 Cut Chemist Meets Shortkut The perfect disc for those who love listening to turntablist freestyling sessions on public radio, but find everytime they go that far down the dial, there's some pointless NPR program babbling on and on about the perils of being a bush pilot. *long pause* OK, maybe it's just me, but every now and then, the radio gods smile down upon me and grant me a freestyle hip-hop show for my eardrums. For those time when any karmic timing isn't so hot, I'll throw in the Future Primitive Soundsession disc in, featuring Cut Chemist & Shortkut. I'll step out of the poseur closet for a moment and will admit I hadn't heard or heard of Shortkut before this disc, but Cut Chemist is one of my faves, thanks to first hearing his remix of DJ Shadow's "Number Song." Plus his involvement with new-old-schoolers Jurassic 5 (as well as the genre-busting Ozomatli) only adds to the stew. In fact, his "Number Song" remix and a couple of snippets from the excellent Jurassic 5 EP crop up throughout the live 70 minute set, provided here in its entirety. The set is some of the freshest, funkiest, and yet ultimately musical turntablist music I've yet heard, with both DJs constantly keeping you guessing how they manage to seamlessly bring in such a complex weave of sources, even with five turntables at their disposal. There's certainly no lack of disparate styles used, as old science records, Tears For Fears, Curtis Mayfield (courtesy the Beastie Boys), and countless known and obscure hip-hop and R&B classics bump shoulders "like it's 1999" (Either subtract 8 points for the helplessly white & unhip quote, or add 11 if I am correctly quoting a period episode of "Webster" … or are the points reversed?) I'd thoroughly love to see a video of this session, watching both masters interact at their "wheels of steel" (as if I already didn't seem unhip and try to throw in more lingo in a visible act of desperation), or at least be present in the audience, who, coincidentally, can be heard during quiet passages through the decks' needles, no less. The only downfall being, at 70 minutes, it's a bit too much to digest in one sitting, but spread over two "sessions" this is endlessly listenable.
Review by Bradley A. Milton |