Via Thank You For The Horse, I found out yesterday that Japanese freeform producer Kaoru Kimura, aka Betwixt & Between, recently passed away, due to as yet unknown causes:
Betwixt & Between (Kaoru Kimura) has tragically passed away at the age of 28. As the news is now public knowledge, Guld has invited condolences/messages of support to be posted on Kaoru’s Facebook page wall, Twitter account, or mailed directly to Guld (NRG_JAPAN [at] hotmail.com), who will then forward them to Kaoru’s family.
Having only recently heard of his passing, I am still at a loss for words. A fantastically intelligent, thoughtful and kind young man, he will be missed by everyone who met him, and also by members of the wider scene who knew him through his emotional, influential music.
I feel very fortunate to have counted Kaoru as a friend for the past five years, and will miss him dearly. I’m sure everyone here will join me in offering condolences to all of his family.
I didn’t know him personally, but as a fan of his music I would like to extend my condolences to his family and friends in this time of their loss. It’s a big loss to the worldwide freeform scene, but fortunately his music is that good that it will live on forever.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with his tunes, they are, well, really fucking good. I haven’t actually used any on any of my freeform mixes, but that’s just because none have come out on vinyl – I’m a dinosaur. I only really started getting into his stuff over the last year, after Rampage Turbo 8 got me right back into freeform. Over the last year I have been devouring a lot of the newer freeform that I missed out on over the last couple years, and among the new crop of producers to have emerged over the last few years, Betwixt & Between was, for me, one of the absolute standouts, alongsideh Finland’s Substanced. His death is a big loss for the scene as a whole.
If you want to check out some of his tunes, Beezee’s Sonicrampage guest mix The Canticle of the Monomyth features his tune Phase 6, and PlasmaDancer’s two mixes for the Munted! Monthly! mix series also feature a lot of his material:
Finally, you should definitely check Betwixt & Between’s own mix for Munted! Monthly!
Betwixt & Between with Takashi Shinto – Out of Blue
Betwixt & Between – Wandering of Tankobuhesotaro
Vice Tek Heavy Industry – 3m3sys 3
Betwixt & Between – Ultra World 6
Betwixt & Between – Point of No Return
Betwixt & Between – So Sweet Bitter Days
Betwixt & Between – Zusammengehorigkeit
RANK 1 – Airwave (Betwixt & Between’s Hard Re:Boot)
Betwixt & Between – Tout est Bien (Sein zum Tode)
Betwixt & Between – Hydra (Long)
Betwixt & Between with Yukacco – Nothing Compares 2 You
RIP Kaoru Kimura