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CD
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BPC 196CD
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This is the second full-length release by Finland-born/Berlin-based Joakim Ijäs aka Kiki for the BPitch Control label. While crafting this second album, Kiki became fully immersed in the waves of the creative process: phases in which everything seems clear, but also moments when things appear stuck and one remains uncertain about what step to take next to make a vision come to life. As the artist himself explains, "When I worked on the album, there were situations when I had a very clear picture of what I wanted without knowing for sure how to realize it, so I had to take a short break. Each time this happened I found a solution after a few days that would solve my dilemma. It was as if I had shouted a question into a world within my mind and what came back was my echo with the answer." Hence, it is no big surprise that Kiki titled his album Kaiku -- the Finnish term for "echo." While all the artists who contributed to Kaiku stepped into Kiki's life in a variety of very unforeseen fashions and ways, Kaiku speaks of a maturing process that moved away some of the focus from club compatibility towards a more subtle and personal mood, where memories of last weekend seem to resonate like a gentle echo. Jacking, old school tracks like "Good Voodoo" or floating anthems like "Starslider" stand right next to downbeat variations such as "No Words Necessary" and typical dancefloor bombs like the opening track "Autumn Leaves" or "Mogadishu," making Kaiku by far the most mature and timeless thing ever to come from Kiki. Guest artists include MC Chela Simone and Italian experimental quartet, Pirica.
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CD
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BPC 120CD
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BPitch inaugurates a new kind of mix CD and series. Boogy Bytes is a wholly unique listening experience, with tracks hidden within tracks, making for a free-associative-type ride. Even the cover, a snapshot of Kiki, frozen in time while shaking his head by Axl Jansen, is a new sort of animal. The techno-centric Boogy Bytes Vol. 1 has 16 indexes, but really it has 25 tracks, all digitally spliced and bifurcated, then layered on top and within one another like a fine Finnish pastry -- as when the elephants from Andre Kraml's "Safari" trample through Donal Tierney -- or when the vocals from Kiki's "The End of the World" climb over Guy Gerber's "Stoppage Time." Born in Helsinki, Kiki himself was a young hip-hop DJ, and can regularly be seen on 3 turntables, so this blending comes as second nature. His well-received Run With Me debut ("Glamorous" -- Simon Reynolds) was a precursor to this astonishing project: an expertly mixed, delicately balanced, ever-so-gradually ascending technologic delight. From start to, well, Finnish, the 16 or 25 tracks don't take you on a journey as much as they teleport you to heaven. Perhaps it's a kind of dance music soufflé, and Kiki is DJ Julia Child. This thing is literally next level(s).
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BPC 095CD
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"Kiki, a native Fin and immigrated Berliner, is an international DJ. He has been producing music for BPitch Control since the last three years. He is presenting his first album Run With Me following five EP's. It's full of strings vs. static sound, hard beats vs. harmonic aesthetic. We imagine it as if Kiki were some sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hide. He is thus pulling together his main influences for this first album. The track mentioned before is not only first on the album, but it also stands for a beginning. This is the sound Kiki had desired in the days of his school band. He listened to Kiss and loved the darker side of David Bowie. Today, the following text may help to dispel the apocalyptic title: '...end of the world as we know it.' This is to say that things change and Kiki regards this with ease and curiosity. It seems to be quite the natural position for him since he sings this line, like all the others, rather spontaneously into his recorder. Writing just doesn't do it: Kiki is well-schooled in the realm of hip hop, rapping, and DJing. He even utilizes an old drum-tape from the old days for a groovy track 'On the 140th day.' After many attempts, Kiki finally moved to Berlin some ten years ago only to find happiness. Here he heard a lot of Detroit and local Berlin sounds. His hook lines come from spacious echo frequencies and from mystical Morse code that the city of motors is known for. He appreciates off-kilter melodies and floating dub hi-hats just as much as violin strings made for film music. The throbbing beat and driving bass rarely go away. Run With Me is a call in the direction of the dance floor. There is a picture in Kiki's head in relation to this creative mix: the way wind and weather breeze by him strolling with his Walkman along the beach in Helsinki. Perhaps this is why the underlying melancholic sound pervade the basic vibe. It's for sure, however, that the over-arching vision coming from these diverse sources of inspiration unite under the title: Kiki's 'Big picture'."
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