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DJ Kensei & DJ Quietstorm, "In Time, Like This: Chapter 2"
Nakameguro Yakkyoku Recordings/Cisco Records
Every once in a while, a DJ set comes off so well that it's actually worth releasing as an album, and the original In Time, Like Thiswas a pretty good trawl through a crate of head-nodding hip-hophistory. Four years on, the DJs responsible for it have released asequel that broadens its sights a bit, and it suffers for the lack offocus. For one thing, the "four turntables, two mixers, and nothingelse" credo of the original is gone: the Doctor Who sound effects thatcovered up quick transitions in the original have been replaced withdubby echoes and digital delays, and that unfortunately open up thedoor for sometimes-house-DJ Kensei to dump the tired sounds of hisother job into the mix. It would be hypocritical to knock the duo forblending genres on a music-geek site, and the racks of any DJ shop willtell you that plenty of clubs are only too happy to get some peanutbutter in their chocolate, but the lame-dance-club stink of house istoo strong a reminder of hip-hop's more embarrassing "shake your assand damn The Message" tendencies to ignore altogether. When they startplaying records even a bit outside of the usual club fodder, though,the results improve: Deep Purple getting rear-ended by a conga beat anda rocky drum kit while some zippy high-pitched scratching goes on isworth hearing, and it only gets better when some Yello/Art of Noise-ishloops and shards of Missy Elliott worm their way into the proceedings.Unfortunately, the good stuff only goes on for a couple of minutes at atime, and it's almost always dragged to a halt by invitations to waveyour beer in the air; the fact that In Time 2 is acompetently-mastered room recording, or perhaps badly-masteredsoundboard output mixed with one, even lets you hear the audience doingjust that. I'm not sure what the rationale for the crowd noise is, butit really only reminds you that you're not at the Liquid Room and/ordrunk enough to really get caught up in the moment and just enjoythings. For 2000 yen, it's a lot cheaper than going to the show wouldhave been, but that really just softens the edge of the disappointment.
Every once in a while, a DJ set comes off so well that it's actually worth releasing as an album, and the original In Time, Like Thiswas a pretty good trawl through a crate of head-nodding hip-hophistory. Four years on, the DJs responsible for it have released asequel that broadens its sights a bit, and it suffers for the lack offocus. For one thing, the "four turntables, two mixers, and nothingelse" credo of the original is gone: the Doctor Who sound effects thatcovered up quick transitions in the original have been replaced withdubby echoes and digital delays, and that unfortunately open up thedoor for sometimes-house-DJ Kensei to dump the tired sounds of hisother job into the mix. It would be hypocritical to knock the duo forblending genres on a music-geek site, and the racks of any DJ shop willtell you that plenty of clubs are only too happy to get some peanutbutter in their chocolate, but the lame-dance-club stink of house istoo strong a reminder of hip-hop's more embarrassing "shake your assand damn The Message" tendencies to ignore altogether. When they startplaying records even a bit outside of the usual club fodder, though,the results improve: Deep Purple getting rear-ended by a conga beat anda rocky drum kit while some zippy high-pitched scratching goes on isworth hearing, and it only gets better when some Yello/Art of Noise-ishloops and shards of Missy Elliott worm their way into the proceedings.Unfortunately, the good stuff only goes on for a couple of minutes at atime, and it's almost always dragged to a halt by invitations to waveyour beer in the air; the fact that In Time 2 is acompetently-mastered room recording, or perhaps badly-masteredsoundboard output mixed with one, even lets you hear the audience doingjust that. I'm not sure what the rationale for the crowd noise is, butit really only reminds you that you're not at the Liquid Room and/ordrunk enough to really get caught up in the moment and just enjoythings. For 2000 yen, it's a lot cheaper than going to the show wouldhave been, but that really just softens the edge of the disappointment.
