I was fortunate enough to catch Scratch, a documentary on hip-hop DJing and the growth of turntablism as an accepted musical art form, last night and cannot recommend it enough. For little white kids like me who grew up idolizing the early geniuses of the form like Grandmaster Flash, the film is both a joyous nostalgia trip and a thrilling look at those taking it to the next level. And the music? Oy jeez, some of the flyist business these ears have heard!
So who then? Names like DJ Qbert, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist might not immediately ring a bell but you'll find their lunatic patiche of hip-hop, funk, jazz and ambient noise all over the albums of bands like Jurassic 5, Kool Keith, Blackalicious, and Ozomatli, on the soundtracks of films like Dark Days and the animated spectacular Wave Twisters. And lest we doubt that turnablism is either a passing fad or merely sampling from real music, last year, in the era of the mp3, turntables outsold electric guitars.
DJ Shadow: Psyence Fiction (Select from "Audio Player")