Since the early '80s, drummer boys Kodo have been travelling around the world whooping and pounding crowds into a Japanese drumming frenzy. Although better known as a formal auditorium troupe, the collective has found fans in club DJs who shamelessly sample snippets of their rhythms for their own uptown funk purposes. Which is all fine and well. The Kodo folks have opened their arms to this sort of usage and authorized a brand new remix record, Sai-So. And I'll bet you double nickels on the dime that the remix record's going to garner them some serious media attention. But what about the art, man? What about the original material? Well, that's why I'm here.

Produced by Material's Bill Laswell, Ibuki features 10 suprisingly varied pieces that showcase the coordinated talents of these drummers. Rhythm addicts will delight in the dense, intricate, and dynamic passages that would put any funny hat- wearing street bongoist in a state of crippling self- doubt. Unlike those would-be beat- junkies, Kodo lays down tracks that have a sense of purpose in their composition, and as a result, Ibuki features some impressive, trance- inducing passages of polyrhymic percussive bliss.

Witness the absolutely insane sounding time signature of the opening track "Nanafushi." Cheer as the members (all of 'em) of Kodo start screaming in the middle of "Zoku." On "Akabanah" there are even flutes and rainsticks thrown in, adding a soothing melody to the intricate drum parts. It takes both talent and soul to make music as strangely affecting as this, but Kodo pull it off with grace. I dig 'em!

-Samir Khan