Pavarotti, here I come!

>> Busta? Method Man? Redman? DJ Vadim won't collaborate with any of 'em

by SCOTT C

DJ Vadim really needs no introduction at all with Montrealers. The man responsible for Britain's Jazz Fudge label is also a hallowed Ninja Tune signee, and has been burning hip hop at both ends for quite sometime. Never allowing the course of his music to become predictable, Vadim went way left of field, a kind of response to both commercial hip hop and popular electronica, for his first Ninja Tune release U.S.S.R. Repertoire. His latest album, U.S.S.R.: Life From the Other Side, is a deep dive into a variety of underground lyricists and MCs from different corners of the globe.

"It was pretty important to me that I didn't do the obvious collaborations," explains Vadim. "I'm talking about doing tracks with people like Redman or Method Man, Busta Rhymes or what have you. I never want to do what people expect me to do."

Although Vadim alludes to future team-ups with--among others-- tenor Luciano Pavarotti and rapper Juvenile, the roster on his latest record hasn't pushed the boundaries quite that far.

"I was the first person to bring Company Flow to England, so it wasn't really hard to hook up with El-P and BMS," says Vadim. "Just about everybody who appears on the record are people I've met in my travels around the world."

"The biggest difference between me and say Funkmaster Flex and DJ Clue," says Vadim, "is that I actually leave the place from time to time to get a taste of hip hop from another perspective."

Along with the two members from Company Flow, Vadim's new record also employs the talents of Iriscience (Dilated Peoples), Prime Cuts (Scratch Perverts), Toastie Tailor (New Flesh for Old), as well as Mad Child and Prevail from Vancouver outfit Swollen Members. Washington import (and now Montreal resident) Blu Rum 13 also appears on the record and is currently touring with Vadim, who says he is "easily one of the dopest freestylers" he's heard.

Vadim admits that his more internationalist spirit won't ever make him the biggest name in New York. "A lot of people still hang on to what's hot in New York as the standard. Especially the people in New York. We're pretty well received over there, but I always think of how long it took for Common and the Roots to be accepted in NYC, and then everything comes into perspective for us." :

DJ Vadim's Russian Percussion Tour stops into Cabaret on Wednesday, December 1, 9pm, $12