The follow-up to
Krush's excellent Meiso was a slightly more unusual affair, consisting of a series of collaborative pieces throughout, with only one or two exceptions, and with each particular guest bookending their respective track with a brief reflection on what the future of the world will hold. The results are a touch mixed but still a fairly good effort, as always with
Krush's brand of jazz-tinged, heavy, druggy breakbeats and scratches at the center of things. His style remains pure and fierce, if anything becoming even more effectively unnerving and atmospheric with time, as the lovely blend of nature sounds and keyboards on "Jugoya" shows. The first collaboration, "Shin-Sekai," also demonstrates this perfectly; fellow Japanese musician
Rino lays down a pretty fierce rap while
Krush's blend of shuffling but hard-hitting drums and mysterious tones -- pianos, sighing electric guitar, and other strange moans in the mix -- carry everything before it. Producer
Shawn J. Period throws in a lot of additional music, subtly but with great effect, like a strange haunted house, on "Listen," while
DJ Cam, in an echo of Meiso's
DJ Shadow tradeoff "Duality," jams with
Krush to create the slamming mini-duel "Le Temps." Guest MCs this time out include Tragedy and partner Stash, laying down a harrowing and saddening tale of crime and its consequences on the hard-hitting "Real," while cult figure
Mos Def spins his usual magic on the quietly chaotic salute to Japanese hip-hoppers, "Shinjiro." One of the most inspired moves comes at the end: a cover of
John Lennon's "Mind Games," with guest singer
Eri Ohno giving it a good soul revamp over the steady, big-impact rhythms. ~ Ned Raggett