GHOST SHELLED



it's far and wide between when i get all inspirational and try to put together a track...usually because i don't have enough time (yeah, i know it's a sorry excuse).
my latest creation uses samples pieced together from a beat made by
Yoko Kanno, who is currently the music composer for "stand alone complex," the television series continuation of "ghost in the shell."




an individual often shrouded in mystery, Yoko Kanno has done past work on japanimation projects like "Cowboy Bebop" and "Macross Plus." she has also collaborated with j-pop, jazz, and contemporary music artists alike from around the world.

although she remains fairly enigmatic to the general public, her tracks are very much available through various media outlets. perhaps what makes Yoko Kanno such a talented and well-respected composer is her ability to mesh together musical styles from opposite ends of the spectrum. an excellent example of this is a commercial series that she designed for fuji xerox, where Kanno combined human beat-boxing elements provided by AFRA with the classical chinese erhu, as well as with the violin.

what is arguably her most impressive achievement, however, has been her work in constructing the music soundtrack for the "stand alone complex,", currently in its second season out in japan (airing in november in the states?). her arrangements vary from dark, wet dub tracks and soulful italian ballads to jazzy jam sessions and drum'n'bass heavy tech-step numbers. it helps to define the fast-paced but content-rich storyline of "S.A.C."

at age 40, Yoko Kanno continues to crank out tune after tune, inspiring mutant DJ's like myself and countless other head-noddas worldwide.

MR. OCTOBER

autumn in japan is known as being "the season of food."
and true to its word, i've had more than my fill!!!
not so much in the edible sense, but more in terms of action-packed adventures across this archipelago.

here's a breakdown of the past 2 weeks:

october 10th BATTLE BY THE CASTLE, part II


like a brawny football player suiting up to do battle on the gridiron, i once again had the opportunity to venture up to izushi to take part in the mighty fighting mikoshi festival. it just so happened to be the 400th anniversary of this suicidal ceremony, in which rival floats from across the town gather at the town square and proceed to bash each other to pieces. thugs and ruffians alike come to participate in this craziness, with about 150 people carrying various mikoshi which weigh the equivalent of a small truck each.


half-drunk and soaked to the bone from a sudden downpour, i did my part in the festival and tried in vain to shatter our rival mikoshi's support beams (huge trunks of cedar wood lashed together with bolts and heavy steel wiring). there was chaos all around me, with teenage hooligans and adults alike trying to beat each other senseless. the result was a draw, plus a nasty hangover from the ensuing drunken debauchery that happened later that night...

october 15th MIX MARKET MADNESS

not to be bested by the love parade back home in the bay area, DJ Kase-K and i braved a 5-hour round trip journey up to shiga prefecture and back to have a peek at DJ Nao's farewell gig. She's off to sunny okinawa in search of bigger and better drum'n'bass venues.
it also brought the visit of two of london's heavy DNB hitters, DJ Makoto and Deeizm MC. although the venue itself was held in a small space, the crowd was packed and the energy vibe was off the charts. DJ Makoto's smooth and sultry tracks laid a perfect background to Deeizm's melodious MC'ing wordplay.


both of them are in japan, asia, and australia until the end of the year headlining different events, as well as working on a track or two for GOOD LOOKING recordings.

october 16th & 17th FOOTBALL FOLLIES

once again, not the american kind.
the 2004 all-japan ALT soccer tournament was held on the sunny island of awaji this past weekend, bringing 12 teams from western japan together to compete on the pitch used for practice by team england during the 2002 world cup.

i did my duty, suiting up to play in goal on hyogo prefecture's much-feared B Team.
although we ended up losing all 4 matches, i was glad to have a chance to run around on a pristine field of grass and enjoy the late autumn sunshine.

next up?
a visit from mike the canuck, canada's most-feared law enforcement officer, plus halloween havoc up in northern hyogo!!!

BIG-UPS and SPECIAL MENTION to...

a HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Moonlight and the
Silent Crew out in san francisco on celebrating their 2nd anniversary.

it's good knowing that the DNB scene is in good hands with this mighty crew...

KEEP ON STEPPIN'


happy one year anniversary.
somehow, some way, i've managed to keep this blog going since last october.

this year's theme:
BIGGER BELLY, BIGGER SHOW.
thanks for your support!!!
much love,
Zig-Nine