Remember acid jazz? DJ Smash does. The man who became a club scene icon back in the early ’90s via his residency at NYC’s Giant Step and the Fat Jazzy Grooves series has updated his resum? with a new gig at Blue Note, if not a new attitude. Like the first volume, this second helping of Phonography can claim to be a nu-skool jazz primer for clubheads. Its stylistic range tilts from Last Poets-esque minimalist poetry to moody downtempo to soulful house to energetic drum and bass. The irony of it all is that the selections are a little slicker, perhaps, but otherwise very much in tune with the acid jazz era-a time when it didn’t mean a thing if it didn’t have that swing.
Dr. Oop Capone and the Black Love Crew Mad Hueman Disease
If you’re down with the LA underground hip-hop scene, you already know that Dr. Oop is one of its most talented proponents. If you’ve been sleeping, here’s your wake-up call. Mad Hueman Disease‘s Afro-futurist b-boy jams might earn the backpack tag, but the Black Love crew shows there’s no need to be ashamed of that. There is indeed a method to the Good Doctor’s madness, one that involves basement beats, sci-fi skits and brain-lifting lyrics. Rhymes like who wanna screw with the ganja guru/bumpin “Black Uhuru?” might be battle-worthy, but should be taken tongue-in-cheek. Oop might go upside your head, but he ain’t hurting nobody.
Mike Parker Highway Oil EP
Mike Parker takes us on a deep journey into the dark recesses of minimal techno land. These three tracks challenge the mind while still provoking the booty to shake, with intelligently layered bleeps and blips over a calm-yet-driving bassline and polyrhythmic shimmy.
Ready made F.me
Yum, yum, yummy! Three exceptional remixes of the original composition “Follow Me” for Dior Homme. Ready Made complements an amazing a-side of beautifully complex, dubbed out minimal techno with an equally lovely, stripped-down flipside. Altern Vision chimes in with a sweet and housey version on the b-side, bringing this one to a charming close.
The Diamond Dogs The Conception EP
Keeping things dark and the sound underground, Toronto based Mark Quail and Himadri collaborate on this deep, tracky, techno trip. A dancing bounce and a sustained tone hold you in a zone, as the duo explores the art and science of repetitive beats and their effect on your consciousness.
Various Artists Solid Steel Present Hexstatic Listen and Learn
The second installment of Ninja Tune’s Solid Steel mix series, and Hexstatic are at the controls for unashamedly large party action. Going back to their roots, Hexstatic pick a fine selection of hip-hop, electro, funk and drum & bass, all topped off with some comedy samples, an exclusive track, and some Solid Steel interlude treats. All of which causes you to want to get another drink and jump around like a loon. As you’d expect, Listen and Learn is technically superb, with some nice usage of CDJ effects, and further proof that, alongside their admirably experimental instincts, Ninja still rock the best party in town.
The Majesticons Beauty Party
The Empire truly strikes back with the second part of Mike Ladd’s Infesticons vs. Majesticons trilogy of albums for Big Dada. After the Infesticons’ force for good rumbled the Majesticons’ machinations on part one, Gun Hill Rd, the Majestic ones have changed tack, and exchanged ostentatious bling for the more cloaked and sinister forms of corporate collaboration and co-opting of the old money Trusticons. Mike Ladd is a genius of sorts, and he and his band of talented MCs drop this pantomime of irony with unerring accuracy. It’s jiggy, it rocks, it shakes yer booty and, like the Bill Hicks of hip-hop, Mike Ladd is not only a funny dude, he’s fuckin’ right as well.
King Tubby 100% of Dub
At first glance, 100% of Dub may seem like just another “Best of” title, and if you’re familiar with reggae comps, that’s reason enough to be wary. But 100% should be considered one of the most significant dub reissues of the last 20 years for reasons other than its impeccable recording quality and content selection. It also represents just how closely Tubby was involved with some of Jamaica’s best ever recordings. Well-known hits like the Abyssinians’ “Declaration of Rights” and Johnny Osbourne’s “Jahovia” are versioned alongside more obscure but equally brilliant cuts like Echo Minott’s “Love Light,” John Holt’s “Tribal War” and Welton Irie’s “Lambsbread International,” to name a few. It’s a history lesson in roots reggae as seen though Tubby’s famous four track mixing desk, and an unusual chance to see how crucial Tubby was in transforming Jamaican music into something much larger than itself.
Easy Star All Stars Dub Side of the Moon
For many, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon conjures up foggy memories of dingy college dorm rooms, black lights and the unmistakable fragrance of bong water soaking into the carpet-memories best left dormant or revisited with the requisite sense of humor. But that’s exactly what producer Victor “Ticklah” Axelrod has done in this dub take on the 1973 ambient rock masterpiece, brilliantly incorporating toaster Rankin’ Joe’s hammy chatter into a version of “Time,” Frankie Paul’s soulful delivery of “Us and Them,” and Dr. Israel’s tongue-in-cheek version of “Dark Side of the Moon.” But does it sync up with The Wizard of Oz?
Numbers Death
The original version of this Oakland, CA trio’s album, Numbers Life, was crazy enough. Now, Numbers has the rest of the Tigerbeat6 crew to mash up their songs and spit them back out with a dash of post-punk-thrash-funk (as Gold Chains does with “Prison Life”), squelchy lo-fi art-punk (on Electronicat’s treatment of “Driving Song”) and tongue-in-cheek Atari-electro drill & bass (see Original Hamster’s take on “Human Replace”). The overall affect is akin to driving past a bizarre drug bust on some country backroads á la Cops-there’s some crazy shit worth rubbernecking for, but the other stuff is laughable and worthy of ridicule.
