Ken Ishii ‎– Jelly Tones

3 tracks are noteworthy here. First of all, "extra" is an innovation by fusing clubland with idm. Powdery, lo-quality samples are uncommon on dj decks, and idm usually begins to fall prey to breakbeats when the pace is too much. Dave Angel shoves Ishii back to pure clubland with Overlap, and Angel-izing a track is never a wrong turn. BBS energize Echo Exit with their live instrumentation that sounds like a jazz unit's headbanger ball. All the in betweens are mere in-betweens, due to Ishii's curiosity for abstract musical theories.

_Jelly Tones_ is Ken Ishii's breakthrough album, the one that brought him widespread attention. He brings in a strong Detroit influence to this album, infusing it with not a small amount of soul to accompany the anime otaku attitude. "Extra," the standout track, swirls and thumps gorgeously -- it's definitely a highpoint of Ishii's career. "Cocoa Mousse" has much more delicacy to it, while "Rusty Transparancy" has some archaic harpsichord hits to add some sonic texture. "Ethos 9" gets us back into some twisty techno, with some touch-and-go breaks. And the heaviness comes on strong with "Moved By Air," which takes a more tribal tack. The dense and complex "Pause in Herbs" has so many distinct and interacting layers that it may seem bewildering at first, but it quickly resolves its main melodic line. Luckily, "Frame Out" is much more straightforward -- almost a pure rhythm track. And as hard and rhythmic as "Stretch" is, it also glistens. "Endless Season" takes the album out on a more ambient, mostly beatless note. Even though this took Ishii to the top in 1995, it still sounds fresh today.

Accompanied by a full-length video by noted Japanese animator Morimoto (Akira) and a Jelly Tones CD-ROM, Ishii's '95 album was a self-professed stab at taking techno-derived music to a mass audience. The result is a pop-oriented techno album that, while nowhere near as satisfying as his previous work, is an important step toward removing Ishii's music from the ghetto of dancefloor ambivalence. A pair of 12-inches from the album includes remixes by Wagon Christ, Luke Slater, Dave Angel, Ian Pooley, and Frank De Wulfe.