DJ Krush - The Message At The Depth

Just as America has imitated many, if not all, of Japan's technological advances, Japan has done the same of America regarding musical trends. Except, most of Japan is a decade behind - not to mention obsessed with poop. But, sometimes that act of imitating trends has produced some great results. If the Krush Posse hadn't formed in 1987 because of the 80's US hip-hop scene and if DJ Krush hadn't moved onto his first solo record, Krush, in 1992, The Message At The Depth would have never been created to break ethnocentric preconceptions of the Japanese hip-hop scene today. The Message At The Depth creeps into its opening track, "Trihedron", like a demon slinking back into its lair. Watery percussion highlights the sharp yet penetrating backbeat, as DJ Krush then pushes further, seemingly borrowing a beat from Mix Master Mike's Anti-Theft Device and layering it with sparse synthetic orchestration. On the next track, the cultural gloves come off as Inden breaks into some of the best Nihongo flow to make its way to the US on "Toki No Tabiji (Journey Of Time)". Throughout the rest of the album, Krush revisits themes, not to merely copy what worked, but to do more with what was thought "good enough" already. By layering extra beats or abstracting the ideas further, it's almost of if Krush is remixing and building as he goes along. The album boasts many guest appearances, but many fail to capture the respective artist's essence. If you need examples, check out "Song For John Walker" featuring Anticon and the Anti-Pop Consortium track, "Supreme Team." It's not that Krush didn't provide a beat intrinsically Anit-Pop, it's maybe that the Consortium weren't intimate enough with the beat to properly let loose. However, "Alephevo (truthspeaking)", featuring Angelina Esparza's intoxicating voice, shows that DJ Krush can't be blamed for the disappointment on the tracks that just didn't work out so well. The Sly & Robbie track, “Lost Voices”, is hot too – that production duo can do no wrong. Honestly, The Message At The Depth is nothing new. As it's been stated, Japan borrows from America. But, really, everyone borrows from everyone - as America has the UK to thank for its electronic music scene. All in all, The Message At The Depth is a nice representation of Japanese hip-hop, via an abstract, downtempo club DJ that helped to pioneer the scene. [www.mmjp.or.jp]