DESCRIPTION:
Ex Shanti/Future Shanti is electro-pop album from N'toko which was released in October 2010. Album wasnt widely acclaimed by Slovenian scene,
because this was never his true purpose, but its still very recognized and respected by anyone who knows N'toko.. and its great, truely.

N'Toko can be described by many, many and we really mean, many words. Well known Slovenian rapper and musician,
with unique approach and style, forward thinking, criticism, thinking outside the box,.. puts him in the box with one
of the best rapers and musician in our country, we like to think - in the world.

His music is always touching wide range of topics from everyday stuff to politics and society, usual criticism
of people and system is somehting you should get used to it, combining this with electro pop and raw beats, brings out
audio awesomeness we cant describe. This are N'toko words about his album, so we wont spoiled it, directly from the master:

Ex shanti/Future Shanti is a collection of songs I made from 2008 to 2009 using vocals, synthesizer and my computer.
I had been toying around with the idea of making music that draws from electro pop, bollywood, and french house while
keeping the darker, more aggressive and underground attitude of old school hiphop (I'm talking about guys like Public
Enemy, Erik B and Rakim...), EBM, industrial, goth...basically a mix of my influences that I can dance to.

I hadn't been making beats for long before this period, so the sound is primitive and simple, something that I'm really happy
for now. It has a naive 'what does this button do?' charm to it that I couldn't reproduce on purpose again. My friend
Igor Vuk from BeatMyth helped me with the recording and production and soon I had enough songs for a short live act.
Once in Japan I started playing solo gigs in clubs with this new material and I enjoyed it a lot.

Ian Martin from Call and Response came to see one of my gigs, liked the songs and offered to release my record. It turned out that we shared
similar views not only on music but life in general and spent a lot of time together, collaborating on the Trinitron
project and his regular event Fashion Crisis. I knew right away that Call And Response was a good home for my music.
He introduced me to a bunch of great musicians and event organizers who I became close friends with.

One of them was Kim from the amazing band Uhnellys, who I played with on many occasions. I invited him to record vocals for one of my
songs and so he became the only vocal guest on the album. Of course the songs weren't finished yet production wise and
still needed a lot of work. Once I returned to Slovenia Igor put on the final touches while I made the album jacket. We
kept the record short with an intro, 7 songs and a remix by BeatMyth, so it's more a mini album than a long play record,
but I honestly prefer it that way.

As far as the content goes, the lyrics are mostly me goofing around in space, exploring my consciousness. and letting
my ego soar free. The reason I call it Ex Shanti/Future Shanti is the realization that my life is the life of a hippy...
I may no longer look and sound like one, but growing up and having to deal with the adult world has just pushed me deeper
into understanding that I can't share it's values. Freedom to live how I want to will always be a more important thing for
me than money. After making these songs me and Zana packed our bags and have been on the road ever since, living with the
same spirit we had when we were teenagers hitchhiking around Europe, just that now it has become a full time way of life.
Of course these aren't the 60s anymore, growing long hair and smoking pot won't make you any different from the crowd...what
I'm searching for is my own path to being a free person in 2010, without the exterior bullshit.

For now I've found a piece of
this freedom in my old values and I'm trying to place them into the life of an adult. I'm 30 now and I still don't give a fuck.
When I was in one of Tokyo's most extreme and underground boutiques called Dog with my friend Mika, he put some of my songs into their
playlist. The music before it was 70s avant electro punk duo Suicide, and my music just naturally continued the atmosphere that Suicide
had created in the dark and mysterious shop. I felt great...At that point I felt reassured that I love this record and that
it truly reflects my state of mind at this moment.



You can get this album directly from N'toko for about 8€ at http://www.myspace.com/ntoko,
or in other shops for Japan, like: http://www.clearandrefreshing.jp/label/shop.htm .


The Community Demands,
January 2011.