Last time I saw NHK they had a small EP called “Unununium” on Raster Noton. This particular release excludes the second half of that duo, specifically Toshio Munehiro, but it retains a lot of the power of that EP. Compared to the previous offering, this one feels a lot less focused. Rappers, gliding house tracks, and loopy techno battle it out for dominance. Kouhei Matsunaga handles it with grace for the most part.
The harder tracks are the better ones. “2ndplus” starts off where their EP ended. A weird rhythm starts coming together as a half-melody forms from random collections of noise. “261” sounds positively grime-laden. I enjoy how the bass sounds disgusting, the whistle, and the slight percussion. When NHKyx focuses on heavier sounds, it reaps greater rewards. Perhaps the heaviest song would be “257” which nearly suffocates the listener with distortion.
Samples are introduced. “Plants” does a fantastic job of sounding like a future Adult Swim bump. Yes, it is that smooth. Other sample laden songs like “421” don’t fare as well, sounding a bit off and overstuffed with random effects.
Finally, there are the dullards of the tracks. The rapping is terrible. Whenever you hear the song begin with lyrics, skip the track. I know NHKyx is interested in hip hop (the productions make that clear) but the rappers just don’t gel well with his music. Rather than coming across as a good collaboration, I feel the rappers suck the energy out of his music.
Kouhei does a good job is showing why he belongs on Skam Records. Unfortunately the difference between good and bad tracks is extremely stark. This may not be as noticeable, but considering the album is almost 70 minutes long I get the impression had he excised some of the tracks on here, it would be a great improvement. Really, he does a pretty good job, just keep in mind you may need to skip some of the dregs.