Re: DJ Honda

Ben List (zero_mag@cyborg.or.jp)
Tue, 05 Nov 1996 06:30:08 +1000


Yuuta Sasaki wrote:
(...)
>you can do no better than check out Ben List & co's Ele-bugi 'zine at:
>http://www2.eccosys.co.jp/~elebugi/
Forgive us... we're still developing our new format...

>Reviews of the comp and the KG album are in one of the issues.
>
>If you're interested, I could send you a tape of stuff from the two albums
>if you're willing to cover mailing fees. Maybe some of the Honda too.
>
>On Fri, 1 Nov 1996 14:14:59 -0500 Ben List wrote:
>>Wow!! the first time I've ever met a GK Maryan fan... and liking ZokuAkumyou
>>at that... this series is notorious locally for its cheap quality and for being
>>off balance between good and bad material... Last time I saw GK Maryan, he was
>>doing Zen meditition before a show... You also liking King Giddra (in particular)
>>says something about your tastes. For those who want to know, Giddra is a
>>group with two MCs, one in particular, is particularly popular out here with a
>>rough, very straightforward, precise rhyme style. Did you ever get the Soul
>>Scream album?
>Didn't get the Soul Scream while over there. Was it out back in May/June-ish?
>If it was, I don't wanna know. Also, what's up with Kemuri Productions? I
>heard they were working on an album.
SS's "The Deep" was out in July.
Yas sez that Kemuri will do an album eventually, but he's got some other
things he has to take care of first (Lamp Eye singles, and album for Twigy),
before they'll get to it. In the meantime they've got a track on Krush's
new album.

> First GK Maryan fan you've ever met? Is he the one who does most of the
> rhymes? He's sign off (Maji peace) is pretty cool. What really caught me about
> the song was Ken-bo's production and the intro, chorus, by Uzi then? Anyway, so
I saw Maryan at a show the other night and mentioned your comment... he broke
his usual "hard" composure for a big smile... haha
> Ken-bo meditates before gigs. Saw him in Kanazawa, wonder if he was doing it
Maryan did a little meditation before one gig I saw him at.... never witnessed
it before or again... Ken-bo is a "bass master" in his free time... (bass = the fish)

> then. Of the comp in general, it's regarded as crap, huh? Admittedly, I
> skip tracks, but it's alright. A DJ down in Naha recommended it, a bud of
> DJ Tonk apparently. The DJ Yas tracks are pretty good and there's the
> last track.... Besides, the production on the KG album isn't all that hot
> either, but then, is it similarly regarded? Like you said, the title of the
> comp is Zoku aku myou. F'ing kanji. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em.
Actually, after reexamination of the comp.... There're a hella lotta tracks
on there that are considered recent "standards" in the local scene, and a some
people that are just limited by ability :) I think Rino and Yas's "Tanganman" is
brilliant... as a whole the comp isn't all that bad. Incidentally, while I like
their lyrics, I personally don't care much for Giddra's tracks, but I know a bunch
of people who like their sense, and I rather like the remixes...

> About KG, by 'one in particular', do you mean Zeebra? Could see it but I dunno,
> K-Dub Shine's rhymes and style seem a hell of a lot stronger. Or do I have it all
> the wrong way? That line of his criticizing J-Wave is timeless. (For those who
It may be a matter of taste. I (and perhaps most people I know) prefer Zeebra's
simple, direct style, but some people seem to like Shine's sense for content...
I'd prefer it if he didn't lag behind the beats so much.

> don't know, J-Wave is a Tokyo radio station which uses disc jockeys who speak in
> fluent English save when identifying a Japanese artist or song, when they switch to
> fluent Japanese pronounciation. Though undoubtedly not their intention, the effect
> is jarring; when asked, my Japanese buds thought so too.)
Shine told me once that this was less an criticism of J-Wave's bilinguality, but
rather a criticism of the Japanese mentality that hires English speaking DJ's at
all for a radio station and the mentality that brings those stations listener's.
I totally agree.

-b