Sad news indeed. Ryo Kato known to us as DJ Klock, or just Klock, is no longer here. April 10th he decided to leave this life. We hope he has found peace where he is now.

Klock was 1/3 of Cacoy, the Japanese trio who in February 2006 released the album Human is Music in Europe on our label Rumraket. An album that to this date still stands as one of the absolute favorite albums among us Efterklang people. Since 2004 we have listened to the album regularly with constant joy - so this is indeed sincere and a fact.

Cacoy - Human is Music

We were presented to the Cacoy album in the fall of 2004 and a year later when Klock and Saya and Ueno (from Tenniscoats) gave us permission to release this album in Europe (three years after it´s initial release in Japan) it was like a little dream that came true for us. We will never forget them for trusting us and for letting us work with them.

Through Cacoy we learned about the artist Dj Klock. We are glad that we have been presented to all of this music. Klock has an impressive discography behind him as a soloartist on great labels such as Sublime, Revirth and Ropeadope and together with his wife Yuki, he also ran his own Clockwise Records. All of his works are indeed worth listening to - allthough they can be difficult to find here in Europe. The albums I know best are:

San (Ropeadobe, 2006)

Sensation (Revirth, 2004)

These two albums display Klocks magnificent talent. He was a master of turntablizm and a master of dry constantly moving beats. Even more important he was an aesthetic and his combination of musical skills, artistery and flair for moods and composition was unique. His ability to see music as an art and not just as entertainment makes him a rare artist that will be missed. I can also recommend his Rainbow Trilogy (cd, vinyl and tape) - a very interesting project under his other name Turntabrush.

Klock visiting me in Copenhagen - Sep 2006

My relationship to Ryo Kato existed almost mainly through his music. On one single occasion I got to meet him, when he in september 2006 visited us here in Copenhagen. He played at a Rumraket night and what he did with his three turntables and effects still stands very clear to me. I know there are more of his kind around the world, but I have never witnessed anything like that with my own ears and eyes.

After the concert Ryo stayed in my apartment and next day, we walked around Copenhagen in beautiful sunshine for hours before he was off again to another city. As much as Im sad that I never will have the chance to meet him again, Im very grateful I at least got to meet him this one time.

In the end Ryo was touched by an unbreakable depression. DJ Klock leaves behind him wife and kid and a musical legacy. He will be remembered and missed.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 at 10:55 pm and is filed under nostalgic, Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.