Feng's Distorted World : 鋒言鋒語

Chris Hale is a DJ and producer who is based in Tokyo, Japan. I've been listening to several of his tracks lately. My favourite track here would be "Kimochi" from "Womb" EP . The word "Kimochi" literally means "It feels good" in Japanese. Chris Hale's music is deep and sometimes dark. His tracks have dominated such global charts as Acid Planet, Broad Jam, and Sound Click. Chris’ tracks regularly top the house, tribal house, progressive house, and Detroit charts for weeks to months at a time. Other producers and DJs with such similiar styles include Satoshi Tomiie, Nat Monday, Future Sound of London, and PQM. His music also gets regular play by club and radio DJ's around the world as well as on underground radio. Chris DJ's at clubs throughout Tokyo, and is the resident DJ at the monthly "Worship" party. He is a veteran re-mixer, most recently mixing tracks for Bitstream Dream (Om, Bedrock).

Below is a review from Aadvark records:

Chris' “sound” is actually difficult to describe, but some have called it “dark soul” music - dark atmospheres fused with soulful rhythms. His music pushes simplified genre labels in order to avoid the constraints associated with pre-conceived definitions. When his music is smooth, it’s oh so very smooth. It slides against the skin like silk until it settles, blending in and becoming a soothing second skin. It’s hypnotic and seductive. And classing it as chill-out or come-down music is selling it well short. And when he wants to play rough…the beats get downright nasty without ever being heavy handed or in your face.

You never quite know what to expect when a Chris Hale track starts. The instrumentation he deploys gives each track its own unique texture, flavour and mood. Add a mix of beats and FX and the effect can be lush, as skilful as a Geisha, as sharp as a Kissaki, as precise as Kanji or as hard and swift as a Kendo kick. The end result is one of aural perfection.

An admirable trait with the Japanese dance scene is the secret of knowing exactly what sounds are out there on the wider scene without ever being controlled or dominated by them. The Japanese have always been happy to go their own way while being plugged into global scenes. So perhaps it’s no accident that Chris chose to live there, expanding his horizons all the while. His tracks have discipline without rigidity with a natural form and function. It’s a very Japanese thing. And what sounds so simple and effortless hides a master of the craft.

He is just as comfortable throwing acid jazz, breaks, or banging techno into the mix. If you ask him, Chris simply makes the type of music he likes to dance to in dark, smoke and sweat-filled subterranean clubs.



Listen to several of his tracks here.

Chris Hale - Kimochi (It feels good) (Streaming Media)
Chris Hale - EX:TC

Do visit his site on Soundclick here and Xp8r Music, his record label for more track samples and tour schedule.

Italian electronica producers Marzio Aricò, Federico Madeddu & Alessio Ghionzoli has done a great job on this track "Fase 2" from thier debut album "Haiku". The track sounds really sexy but probably a bit too much high end distortion. The group has toured throughout Italy on various music festivals in 2003 and 2004 such as Explosiva in Torino, Centro Stalbile di Cultura at Vicenza, and Dissonanze Festival in Rome, all of which are big electronic and digital music festivals in Italy. No further plans are promised from this music project.

Download the track here.

DRM - Fase 2



Visit their official site here for more info about the group.

Whoo!! Finally done with 4/5 of me finals!! Goodbye Chemistry! Anyways, notice the brand new layout, the bright, colourful stripes you see?

They're call Lifestripe and they're actually a project that's being developed by Jugem and Spread, a Japanese company. They actually let you display your day's activity in terms of colourful stripes. It's a free service but currently it is only available for blog users of Jugem. Well, i went through a lot of trouble to get Lifestripe on here. After getting a Jugem account, hours of tinkering with html, some flash knowledge, and lots of advice from Cow, I finally got Lifestripe on here!!



Here's how you actually put in data about your daily habits. The interface is pretty straightforward, just drag and drop.



Lifestripe also lets you know in relation what you habits are when compared to other Lifestripe users. It displays how many hours you're sleeping, working, or eating in a neat and nifty pie-chart. Plus, it looks extremely cool and funky. Do check out Lifestripe here.

London based House/Techno DJ and Producer extraodinaire, Carl Cox delivers again with with a hit LP entitled "Phuture 2000". The remix by Hybrid is a great breakbeat mix lined with a hint of house. Not too heavy, just right for an intro track. Similiar to the likes of Paul Oakenfold's "Ready Steady Go". The track has been on Epitonic's top 10 download charts of all time for quite some time already. Do check out the page at Epitonic here.



Carl Cox - Phuture 2000 (Hybrid Remix)

Carl Cox - Phuture 2000 (Deepsky Remix)

Featuring an electronic rock band from Japan, and signed by the same company (Speedstar Records) as the wonderful Tsuji Ayano (つじあやの）. The band "Quruli" (くるり - Pronouced as koo-ru-ri) is also from Kyoto, the same city Tsuji Ayano grew up. I managed to catch their video of their new hit single "Akai Densha" (赤い電車, translation - Red Train） on NHK's english show J-Melo yesterday afternoon. J-Melo is this Japanese music show that is presented in English and allows Japanese people and foreigners to pick up English usage through the show. Read about it here. The video by Quruli is interesting and features the front view from a train travelling on rail tracks. Song features soulful lyrics lined with a great electronic bassline. I've got this feeling that they're going to be one of my favourite bands for some time. くるりの音楽（赤い電車）が好きです！それが興味深い歌であるので。。 music videoも面白いな。。

Check out a sample of the song here:

Quruli - Akai Densha

Quruli - Akai Densha (Video)



Do check out the band's official page here at Speedstar Records where you can get the band's discography, music videos, and buy some of their music.

Here are some piano scores from the wonderful and talented Utada Hikaru 宇多田ヒカル that I've scoured from several sites on the internet. and yes, my copy of "Be My Last" is still yet to arrive. In the mean time, do download the beautiful MV for Utada Hikaru'sn new single "Be My Last" which is filmed in Prague, on her official site here:

Utada Hikaru - Be My Last (MV) wmv




Utada Hikaru piano scores from Hikaru no Tenshi
First Love
Time will Tell
Distance
Eternally　
Sakura ドロップス (Sakura Drops)
Final Distance
Hikari（光）


Below here are the piano scores from Singrainpiano

Utada Hikaru - First Love
[Page 1] [Page 2] [Page 3] [Page 4] [Page 5]

Utada Hikaru - Can you Keep a Secret?
[Page 1] [Page 2] [Page 3]


many thanks to Hikaru no Tenshi & Singrainpiano
Enjoy!!

Mark Boling Trio is a music project by Mark Boling, a jazz guitarist, teacher, composer, and collaborates frequently with veteran side man with pianist Donald Brown, collaborator with drummer Keith Brown and bassist Rusty Holloway in the Boling, Brown, & Holloway (BBH) trio. The jazz that they play is among the best in the USA and sounds really eclectic with the irregular beats and percussions playing in the background. Not really classical-jazz, instead the style leans more towards avant-garde contemporary.

Download the mp3 here:

Mark Boling Trio - Therapetic



The picture above shows the trio performing in Zim Concert.2 2004.

Do visit the official site at markboling.com and here is their site on Epitonic.