Ki-Oku Explained

Ki-Oku
Type:	studio
Artist:	Toshinori Kondo and DJ Krush
Cover:	Kondo-DJ-Krush Ki-Oku Japan.jpg
Studio:	Metal Box (Kawasaki)
Label:	Sony
Chronology:	DJ Krush
Prev Title:	Meiso
Prev Year:	1995
Next Title:	MiLight
Next Year:	1996

is a collaborative studio album by Japanese jazz trumpeter Toshinori Kondo and Japanese hip hop producer DJ Krush. It was released on August 8, 1996 in Japan by Sony Music Entertainment.^[1] The album was issued in Europe by the R&S Records imprint Apollo on January 26, 1998,^{[2] [3]} and in the United States by Instinct Records on March 23, 1999.^[4]

Composition

Ki-Oku consists of 10 proper tracks and three short interludes. It features a cover of "Sun Is Shining", which was originally written and performed by Bob Marley.

Critical reception

Rick Anderson of AllMusic said that Ki-Oku is primarily an album of "smooth-groove jazz" music, but "reveals more with repeated listens; if it sounds too easy at first, listen again – there's lots of interesting stuff going on beneath what sometimes sounds like a merely pleasant surface." In 2015, Fact placed Ki-Oku at number 25 on its list of the best trip hop albums of all time.^[5]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.^[6]

Musicians

• Toshinori Kondo – acoustic trumpet, electric trumpet, arrangement
• DJ Krush – beats, programming, scratching, arrangement

Production

• Toshinori Kondo – production
• DJ Krush – production
• Noriko Asano – executive production
• Shuichi Ikebuchi – mixing, recording
• Masahito Kitayama – executive production
• Koichi "Oppenheimer" Matsuki – mixing on "Sun Is Shining"
• Yuki Noda – executive production
• Masayo Takise – mastering
• Naohiko Yamada – associate production

Design

• Mikio Hasui – photography
• Miki Terada – art direction, design
• Masakazu Yamamoto – art direction, design
• Shigeru Yamaoka – art direction, design

Notes and References

1. Web site: 記憶～KI-OKU～ | 近藤等則×DJ KRUSH. Oricon. May 15, 2017. ja.
2. Ki-Oku. DJ Krush and Toshinori Kondo. Apollo Records. 1998. AMB 8949 CD. liner notes.
3. Web site: Release. mmjp.or.jp. May 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20000301043917/http://mmjp.or.jp/sus/djkrE5.htm. March 1, 2000. dead.
4. Web site: Ki-oku. Instinct Records. May 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20040113183144/http://instinctrecords.com/release_detail.cfm?CAT=EX408. January 13, 2004. dead.
5. Web site: The 50 best trip-hop albums of all time. Fact. John. Twells. Xela (musician). Laurent. Fintoni. July 30, 2015. December 22, 2016.
6. Ki-Oku. Toshinori Kondo and DJ Krush. Sony Music Entertainment Japan. 1996. SRCS 8093. liner notes.
7. Dance Albums. Music Week. February 7, 1998. July 18, 2021. 21.