LIVE REVIEW: KYOKA + AMI KUSAKARI @ MUTEK JP 10, Spotify O-East, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan (23/11/25)

4/5

Water Studies 

Music is art, plain and simple, simple and plain. You only have to see sound and hear time with the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto to feel this. Earlier this year, another artist inspired by the legendary likes of him, Ami Kusakari, released her inspired instrumental, and stunning solo set, 'Garden Studies' to rave reviews. Taking us back to the beauty and nature of life, soil to seed. This atmospheric album played in the white fog, of an exhibition like entrance to the epic, back-to-back, K-Arena 'Sakanaquarium' concerts with this bass player's band, Sakanaction, concluding their tour of the rising sun in August. 

Kyoka, also, needs no introduction. The first female artist signed to the iconic experimental German label, Raster-Noton (now Raster Media and NOTON), splits her time between Switzerland, Berlin and her native Japan. The eclectic sound and installation artist, DJ, field recorder and electric producer knows music and sound to the notes she devotes. Exploring and experimenting, the whole soundscape with a purists touch. Records like 'Is (Is Superpowered), 'iSH' and 'SH' will take you further...and higher. Using synths, equalizers and MIDI pads, Kyoka not only brings echos and reverbs of her signature sound, but also the amazing art itself, as the movie that played behind her and Ami was composed by Kyoka, herself. All for a personal and profound passion project that is "inspired by motion picture blindness". All through the flow of water and our own human perceptions in this compelling communication from Kyoka and Kusakari.

Together, the perfect pairing offered a stunning set, incredible, inspired and absolutely beautiful. All for the tenth MUTEK JP festival, from Montreal, Canada, to Tokyo, Japan. Playing in Spotify's O-East venue in the heart of Shibuya, just a few corners from the crossing. But through these neon streams, audible art took you on a path more meaningful and moving than all that. All for a three-day festival that also included the electronic music and digital creativity likes of Alex Vlair, Atsushi Kobayashi, BunBun, and many, many more. This tech cultural-exchange in the form of music celebrated it's tenth anniversary in Japan with a special showcase, and Kyoka and Ami were at the heart of it, headlining the final day. From Kyoka's heartfelt introduction to her work, and songs like 'Susurrus' and 'Shush', to Kusakari giving us her 'Garden Studies' (including 'Sound Of A Pier', 'RainFalls' and an extended version of 'Ginkgo Tree') in all their beautiful blooms, this left us all in attendance wondering what it would be like if this dynamic duo gave us an actual album. But this perfect performance was much more than that. Floating through the depths of our subconscious and resonating with us in layers. Sensory, physically and mentally. It contained multitudes. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

REVIEW: DE LA SOUL - CABIN IN THE SKY

4/5

Spirit In The Sky

Eye know you're going to love this. Gus from 'Breaking Bad', AKA Giancarlo Esposito, or Moff Gideon in 'Star Wars'', 'The Mandalorian', takes roll, like Key & Peele's classic 'Substitute Teacher' with that iconic voice of his. And it's one hell of a register. Killer Mike running the jewels on 'A Quick 16 For Mama' (the perfect lyrical gift for next Mother's Day). Contemporary Tribe's Q-Tip on 'Day In The Sun (Gettin' Wit U)', also featuring Yummy Bingham (Giancarlo likes that one), who also features on 'Will Be'. The great impressionist of Jay Pharoah with Gareth Donkin on 'Just How It Is (Sometimes'). Swedish Little Dragon singer Yukimi for 'Cruel Summers Bring Fire Life!" The 'Different World' of Gina Loring. The Roots of Black Thought on 'En Eff'. The praise be of 'Believe (In Him)' with a congregation of Stout and K. Butler & The Collective. And the 'Palm Of His Hand' and Bilal's. But when Mr. Espositio calls for De La Soul in the intro to this album, someone is missing from the frame. Kelvin 'Posdnuos Mercer? Here! Vincent 'Maseo' Mason? Check! David 'Trugoy the Dove' Jolicoeur? Dave? Dave?!

Legend has it that the penultimate album in the Mass Appeal series, that also featured the likes of Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Mobb Deep and Big L, features songs with some of these artists that have formed like Voltron for a great year in hip-hop and a Marvel Comics crossover. Slick Rick, who set this all off, getting in 'Yours' with Common. And Nas ('Run It Back'), who is set to have the last album of the 'Legend Has It...' series, next month, to close out the year, with legendary producer DJ Premier. He also mans the tracks 'Sunny Storms', 'En Eff' and 'The Silent Life Of A Truth'. Whilst his own contemporary, Pete Rock, gets behind the boards of 'The Package', 'Different World', 'Yours' and 'Palm'. But even with more guest features than a Bizarro J.Cole. Not to mention references to both Superman and Lois Lane. This is a De La album, after all. And three is still the magic number as Trugoy The Dove, Dave himself, appears on six sweet tracks. Making this 'Cabin In The Sky' to Soul, what 'Infinite' was to Mobb Deep (rest peacefully, Prodigy), last month.

Amazing artwork, in Simpsons skies, will keep your head in the clouds, looking to the heavens of a rap God. All whilst those feet stay firmly on the ground, walking for all the people in the single that runs it back. And the '3 Feet High and Rising' legends prove they've still got it. De La Soul are far from dead, as this album, like 'The Grind Date', the 'Daylight' they showed an 'NBA Live' soundtrack, 'And The Anonymous Nobody' proves they've still got it. Even in this art official cage age, Prince was talking about, they bring back the year 2000s, 'Art Official Intelligence' feeling. From the millennium bug, to A.I., take that. Even reuniting with producer Prince Paul, this first album since David Jolicoeur's death, and the first in almost a decade, is a joy to behold. Especially as he never really left us. 'Yuhdontstop'! This ninth studio album really is a wonder, like the producer.

'The Package' left outside for your 'Day In The Sun' ("I walk through the city real slow/Like I've been pieced together by that dude named Frankenstein/And I only got one little thing on my mind: that's a whole lotta you/Hot on my tail be a whole lotta crew/After me they (searching) with their pitchforks and stakes/Try to backstab but they can't grab your attention away from me and vice versa/Mama always said there'd be days like this") are the singles that will be getting you through the fall, but it’s the real rhymes you'd stay outside in the cold for, crate digging. 'Good Health' is what you need, and that track eats like your vegetables. Whilst 'Patty Cake', is so good you should name it, and listen to it twice for the bakers, man! Yet in this cabin talk, after the terrific title-track for this soulful hip-hop, it's 'Don't Push Me' in cloud covering closing that will really take you to the edge...of heaven. "Tuesday morning, I ring upon the door/Wednesday morning, come knock a little more/Door cracked open they'll be like, "who is it"/it's the 86 come to pay that a## a visit." Meet Dave again. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Run It Back (Feat. Nas)', 'Yours (Feat. Slick Rick & Common)', 'Don't Push Me'.

Spin This: De La Soul - 'The Grind Date'.

REVIEW: AEROSMITH & YUNGBLUD - ONE MORE TIME EP

4/5

AeroBLUD.

If you've been crying for some new music from Aerosmith, then the pleasure and pain has been one and the same. It seems like the band with nine lives have been on a permanent vacation, as the 'Toys In The Attic' rockers haven't pushed play on an album since London held the Olympics, with 2012's 'Music From Another Dimension' (featuring the hallowed hit single 'What Could Have Been Love' and the beautiful 'Beautiful'). But it's time to get a grip (and your wings) on the pump again, as the elevator is going down again, like the love symbol going crazy. Recovering from the heartbreak of having to cancel their farewell tour to arms. And it's only taken a young twenty-something from Doncaster, South Yorkshire to get them here, bringing them on back. 'One More Time' for one last dance...and scream!

YUNGBLUD has never met a confidence he couldn't coax. Or the letter "O" for that matter. And fresh off his album of 'Idols', the '21st Century Liability' and huge rock hit maker has given the ageing Aerosmith their biggest collaboration since they walked this way with those legends that strut in shell toes. After their beautiful tribute to Black Sabbath's late, great Ozzy Osbourne together, Aerosmith and YUNGBLUD have given us the sensational single 'My Only Angel', sharing the microphone like Springsteen does with fellow Jersey boy rockers, The Gaslight Anthem. "Niiice!" "F#####g-A!" and "hallelujah's" can be heard as Dominic Richard Harrison kisses Steven Tyler on the cheek after bringing the 77-year-old's old thing back. With Joe Perry ripping and riffing, this really is 'Amazing'. All over again. Reworking 'Back In The Saddle', for a 2025 mix with the boys from Boston, that gives the track new blood.

'Problems' continue on a track that tells us, and the muse, "Yeah, I know I've felt you in my life/In the streets of every city/Where I dream at night/I met all the bitter saints, and I was sold/But to get to where you want/You can’t do what you're told." Whereas, riding a 'Wild Woman', this new perfect partnership sings, "Big life from a little dream/Whole forest from a little seed/Drop me off down by the ocean, baby/That's a good place to leave me/Big house on a little hill/That's what you said that you want from me/Call me up when you get lonely, lady/I'll give you what you need." 'A Thousand Days' keeps this 'Dream On', 'Sweet Emotion' sound going. And you won't want to miss a thing, like this, "You got a little fire going on in you head/Maybe we can turn it up in my cold bed/Because, babe, heaven's gonna burn down eventually", crazy love. From Blud's trademark open shirt, to the scarfs hanging from Steven's microphone, this may just be an EP, but the skull fits perfectly on the wings. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'My Only Angel', 'A Thousand Days', 'Back In The Saddle (2025 Mix)'.

Spin This: Aerosmith - 'Music From Another Dimension'

YUNGBLUD - 'Idols'

MOVIE REVIEW: PRINCE - SIGN "☮" THE TIMES (IMAX)

4/5

Peace

85 Mins. Starring: Prince. Director: Prince. In: IMAX Theatres.

By royal appointment, O(+> is back in theatres. Remember during Prince's 'Hit n Run' phase, before he passed, when he was on the revamped 'The Arsenio Hall Show' for the nostalgia? The legendary Arsenio asked the icon if he was on Instagram. Prince replied that he was going to have, "Princestagram" (amazing). Now, with the return of his critically-acclaimed, classic concert film 'Sign "☮" Of The Times', from 1987, in IMAX theatres. We ain't trying to botch that name ("IPrince" sounds like something from Apple, we're good), but perhaps the IMAX blue light should have turned purple for this outstanding occasion. Especially when here in Tokyo (sharing the experience with an amazing artist in their own right), Prince's  "☮" sign played in a cinema under Shinagawa's Prince Hotel...and a cherry moon. 

For a minute there, I lost myself, like Radiohead, and thought they had made Prince signs special for this presentation. Blame my inability to read Kanji. Anyway, between all the Studio Ghibli re-releases ('Princess Mononoke') and BTS concerts (J-Hope) in Japanese theatres right now, Prince hit IMAX like Christopher Nolan with his odyssey. I may have been two years old when this concert was conceived, but it's an absolute classic that still holds up to this day. Even with its inspired intro, nuanced in nostalgia, directed by the man that gave us the Lake Minnetonka purifying scenes of his own 'Purple Rain' movie. And even that classic, that came before in '84', didn't have to close this compelling concert when Prince had 'The Cross' to bear in an epic finale. 'Little Red Corvette' ('1999'), on a piano and a microphone, being the only hit from another records making it to these times. Otherwise, it was a 'Housequake' of 'Slow Love' and other timeless love songs like 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' and 'I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man'. 'Hot Thing' and the official video for 'U Got The Look', featuring Sheena Easton at intermission. Boy versus girl, in the World Series of love.

Charlie Parker also got a cover ('Now's The Time') in a sensational set as outstanding as Prince's true, glam rock star outfits on the neon Moulin Rouge like stage in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Playing to the Paisley Park pastel and paint of this trip's theatrical poster. The band's all here too. Even some comic-foils from The Revolution era. But from the prescriptions on the keys of Doctor Fink, to the influential introduction of dancer Cat Glover, it was the great Sheila E. on the skins, who truly took your breath away. Especially with one hell of a drum solo (see Prince's Brit Awards performance for more), that she did with sticks, and even her hands (DAMN!). Between sweet segues, showing you a ring in a shop window (before the formidable 'Forever In My Life', bringing The Artist himself to tears, showcasing such skill in asking the backing singers to back up for a shadowy sound), Prince did spins and splits more times than you and your pants when you slip on a banana. They say in IMAX you can hear everything so clear, from a pin drop, to a jumbo jet soar. Yet, Prince was so much more. Playing in the sunshine, it was always going to be a beautiful night. ☮. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

 

Further Filming: 'Purple Rain', 'Under The Cherry Moon', 'Graffiti Bridge'.

REVIEW: WALE - EVERYTHING IS A LOT

3.5/5

Washington Wizard

A lot is going on these days, especially in D.C., but one thing remains the same. It's still not pronounced "whale". Or "WALL-E", for that matter. Four years after the 'Folarin II' sequel, one of the best rappers in the game, Wale, is back with his eight wonder of an album, 'everything is a lot'. And it really is for Olubowale Victor Akintimehin. The Grammy nominated, 'Lotus Flower Bomb' rapper has had 'Ambition', ever since the 'Attention Deficit' of his 2009 debut that even cut records with Lady Gaga ('Chillin''). And from there, he's proved to be one of 'The Gifted'. Making albums, like mixtapes, with Seinfeld, all whilst showing his 'Shine'. 'Wow...That's Crazy', he said in 2019. And it really is for the Chango 'American God', whose style could even make NBA star P.J. Tucker put his sneakers back in the locker. But flossing on rhymes is where Wale really shines, and with this long-awaited, highly-anticipated rap album of the year, he gives us everything he has over the perfect pastel portrait of some amazing album artwork. On the cover and on wax.

Cutting some freestyle rhymes on LeBron James and Maverick Carter's 'The Shop' talk a fortnight ago, Wale showed his flow was ready to go. And here you have some hits ('Mirronnabenz (Feat. BNYX®)') that bring black and white bangers back like Busta. The ambitious girl dedicated 'Where To Start', Benny like 'Blanco' and the 'City On Fire', for Washington, featuring Odeal, completes the single set for this one. But monster collaborations across the board compel this CD, cassette, vinyl and stream even more. 'Watching Us' with Leon Thomas, Wale brings Teni and Seyi Vibez along for the ride of 'YSF'. Whilst ODUMODUBLVCK in all caps shows us his 'Big Head'. Big artists like Ty Dolla $ign and Nino Paid help Wale strive to 'Survive'. Even in closing 'Lonely' times, with Shaboozey as company on the curtain. But things get ballad beautiful with Andra Day on 'Like I'. Not to mention, the hallowed highlight 'Fly Away', featuring Sheryl Ann Padre, that samples the sweet 'Pretty Wings' ("Away from me too secretly/The way that love could be/When you are not with me/I had to leave, I had to leave") by the great neo-soul of Maxwell. And just wait until you hear the sample on 'Belly', like Nas and DMX.

A beast of an album continues with songs you know, like 'Michael Fredo', for a new Godfather of life, rhymes and times. It's a classic 'Conundrum' over drums that begin the album before Wale tells us, "Slow down, the fast life is crazy/Those lights in that town is dangerous/I been tried, this lifestyle is not for you, you, you/Slow down, the fast life is crazy/Those lights in that town is dangerous/I know now, my love language solitude, 'tude" on the profound 'Power And Problems'. And popping 'Corner Bottles' with a voice iconic to today, like the Method Man's and Q-Tip's before him, Akintimehin accentuates "They say heartbreak is the best teacher, I done been here before/Did a lot of songs and a lot of features, y'all don't wanna hear no more/The heavyset women are singing their note, that mean it's over, over, over/I wasn't ready, you told me to go/Keep all my clothes, just give me some closure". Bringing the breakup (it's a) rap back, even darker than Drake. But it's 'Tomorrow Today' that really sees the future that Wale owns, right now. With wise words earned. "Money isn't effort, effort isn't time/Hope you never know the difference, I give you all of mine." This is everything. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Mirronnabenz (Feat. BNYX®)', 'Belly', 'Fly Away (Feat. Sheryl Ann Padre)'.

Spin This: Wale - 'The Album About Nothing'.

REVIEW: MAVIS STAPLES - SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD

4/5

A Mavis Grace

We live in a beautiful world. Yeah, we do. Yeah, we do. As Coldplay once sang. Even if, at times (like these), it's a sad one. But don't panic, Mavis Staples is back. Back in 2019 the legendary Staples Singer singer and iconic civil rights activist gave us the instant classic of 'We Get By'. Written entirely by one of our generation's greatest, singer/songwriter Ben Harper. Now, six years and a collaborative album with Levon Helm (2022's 'Carry Me Home') later, it's a 'Sad and Beautiful World', post-COVID and with presidential problems that affect the watching and waking world almost at war. Yet Mavis is back to staple it all this bad weather together, like Jack Johnson, at 86 years of age. All on the same New Music Friday that Willie Nelson, at 91, gives us his 78th album, and second this year, for the 'Workin' Man'. As 'Willie Sings Merle'. All in honour of his late, great friend and frequent, classic collaborator, Merle Haggard.

Hey, young world, listen to these wise words. Whether making music with Maggie (Rogers), or sitting at the doily graced table of her living room, Mavis Staples invites you into her home to hear her heart. The soul singer stirs with singles, covers and new classics across the board. 'Godspeed', Mavis Staples. Like the sign of your new call to embracing arms. Your new 'Chicago' classic, singing for her native Windy City, like the late, great Prince did for 'Baltimore', down to the concrete of the streets. "There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in", Staples sings over a Leonard Cohen 'Anthem', channelling Hemingway. Our collective world may seem broken now, but it's healing with helping hands like these. This may just be, not only, one of the best, but also the most important records of the year, yearning that 'We Got To Have Peace'. Mavis doing for her music what country star Johnny Cash did with his Rick Rubin 'American Recordings' in the winter of his life. Staples even covers the great country songbook's 'A Satisfied Mind', like not only Cash did, but Ben Harper once did, too, with the visionary Blind Boys Of Alabama.

Iconic, like the cover, this album is artwork in itself. The purity of songwriting and soulful deliverance of the perfect penmanship. From the 'Human Mind', to these 'Hard Times' we're living in. Especially in the country that used to give us the dream of the world. "If you ever hear that thunder/Put your eye to the sky, boy, and wonder/Maybe there's a kingdom above the weather/Oh, and whether you're gonna get on in/Is up to you", she warns on the familiar brutality of 'Beautiful Strangers'. Apologizing to Freddie Gray, on behalf of those who took his life, for what is now her most influential and incendiary track of the times we are living in, right now, that have needed to be a-changin'. It's why the title track hits even harder with lines like, "Sometimes days go speeding past/Sometimes this one seems like the last." Speaking not only to the impermanence of one's individual life, but also, these dark days and the pain we can't seem to make past. The same racism and hate is as alive as the day Mavis Staples and her sisters sang against it as young stars, but like Ben, she believes in a better way. One that, in closing, tells us, 'Everybody Needs Love'. That we do...and we need to show it, too. Life is a beautiful struggle. Let's work at making it easier...together. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: ''Chicago', 'Beautiful Strangers', 'Anthem'.

Spin This: Mavis Staples - 'We Get By'.

REVIEW: WILLIE NELSON - WORKIN' MAN: WILLIE SINGS MERLE

4/5

Working On The Highway

Friendship is the foundation of everything. Love, marriage and family. At 92 years young, American and country icon Willie Nelson has met many on the long and winding road of his life. But with his 78th album (amazing), he honours one of the best. Nelson has been giving us no half measures over the last couple of calendars. Forget that, over each and every decade he's strummed strings and breathed into microphones across stages and plains. But ever since 'The Border' of 2024, he's been on a tear like a runaway American dream Springsteen sings about from books of Bob. Even though it was far from that, the 'Last Leaf On The Tree', last November, was beautiful. And this year he already showed us 'Oh What A Beautiful World' back in April. Now, this November, in fellow beautiful black and white, he's still a 'Workin' Man', as 'Willie Sings Merle', set off by the strong single of the 'Workin' Man Blues'. Two albums a year from a ninety-something? Now, that's work!

It's not a young man's game, or world any more, as the greats come out the gates this New Music Friday. Not just Willie, but soul Staples Singer, and activist, Mavis Staples with another classic ('Sad And Beautiful World') to follow up her iconic return of 2019's 'We Get By'. Meanwhile, all the kids are trying to use new self-aggrandizing terms on podcasts and social media to tell us how humble they are, when these legends just put the proof in their pudding. Now, that's really letting someone cook. Instead of talking about ourselves, we should acknowledge and honour others, and that's exactly what this 'Workin' Man' does. Dialled to eleven tracks, Willie sings the songs of his late friend and frequent collaborator, Merle Haggard, who passed almost a decade ago. It's a legacy recording, produced in part by Mickey Raphael, recorded in Nashville's East Iris and Blackbird studios, plus the Pedernales Recording of Spicewood, Texas, USA. All for almost forty minutes of fantastic music to take you away in the shotgun of your car.

Haggard was one of the greats, his influence was just that inspirational. With Willie, he recorded four studio duet albums for the record. It all began in 1983, with 'Pancho & Lefty', and ended in 2015, with 'Django and Jimmie', one year before Merle's death. As classic as the pair of men in black sitting on a leather couch for the album cover, this set takes off on 'Silver Wings'. Singing all the little bits of country for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 'Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down' ("Well, each night I leave the barroom when it's over/Not feeling any pain at closing time/But tonight your memory found me much too sober/I couldn’t drink enough to keep you off of my mind") shows you can't even turn to booze when you're bruised. Whereas, 'Today I Started Loving You Again' is a beautiful affirmation to the vows of love renewed. 'Swinging Doors', mind you, is classic 'Hello Walls', Willie with lines like, "I've got swinging doors, a jukebox, and a barstool/And my new home has a flashing neon sign/Stop by and see me anytime you want to/'Cause I'm always here at home 'til closing time/I'm always here at home 'til closing time." The neon glare above the pool table green, illuminating the lonely yearn. Playing the winner, 'Okie From Mskogee' keeps everything rolling like those dice of life. 

'Mama Tried' to make a good man, and she did with this one who tells us, through another, that, "Dear old daddy, rest his soul/Left my mom a heavy load/She tried so very hard to fill his shoes/Working hours without rest/Wanted me to have the best." These records aren't just legacy, they're legend all the way to the 'Ramblin' Fever' closing, with you know what kind of medicinal prescription. This compelling collection could really bookmark the great American songbook, somewhere north of a Nashville skyline. Even some of the darker turned pages, like 'I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink'. 'Somewhere Between' all this, is the hope for better days to come, like the old ones of old glory, sang here, as Willie and Merle fly the flag from here to the great beyond that Staples sings about also, this week. Closing in on a century, this man can dream too, and on the penultimate powerful, 'If We Make It Through December', the sage says, "If we make it through December/Everything's gonna be all right, I know/'Cause it's the coldest time of winter/And I shiver when I see the falling snow/If we make it through December/Got plans to be in a warmer town come summertime/Maybe even California." Sadly, this album also marks the last record Nelson shares with both long-serving band members Paul English and his elder sister Bobbie Nelson. Yet the Family Band plays on in the hereafter. For Merle. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Workin' Man Blues', 'Today I Started Loving You Again', 'If We Make It Through December'.

Spin This: Willie Nelson - 'Oh What A Beautiful World'.