Music
Albums
Kenny Sasaki & The Tiki Boys:
TIKI MOON (2002) 
TIKI POP (2005)
Ken Sasaki:
Dream (2004)
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TIKI MOON
TIKI MOON
Kenny Sasaki & The Tiki Boys
1. enchanted
2. at the Tiki Bar
3. Fever
4. Tiki Diva
5. Owl
6. Snow on the Beach
7. Sweet Talk
8. Cat
9. Crescent Moon
10. The Way You Turn Me On
This is a genuine treasure sure to stay with you through the summer nights. An exotic musical journey for the listener with refined taste. Let "Tiki Moon" take you away to a world of mysterious and sensuous rhythms combined with a powerful ambiance of cinema and the tropics by night.
Ken Sasaki, a long time composer/bassist for independent films and artists in the island of Japan, has found a heaven where Jazz, Reggae, Latin, Polynesian and Rock coexist, brought together by analog and futuristic means.
This is one of those rare albums you will keep going back to time after time. It pleases lovers of all genres once they've reclined their seats to relax. Ideal for moods at dinner parties or kick back sessions after night falls. Also a fulfilling alternative for those who seek exotic travel but choose to stay home in the comfort of their cocoon.
Ken Sasaki on his album: "I wrote the music as if it were a soundtrack for an imaginary film, played by an imaginary band."
Give it a listen, treat yourself to a secret journey far from where you find yourself now.
By Eva Hayata
HMV Japan
Burn Pictures Corp.
Buy "TIKI MOON" at CD Baby!
Download at Apple iTunes Store!
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TIKI POP
Kenny Sasaki & The Tiki Boys
1. Jungle River
2. Jill The Spy
3. Bikini Banzai
4. Ponape
5. Slow Ride
6. Erotica Exotica
7. Torches
8. Kaanapali
9. Beach Bunny
10. Margarita
11. Aliens in Honolulu
If any one single musician best sums up the sound behind today's resurgent Tiki movement, it's Kenny Sasaki.
His most recent effort, "Tiki Pop" is arguably the most comprehensive and creative offering of it's kind. Sasaki seamlessly combines all of the elements of Tiki...Exotica, Surf and Hawaiian style and in doing so, captures so well the moody genre that is gaining popularity throughout the world.
Sasaki is a modern day pioneer in his field and Tiki Pop is a must have for any Tiki enthusiasts collection.
-Holden Westland
President & Founder
Tiki Farm, Inc.
Buy "TIKI POP" at CD Baby!
Download at Apple iTunes Store!
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Dream / Ken Sasaki
1. Departure
2. Angelique
3. The Deep Sea
4. Merry-Go-Round
5. Gigi's Waltz
6. Gong
7. Gargoyle
8. Into the Water
9. Jaggy
10. Beautiful You
11. Numb
12. Remember
13. So Long
Recorded during the first few months of 2004, "Dream" is a most appropriate title for the second solo CD from Japanese bassist/guitarist and composer Ken Sasaki.
A sublime instrumental soundtrack for that meditative interlude time between slumber and awakening, faculty and fantasy, "Dream" is an elusive sound excursion into a musical phantasmagoria where reality and reverie merge to form an alternate view.
Commenting on the instrumentation, Ken adds, "I played basses and guitars with spacy/ambient synth sequences. I wanted to mix opposite elements-machine sounds and acoustic human tones-like machine drums and double bass, synth and acoustic guitar. Some tunes are very abstract and some tunes are very simple and human. Those elements are mixed in the album like seeing dreams."
Ken's 2002 solo CD, "Tiki Moon" by Kenny Sasaki & The Tiki Boys, featured a composite of tropical/exotic sounds with vintage instruments and on "Dream" he takes a convincing musical step forward.
In the spirit of the surrealistic "Dream" album art by Ken's friend Hidenori Ishida, the accent here is on tranquil electronic soundscapes more reminiscent of Brian Eno and Ennio Morricone than the Hawaiian Isles.
Describing his musical mission on "Dream", Ken adds, "I recorded and mixed in my home studio by myself. The new album is a very private work. I made tunes like dream paintings on white canvases with musical instruments instead of brushes and a color box." Further reflecting on his most imaginative solo recording yet, Ken admits, "I like music that takes me to somewhere, some dimensions I haven't visited or experienced".
The extraterrestrial musical terrain may be intriguing, yet there's a haunting feeling of de-ja vu in play on "Dream", bringing you back home and yet again, to somewhere you've never quite been before.
Liner notes by Robert Silverstein
New York City, August 2004
Robert Silverstein is the reviews editor of 20th Century Guitar magazine and www.mwe3.com
Buy "Dream" at CD Baby!
Download at Apple iTunes Store!
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