|
|
 |
|
|
A "Star
Wars Special" at The Rescue Rooms sounds like
a cheesy concept: RJD2 headlining, supported by Tusken
Coalition plus Obe-1 and Squigley. Are we playing a
game of "spot the odd one out"?
The
place heaved! RJD2's skinny silhouette could be discerned in
the mist, rapidly preparing for the four-turntable fury that
awaited. We'd just seen and heard turntablists Obe-1 and Squigley
ably scratching, mashing and cutting reggae and hip hop records
on the decks. After them, Nottingham's own now-defunct (and variable
on the night) Tusken Coalition. As RJD2's preparation routine
took place, an amazing human beatbox walked on stage and wrecked
the place.
All good, but the problem with a venue like The Rescue Rooms is that it's truly
geared up for performance, and a focused performer-stage-audience setup. Original
material is assumed since we're not in a club. The club geared mentality of acts
like Obe-1 and Squigley, even though putting out some eminently capable beats,
slightly jars with these aspects. Tusken Coalition's UK MCs brought a slight
sense of embarrassment to the proceedings, and you could barely hear any rhymes.
All credit to RJ, then, for capturing the crowd's attention during his over an
hour and a quarter long set.
RJD2's recent album Since We Last Spoke and his debut Deadringer formed
a large portion of the material presented on the night, hastily reconstructed
as he scampered between his vinyl, the decks and various other slabs of technology.
This incredibly narrow genre, "instrumental hip hop," made famous
by the cinematic likes of DJ Shadow and more recently spawning a twisted "glitch
hop" subgenre from acts such as Prefuse 73, Push Button Objects, Boom
Bip and Machine Drum, allows little room for maneuver. It's easy to get bogged
down
in...
Next
d |
|
|
|
