s not a new DJ Food album, it’s an old one that never was. Closing this trip into alternate possibilities is ‘Boo Hoo’, an early, shorter version of ‘The Sky At Night’ that gently carries the cinematic mood of the album back to now. Originally intended for the album, these tracks were instead reworked and cut up into an EP shortly after. At 13 minutes long, ‘Quadraplex (A Trip to the Galactic Centre)’ is the Companion’s meditative piece de resistance, pieced together from various takes of its separate composite tracks. ‘The Crow (Slow)’ stretches out the melodic theme of one of the most recognizable tracks in the DJ Food repertoire, extending it into a soothing soundscape that eventually dissolves into an alternate dub version. ‘Stealth’ is an alternate version of the Gentle Cruelty remix of ‘The Ageing Young Rebel’ (also included on ‘Xen Cuts’) but with Nordine’s vocal replaced by a sombre voice mulling the disasters of morbid self-attention. The big-band-meets-easy-listening ‘Hip Operation’ was repurposed for the first version of Sukia’s ‘Feelin’ Free’ remix while the swirling funk of ‘A Strange Walk’ was an unreleased version of the same remix that eventually made it onto the ‘Xen Cuts’ bonus disc. Sonically, at least, DJ Food’s vision of the future wasn’t that far off and, as Kev remarked when they first released the mixes, some of these tracks “should have never been left in a drawer for two decades.â€Įlsewhere, the ‘Kaleidoscope Companion’ throws up plenty of “hey I know this!†moments. Opener ‘The Ents Go To War’, with its brooding arrangement and heavy drums, feels stunningly current, as does the hypnotizing dance between bassline and snare on ‘Skylark’ or the fidgety percussion and airy synthesizers of ‘Zoom Zoom’. They found more than they bargained for, compiling versions, alternate mixes and unreleased ideas into a series of mixes that have now been further refined into the ‘Kaleidoscope Companion’ and presented alongside the original album on quadruple vinyl. Twenty years later, amid the first national lockdown in England, Kev and PC decided to celebrate ‘Kaleidoscope’’s 20th Anniversary by digging through their personal archives for material from the original recording sessions. Now under the expert control of fellow Ninjas Kevin Foakes, aka Strictly Kev, and Patrick Carpenter, aka PC, the album broke with the past by reflecting a possible future of beats and pieces. Released in April 2000, ‘Kaleidoscope’ marked a new era for the DJ Food alias first conceived by label founders Coldcut. Dj Food - Kaleidoscope + Companion (Vinyl)
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