It’s hard to disagree with this song’s hook: “Abstract got it like that.” Few underground MCs have more clout or years in the game than Abstract Rude. He touches on independence, battle scars, and the ubiquitous sucker MCs over a hot beat from Kool DJ EQ, who also provides some blazing cuts. The flip finds Kosmic Four musing on the ills of the world over a Hitchcock-esque rhythm.
Sharpshooters Love Walked Past Remixed/Talkin’ Dirty
MC ‘Lut’ joins Sharpshooters on the remixed version of “Love Walked Past,” adding his description of the aforementioned passing paramour over a haunting vocal sample and a slow, solemn beat. The original (an instrumental) is here, too, as well as a “Lovely” remix, again with ‘Lut’. If all that love has you down, check out the flip for the uptempo “Talkin’ Dirty,” a happy flute-filled, saxed-out funk affair.
Various Deep Concentration 4
The series that began as a progressive turntablism compilation turns its focus back to the DJ’s primary responsibility: the dancefloor. Sparo’s “Bullit” captures all the excitement of a Steve McQueen car chase; the J. Boogie/People Under the Stairs combo “Movin’ to My Beat” will have you doing just that, as will British scion DJ Format’s “We Know Something You Don’t Know” with Jurassic 5’s Chali 2na and Akil. But it’s Japan’s DJ Tonk’s “118th Hustle,” a genre-crossing sure-shot, that club DJs will wear out, as well as “Something,” a dynamic track from Oakland’s Crown City Rockers. Scratch fiends can still get their fix from ex-X-ecutioner Mista Sinista, hot Bay Area talent DJ Zeph, and LA Weekly’s best DJ of 2003, Haul. Overall, it’s the most listenable (and danceable) DJ comp in years. Get ready to focus on these grooves.
Sunspot Jonz Don’t Let Em Stomp You
While Mystik Journeymen/Living Legends crewmember Sunspot Jonz’s latest offering may be peppered with tales of angst and heartache (on “There She Go” he laments a love lost, and on “Broken Wing World” he portrays himself as “an angel with a broken wing”), he’s still the same Jonz that’s been an underground king for years. His quirky style is augmented by Living Legends PSC, Eligh, The Grouch and Scarub, as well as Moka Only of Swollen Members. If you’ve never been a Journeymen/Legends fan, this record probably won’t convert you, but if you’re among their legion of hardcore followers, you won’t be disappointed.
Outkast The Way You Move
Outkast’s new double album, Speakerboxxx, finds Big Boi and Andre 3000 on different sides of the gatefold; each member has his own disc and this single is split accordingly. “The Way You Move” is the softer side of electro, with Big Boi’s double-time rhymes over a stripped-down 808 beat and an r&b hook by Sleepy Brown. Andre’s “Hey Ya!” is more Rembrandt than Run DMC (and even has a Toni Basil-esque breakdown). But like everything freaky Outkast has ever tried, it works beautifully.
Erase Eratta At Crystal Palace
No wave standouts Erase Errata have had more recent hype-and, thanks to Sonic Youth, good luck-than any other truly indie band (not counting the slew of major-label revisionist garage rockers). They actually deserve it, because they’ve got the balls of D.Boon and the imagination of early ’80s David Byrne. Their second full-length is filled with short and sweet disjointed jams (the pounding “Go to Sleep,” “Retreat! The Most Familiar”) that recall the high-toned guitar work of early Bauhaus and the Minutemen. The self-consciousness of the work sometimes gets in the way (check “Surprise It’s Easter” or the deliberate deconstruction of song structure on the entire album), but it’s refreshing to hear a badass band of ladies get loud and disorderly all over pop music’s squeaky clean face.
Dynasty S/t
These are the girls tagging up bathroom walls at all-night diners, after the club, before the shag, mid-drama. The Bay City dancepunkers are comprised of Numbers drummer Indra Dunis, Mono Pause bassist Diana Hayes, and front bitch Jibz Cameron of Gold Chains fame on keyboards. Thrown into the party fray are effortless hooks, thrusting beats, punchy synths, zany German stylings, and the kind of blunt musings designed to make guys squirm (“I’m gonna give some sex away/I’m gonna give some sex to you”). Dancefloor stormer “My Information” puts the bass in your face. Yeah’ said it. “
The Karminsky Experience Inc. The Power of Suggestion
Tipping fezzes to Henry Mancini, The Karminsky Experience Inc. writes the soundtrack to a sexy, escapist, psychedelic-fueled jaunt into sitar funk territory. Not surprisingly, this London duo has DJed for Hugh Hefner, Russ Meyer, Ken Kesey and Burt Bacharach. Imagine a composite of those dashing dudes and you have the Karminsky leading man. Dodging an all-out kitsch-fest, …Suggestion is a concerted effort to score the imaginary protagonist’s Istanbul adventures through bouts of “Belly Disco,” a run-in with “The Hip Sheik,” and mysteries “Behind the Bamboo Curtain.” It succeeds with all the Eames-furnished spy lounge appeal we’ve come to expect from ESL. “
Sushirobo The Light-Fingered Feeling Of Sushirobo
Spurning all that cheating with software, Seattle’s effects-heavy four-piece Sushirobo starts with late ’70s art-punk aesthetics, layering modern pop/rock hooks, oddball tones and dub headiness. Frontman Arthur Roberts (ex-Posies) delivers esoteric lyrics in a voice that recalls Soul Coughing’s M. Doughty. Though nearly every song has an unconventional structure culled from jam-style recording sessions, the experiment works best when grounded by steady beats, catchy vocals and incidental effects, as with highlight “Talk Show.” At times it’s hard to see the rock show forest for the twisted trees, but Sushirobo gets credit for sticking to the fringe on its second full-length.
Various Dubplates From the Lamp 2
Every now and then a dose of easy-listening Novocaine is just what the doctor ordered for your partied-up, punked-out little tush. Pork delivers the medicine as only seasoned chiller-outers could, with heaps of sunny vitamins and organic remedies selected from the label’s demo test kitchen, Yorkshire’s Lamp Bar. We’re talking trademarks-gooey atmospherics, exotic charm and vespertine intrigue abound. “Banabila’s Vloeivoiz” stands out at the end of the disc with smooth horn work over curious downbeat textures. If your day-after ass is looking for some new no-nonsense hi-fi healin’, Dubplates is what’s for dinner.
