DJ Krush, Toshinori Kondo

Here’s an all-time classic to kick back and roll a fat one to. 1996 was a landmark time for trip-hop and downtempo, and alongside DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing came this silky smooth delight from Japanese turntablist maestro DJ Krush and jazz trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. Smoky beats and laconic chord licks form the perfect backdrop to Kondo’s muted trumpet, and the mood just unfurls from the get-go in a brilliant reimagining of what lounge jazz could be in the fusion-fuelled 1990s. It’s a benchmark which has been often imitated and rarely bettered, more than worthy of a remaster and repress on double vinyl.