Midweek must-watch: DJ Koco 45 Live series
Japan's DJ Koco embodies the true art of DJing: superb tracks creatively mixed into something greater than the sum of their parts. And all on 45s, too
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By rights, DJ Koco aka Shimokita should be the hottest DJ on the planet right now. But while David Guetta’s YouTube channel has more than 26m subscribers, Koco’s has 18,000. It’s a travesty.
I’m glad DJ Koco hasn’t reached the Guetta-sphere, though. I doubt he wants to get there, either. The air is pretty thin, by all accounts.
Koco’s raw ingredients are a bag of killer 7-inches – some known, some unknown; most sublime, a few silly.
His tools are two Technics SL1200s and a club-standard Pioneer mixer. Proper old school, nothing fancy. (See this post on DJ tech from Why is this interesting? to appreciate just how stripped back this is by today’s DJing standards).
He raids his record bag for one superb 45 after another, flowing tracks together with just enough turntable trickery to make things interesting, but never overdone. Check out his sweet back-to-back mix of the two Tom Scott & LA Express tracks about 11.20 into the video above. Massive Attack and King Britt fans, take note.
From his bag of raw ingredients and trusted tools, Koco creates some of the most incredible DJ mixes you’ll see – with styles ranging from funk, soul and hip-hop to jazz, latin and reggae (and some I’ve definitely missed). He deftly switches between light and shade, constantly bopping around behind the decks like he’s having the time of his life.
I kicked myself for missing Koco in London recently, at the Jazz Cafe and Rough Trade East. Fortunately, Youtube has plenty of DJ Koco mixes to feast on… so pick one, dance round your kitchen and get ready for the weekend...
Peace, love and music.
Rich
Those Tom Scott & The LA Express albums are surprisingly really good. The one with the belt buckle can be easily found over here for a bargain price. 'Tom Cat' is a bit harder to find but often cheap when you do see it.