Cut Chemist -- The Audience Is Listening

Sorry for the lapse in reviews, this was mostly due to finals, and you can expect lags like these each time finals comes around. Now first off is the first solo cd of Cut Chemist, he's a turntablist DJ whom I saw live and then shortly afterwards got his album. He's my favorite DJ around and I really want to be able to make music like him. For those that are wondering where they've heard of him before he was a member of Jurassic 5 for a while before going solo and he was Ozomatli's first album. DJ's like Cut Chemist often are different from techno DJs and are more associated with the rap scene. They'll often incorporate more elements of dance and funk then most techno DJs, as well as their standard record scratching type sounds. The thing that works on this album of Cut Chemist's is he's able to have a nice mix of all different styles and is able to easily make them meld together. The other big thing which some DJs can fall into the trap of is beomceing the guest star to their guests. With this album, it's Cut Chemist's album and when rapper Hymnal joins for the song "What's The Altitude", it's Cut Chemist's song with Hymnal guest starring instead of the other way around.

Cut Chemist may be a bit hard to get into if you aren't used to the style of music, but if you do try and get into it might I recommend first listening to the songs "(My 1st) Big Break", "The Garden" and "What's The Altitude" off of this album or check out "Swing Set" on Jurassic 5's album "Quality Control" and "Lesson 6: The Lecture" off of Jurassic 5's first EP. I obviously am completely in love with this cd, but do think that it's still good not just because I love it so. I do think other's could like ti quite a bit as well. I'm giving it a resounding 4 out of 4 stars.