Suffice to say this is possibly DJ Spooky (aka Paul D. Miller)'s most fully realized and wide-reaching release in his already deep and extensive catalog. He's got collaborators from nearly every continent (and genre) at hand. The list alone is impressive: Thurston Moore, Jungle Brothers, Rob Swift, The Coup, Mike Ladd, Sussan Deyhim, Abdul Smooth, Vijay Iyer, Zimbabwe Legit, and more. But the star of the show is unquestionably DJ Spooky himself, who takes the material from these disparate sources and creates a worldly, wise, and hopeful travelogue that traverses the fringes of culture(s). "Dazed And Confused Dub" is a massive rock symphony. "Where I'm At" is forward-thinking hip-hop. "Heliocentric" is funky electro-jazz, and "Azadi" is full of smooth, sensual, Middle Eastern chants. And that's just a few of the 20 cuts here. DJ Spooky masterfully fuses the sounds of urban hip-hop, academic electronica, gritty rock, futuristic classical, musique concrete, and out-jazz, and in effect creates as close to a comprehensive modern-day pop music/sound collage as you're likely to hear this year. Or this century. Stunning and essential. (Thirsty Ear)
DJ Spooky's home
