Monday, June 1, 2009

mnml ssgs mx27: koss


SSGs is proud to present its latest podcaster, Sapporo’s Kuniyuki Takahashi, aka Kuniyuki, aka Koss. To the unfamiliar, Kuniyuki is a sound designer, musician and producer, most of whose works have appeared on the mule family of labels. He’s worked with (or been re-worked by) YMO’s Haruomi Hosono, Terre Thaemlitz, Theo Parrish, Heinrik Schwarz, Cobblestone Jazz, Tony Lionni, Chateau Flight, and a Mountain of One (among others). He’s also released three extraordinary albums in the past few years: with pianist Saiko Tsukamoto as Saikoss (somewhere between nsi’s play’s non-standards and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s solo piano work); with various collaborators as Kuniyuki for All These Things, which stretched effortlessly between ambient, jazz/house and techno; and, finally, as Koss. The 2006 Koss album Four Worlds Converge as One is, to me, easily one of the best ambient albums of the last few years. As with Kuniyuki’s other projects, the hallmarks are of a highly developed sense and sensibility, including an incredible ear for sonic detail and beauty and an intuitive sense of flow, backgrounded by a strongly ‘elemental’ aesthetic, where each element, left in its naturally expressive form, interacts (coolly, calmy, cosmically) with the others.

For this SSG set, Kuniyuki appears in his Koss guise, building and blending layers of looped elements into a gliding, grooving, elegant house assembly that floats like a butterfly, and kicks like a mule. It's a beauty, and it's here


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16 comments:

  1. downloading, didn't see this one coming, nice!!!
    thanks guys.

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  2. we try to keep you guessing... this one is a real beauty.

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  3. Great its time for listening Tnx Chris....

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  4. Total curve ball, you guys have been acing it with the mixes, thank you.

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  5. WOW! What a sublime chunk of housey bliss this is! Big thanks to Koss, and major kudos to the ssgs for makin it happen!

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  6. great mix (as usual), thnx guys...

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  7. fantastic mix, definitely one of the best ones only downside is it's too short

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  8. very very nice!

    thanks again

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  9. the bassline at 12 minutes is wicked.

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  10. It's honestly huge!!! One of the powerful live acts I ever heard!!!
    Shouts!

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  11. very very very very very very nice, equally waking up early saturday morning, and now waking up at 1am sunday to go out.

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  12. THIS IS SUPER GREAT. Thank you

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  13. Definitely too short. Still, great sounds. I really like this mix. Tnx guys!

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. **Lossless** ALAC &/or FLAC versions please.

    Both these lossless formats are now open license. Users now want them, as 160kbps MP3 doesn't cut it anymore; old technology.

    Nice mix otherwise.

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Say something constructive, bitte. Or if you're gonna take a swipe, at least sharpen your nails.

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