As electronica's golden-era operators moved closer to the middle of their careers (to say the end would be cruel), many showed signs of incorporating techniques that were too close to smooth jazz for comfort. There are times on
DJ Krush's 13th when it appears that he too had fallen victim to middle age, regardless of the traditional Japanese music (mostly flute) used as justification. But it's not a total loss, as
Krush, even at the height of his acclaim as the Japanese face of insider hip-hop, always found ways to connect his lotus flower-smooth style of production to Western headz grown up on edgier beats. Here,
Krush does the trick by inviting two of indie hip-hop's hottest MCs,
Mr. Lif and
Aesop Rock, to appear on "Nosferatu" and "Kill Switch," respectively. And while
Aesop's blunt delivery is too rough for the china-shop tunes
Krush creates,
Lif does an excellent job upping the tension on the line without snapping it.
Jaku isn't entirely fragile, although the literal translation of "tranquility" holds consistently true. "Decks-athron," with turntablist
Tatsuki, finds the two fiercely dueling on the ones and twos, passing through warps in time and space, then coming out on the other side to battle again. "Road to Nowhere," with its beats and sleigh bells, could be edged out as a
Madlib leftover were it not for the fact that Tokyo's Major Force label did this stuff (and released it on
Krush's original Mo' Wax home) years earlier. With seniority comes a certain entitlement. And
Krush had earned his dues.