Ken Ishii has been around for a while. In fact, the Sapporo born artist does his share in establishing a connection between the Japanese scene and western electronic music hubs under numerous monikers since the early 90’s. So did his album Reference To Difference, initially released in 1994, that’ll see a reissue in November. With its adventurous approach, intertwining techno with electronica, ambient, and the then coming of age style of IDM, it aptly exemplifies how Ishii built bridges already early in his career.
Ishii’s mix for our podcast series, on the other side, shows why he still is one of the techno scene’s most important figures. A Pacy, muscular, and highly entertaining hour of straightforward dance floor madness.
What did you have in mind when recording this mix?
Ken Ishii: I wanted to put something tribal, funky, and driving together in the mix.
Where did you record it and which setup did you use?
At home in Tokyo with 1 x Pioneer DJM-900 nexus and 2 x CDJ-2000 nexus. Some level editing and mastering with ProTools and plugins.
What’s the most memorable gig you played so far?
An outdoor festival in a park of Rotterdam sometime in the late 90’s. I was going to do a live set with hardware in front of 20,000+ people and was doing a line check behind the stage 45 minutes before the show. My sampler, with all the important data in, broke all of a sudden. My engineer tried everything to fix it but nothing worked. I became crazy and threw the sampler hard to the ground. Then it was back to life! The show went well in the end, but the sampler worked only once and it was totally broken after the show.
Can you name a secret weapon that you use frequently?
JB3 – Forklift (Luke Slater’s Filtered Mix) [Novamute]
Three recent releases that caught your attention?
George Cross – I Can’t Help But Be Funky [UKR]
Gregor Tresher – Once In a Lifetime [PIAS]
Gary Beck – Get Far [Code]
What do you have coming up?
A reissue of my album Reference to Difference which was originally released on Japan’s Sublime Records in 1994 will be coming out on vinyl and digital. Then a collab track produced with Yuada will be out on Cocoon. A track contribution for Japan’s techno pioneer label Transonic’s 30th anniversary release. Collaborations in progress–with Masaki Sakamoto, a jazz pianist/producer from Japan, and with David Castellani, a modular synth specialist from LA.
Track listing:
Romain Richard – Tribes Part 4 [UKR]
Romain Richard – Tribes Part 1 [UKR]
Vinicius Honorio – Samba [Liberta]
Uncertain – Upset [Illegal Alien]
George Cross – I Can’t Help But Be Funky [UKR]
Klint – Kaos Temple [CLR]
Adoo – After Ten Years [Tronic]
Clif Jack – Fight For Your Dreams [Codex]
DJ Ze Migl – Sick As A Dog [UKR]
Tensal – Sonic Particle Rain [Mord]
Luis Miranda – Katodo [Code]
Ken Ishii, Yuada – Split Second [Cocoon]
Hollen – Hypo State [Sway]
David Moleon – Span [Transition]
BLND – Rhythms Of Funk [KR]
Audioklinik – Ear Catcher (MarAxe Funky Ass Remix) [Plastic Toys]
Obscure Shape – Elemental [Clergy]
01100110 – Defying The Leviathan [Arts]
Bleur & MB1 – Beacon [Union Three]
