KiKu – Suzhou / It’s All The Rage (feat. Blixa Bargeld & Black Cracker)

Suzhou / It’s All The Rage is a diptych: two distinct works connected by KiKu’s interplay of trumpet, drums, sampler and electronics. Blixa Bargeld and Black Cracker each occupy one half, bringing radically different approaches to voice and language. On Suzhou, space and restraint sharpen every detail. Bargeld moves between speech, song, whisper and abstract vocal gesture. His voice is woven into the music, cutting through fractured rhythms, stretching across silence and merging with processed trumpet and electronic textures. It’s All The Rage shifts the pace and pressure. Black Cracker’s delivery is percussive, volatile and direct. Rap, spoken word and fragmented imagery meet restless grooves, his phrasing moving with the beat, pushing against it and driving it forward. Yannick Barman’s compositions give both voices room to act on the music. Acoustic sound and digital processing continually reshape one another, while Cyril Regamey’s drums and sampler determine the weight and motion of each piece. The two halves remain distinct, connected by a shared approach to sound and a willingness to let contrasting elements pull against each other. The CD and digital editions present the complete eight-track album. On vinyl, the diptych takes physical form: Side A features Suzhou, with Blixa Bargeld; Side B features It’s All The Rage, with Black Cracker.