Japanese Juke and Footwork Compilation

Japanese Mutation Bootyism, the name really says it all, has released a whopping great compilation of Japanese footwork that boggles the mind in both its scale and diversity. I was aware of Japan's comparatively open embrace of juke music through Paisley Parks and his 'Pan Pacific Playa' label and Dj Fulltono's 'Bootytune' but this compilation is a revelation as to the shear vastness of the Japanese juke output which dwarfs every other 2nd wave Juke scene from Portland, Austin, the UK, Russia or anywhere else. Further more the Japanese style seems to be far less quick to abandon essential elements of footwork or incorporate other existing styles to keep it fresh and new, a rather annoying aspect of the aforementioned scenes. Instead, this compilation builds on the footwork idiom by deconstructing even further, the rhythmic tropes and ghetto samples that ultimately define the sound. Yet the overall impression one gets from the music isn't one of gangsta slums, projects, urban decay and despair but something more quint-essentially Japanese: kitsch and cartoonish, busy, wacky and overstimulating like the Tokyo high street. Dj Fulltono's 'peepbopeepbo' is a great example of this vibe, sounding like a Japanese counterpoint to someone like Dj Taye. While most track retain a Ghettotek sensibility the comp has its far more experimental moments, but they don't seem out of place on the comp and the comp wouldn't feel out of place on the Battleground. 'Ghetto Call' by rioqmt offers a very convincing synthesis between the sub-sonic brutality and textural experimentalism that seem to divide Chicago and international footwork. However, Klone7023's '1up' gets so rhythmically disorientating it practically abandons a time signature altogether. Ok, considering it is a remix of the MarioWorld theme it is hard to take seriously as avant-garde music, but you have to see it as part of the culture of aggressive kitsch in juke music that can get to the point of a joke at times, lets not forget Traxman's 'Let There Be Rockkkk'. I see the track as a very post-modern take on free-jazz where the composition of the samples is a quixotic expression of the artist and completely unrestrained by a musical narrative or even by a metronome. Regardless, the compilation has got enough of whatever you're looking for in juke, its is impressively creative and diverse and after listening you can't ignore the presence of this enormous and promising wave of footwork from the far east.