MC Flipside is the kind of DJ they have in Toronto, but that we don't have in Montreal.
He's jump-up. And even though we've got two or three jump-up DJs here, they all declare
themselves jump-up-but-cool, jump-up-but-underground, jump-up-but-slick. MC Flipside, host of an aged Energy 108 show, has none of those pretensions. He just plows along the dirty-energy track that runs from the Terry-inspired boom-bap, through breaky-house, to ragga-jungle with no stops for reputation-savers in between. And his mixie, featuring Junior Sanchez, Frankie Bones, Toronto jungle stalwarts Sniper and Slip, plus sophomoric skits and too-nutty MCing, is the closest thing I've found to a good, raunchy mixed tape in a while. Those interested in lifestyle-wallpaper music, steer clear. 8/10 (Mireille Silcott)
Aux 88 Aux 88 Present Electro Boogie (K7/Fusion III)
For the fourth installment of K7's electro boogie series, the label has looked to Detroit--the birthplace of American techno--for inspiration and found Aux 88. Formed in 1993 by Tom Tom and Keith Hamilton (now BJ), Aux 88 are pioneers of the "techno bass" sound (referring to the marriage of techno and Miami bass) that, according to the duo, is more popular in Detroit than both house and techno. This mix features the entire Detroit techno bass faction, including Underground Resistance, Dopplereffekt, DJ K1 and, of course, Aux 88. 8/10 (Krista)
Jay-Z Vol. 3... The Life and Times of S. Carter (Def Jam/Rock-a-Fella)
While the life and times of Shawn Carter has reached volume three, the beats and rhymes of Shawn Carter seem to be in right about the same place. Jigga doesn't play around lyrically as most of his fans and critics alike will attest, but he gets away with some silly beats only because he comes nice on the mic. The now-obligatory DJ Premier track, "So Ghetto," is gonna get just as much love as the Clue and Duro-produced "Dope Man," while the mighty Timbaland manages to produce four joints in total. Unlike Nas, who deviated so far from his original stylo, Jay-Z keeps reinventing himself as the same old Shawn Carter, ripping it over any beat. 7.5/10 (Scott C)
The Baby NamboosAncoats 2 Zambia (Palm Pictures/Rykodisc/Outside)
File this one under "Tricky." Billed as "one of the first non-Island Records-related releases on Tricky's Durban Poison imprint" (okey-dokey), the ol' Kid's gloves are all over this debut from a group of his family and friends (and speaking of Tricky's relatives, just where is the follow-up from uncle Finley Quaye?). The Trickster inspired cousin Mark Porter to get this group of music neophytes together (including the Martine-esque vocalist Aurora Borealis), he raps on three numbers, exec produces and blows the smoke of his own Bristolian hemp-hop into every crevice of this disc. It's just a little less wacked than his own shit. 7.5/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
MC Flipside is the kind of DJ they have in Toronto, but that we don't have in Montreal.
He's jump-up. And even though we've got two or three jump-up DJs here, they all declare
themselves jump-up-but-cool, jump-up-but-underground, jump-up-but-slick. MC Flipside, host of an aged Energy 108 show, has none of those pretensions. He just plows along the dirty-energy track that runs from the Terry-inspired boom-bap, through breaky-house, to ragga-jungle with no stops for reputation-savers in between. And his mixie, featuring Junior Sanchez, Frankie Bones, Toronto jungle stalwarts Sniper and Slip, plus sophomoric skits and too-nutty MCing, is the closest thing I've found to a good, raunchy mixed tape in a while. Those interested in lifestyle-wallpaper music, steer clear. 8/10 (Mireille Silcott)
For the fourth installment of K7's electro boogie series, the label has looked to Detroit--the birthplace of American techno--for inspiration and found Aux 88. Formed in 1993 by Tom Tom and Keith Hamilton (now BJ), Aux 88 are pioneers of the "techno bass" sound (referring to the marriage of techno and Miami bass) that, according to the duo, is more popular in Detroit than both house and techno. This mix features the entire Detroit techno bass faction, including Underground Resistance, Dopplereffekt, DJ K1 and, of course, Aux 88. 8/10 (Krista)
While the life and times of Shawn Carter has reached volume three, the beats and rhymes of Shawn Carter seem to be in right about the same place. Jigga doesn't play around lyrically as most of his fans and critics alike will attest, but he gets away with some silly beats only because he comes nice on the mic. The now-obligatory DJ Premier track, "So Ghetto," is gonna get just as much love as the Clue and Duro-produced "Dope Man," while the mighty Timbaland manages to produce four joints in total. Unlike Nas, who deviated so far from his original stylo, Jay-Z keeps reinventing himself as the same old Shawn Carter, ripping it over any beat. 7.5/10 (Scott C)
File this one under "Tricky." Billed as "one of the first non-Island Records-related releases on Tricky's Durban Poison imprint" (okey-dokey), the ol' Kid's gloves are all over this debut from a group of his family and friends (and speaking of Tricky's relatives, just where is the follow-up from uncle Finley Quaye?). The Trickster inspired cousin Mark Porter to get this group of music neophytes together (including the Martine-esque vocalist Aurora Borealis), he raps on three numbers, exec produces and blows the smoke of his own Bristolian hemp-hop into every crevice of this disc. It's just a little less wacked than his own shit. 7.5/10 (Chris Yurkiw)