Hifana – Channel H [2005]

Hifana is a Japanese breaks duo notorious for their live shows in which they trigger all samples by hand.  I imagine that they must cut a lot of studio tracks based on that kind of live improvisation as well, as you won’t hear a lot of intricacy in the layering of sounds in the tracks on Channel H.  Instead, a few carefully-selected samples are cut and collated into continuously shifting phrases that can be intuitively understood.  I’m surprised at the mileage the duo can get out of something like a few bars of shamison music or whatever the bamboo-sounding percussion is in track five.  Generally I prefer music that feels more carefully composed, as opposed to “jammed,” but the good source material and playful feel make this easy to recommend.

 [YouTube] Hifana - Wamono

[Artist Website] http://www.hifana.com/

Hifana – Channel H [2005]

01 - Channel Push Breakin'

02 - Wamono

03 - Mr. Beer

04 - See'em

05 - Tanglang

06 - Now Thinking

07 - Nampooh

08 - Now Playing

09 - Ryukyu Long Board

10 - Akero

11 - Raggachin H

12 - Waiyandub

13 - www.Hifana.Com

14 - Peeteejay

15 - Asalato