DJ Kentaro

japanese turntablism // traditional remixed

shamisen. n. 1. A Japanese 3-stringed musical instrument with a very long neck, plucked with a bachi (a binding of sticks).
turntable. n. 1. The circular horizontal rotating platform of a phonograph on which the record is placed.
Ready to see these two very different instruments bust out some crazy fusion of old and new?

Imagine a banjo player dueling with a DJ, in Japan…

DJ Kentaro mixing against a shamisen (skip to 0:40)

27 Responses to “DJ Kentaro”

  1. beOHbe :

    Oops.

    That was a really crazy performance. Do you know if that was a one off kind of thing or have those two recorded anything?

  2. masayuki :

    Hi. I’m Music Forest Webmaster.

    This shamisen player is Shinichi Kishita.
    http://homepage2.nifty.com/king-of-tsugaru/
    He play Tshgaru Shamisen.

    And DJ Kentaro is DMC2004 winner.
    http://www.dmcworld.com/technics/archive/2002/video/2002dj1-100k.wvx

  3. Anonymous :

    Wooo! That was cool.

  4. jace :

    The shamisen has a long tradition of being played by blind musicians for alms. deep stuff.

  5. Gik :

    There’s a guy who plays the tsugaru shamisen downtown (Santa Cruz) every once in a while. Does anyone know where I can get more of this kind of music?

  6. courvidae :

    Oh my great goodness–that was amazing. I sat spellbound with my mouth open during the entirety! Thanks for the video.

    I’m a fan of Agatsuma for shamisen playing–you can find his albums on amazon for clips and info.

  7. VC :

    I’ve never heard the Shamisen played in this manner, in the style of a guitar rather than in the slow, haphazard (not to suggest that any of the notes are accidental… I’m just having trouble articulating this)way I have heard previously. I would love to hear this sort of Shamisen accompanying a Sitar or otherwise incorporated into the music of other cultures.

    Kishita and Kentaro flowed together perfectly… who says turntables aren’t an instrument?

  8. Red Jenny :

    That’s amazing!!

  9. Anonymous :

    Wow, holy crap. That was awesomer.

    =darwin

  10. c :

    wow. wow wow wow. beautiful. maybe i’m not getting enough turntablism in my diet, but i’ve never seen it done that well for that length of time. at least not out in front enough to be able to tell whatall’s going on.

  11. Anonymous :

    this clip is inspiring!

    gik – you are thinking of Kevin Kmetz. We are his rock band, God of Shamisen, check us out.
    http://www.godofshamisen.com

  12. Thinh :

    That was true aurgasm for the ears. First time I’ve ever heard or seen anything like that before. Truly made my day. Thanks!

  13. terry :

    Its not up anymore huh? Oh well.
    Anyone have an alt. link?

  14. setzer :

    this is absolutely amazing

  15. mcamplitude :

    anyone know where i can download a copy of this? thanks for any info…..kentaro is my hero

  16. Anonymous :

    Wow. Its kind of hard to tell whats turntable and whats shamisen in some places. While a little confusing and noisy, that little tune will be stuck in my head for a while. Truly exceptional.

    [LiveSquid]

  17. Anonymous :

    lol some crazy shiznay there! i love beans and twigs

  18. Anonymous :

    maaan… that was one hell of a performance..rock the spot kentaro

  19. Anonymous :

    if you like this clips, look for the album Jaku of DJ Krush (specialy the “Beyond Raging Waves” song).

    japs DJ are incredible

  20. Franky from France :

    Scié ! Je suis scié ! C’est absolument génial ! Original ! Bref c’est SUPER !

  21. Zogg :

    Now thisis Something! Japs went nuts. ;))

  22. A-ight :

    who said a turntable isn’t an instrument too?!

  23. Anonymous :

    Who says turntables aren’t an instrument?
    –>Noone.
    Just the only musicians in the business are TURNTABLISTS. All other dj’s are disk jockeys.

  24. Anonymous :

    does anyone knows where I can download this kind of music? or any shamisen music? this is very, very good!! pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!

  25. Matthew :

    If you’re looking for interesting contemporary music with the shamisen (can’t say it has turntables, tho) check out God of Shamisen rockin’ straight outta Cali.

  26. Anonymous :

    how do you download it

  27. Ryan of the RSL blog :

    That is really sweet!