DJ Spooky

When this album was released in 1995, DJ Spooky (That Subliminal Kid) was not yet the legend of abstract electronica that he would later become. Here he presents an overlong program of remixes by unknown (Byzar, Ben Neill) and relatively famous (Sub Dub, DJ Soulslinger) electronic dance artists, with some tracks lasting as long as 12 minutes and each featuring a prologue than runs as much as five. The length of these tracks is not a problem in itself, but the random shapelessness of them is. DJ Spooky has an autodidact's love of big words and impatience with coherent syntax ("The anomalies in this mix are coordinate points marking an invisible terrain"), and that combination of intellectual attributes finds direct expression in his music, which is filled with fascinating sounds and textures but is frustratingly bereft of discipline or organization. Hence his remix of Ben Neill's "Grapheme," in which sonic effluvia bob around in a dark sea of noise, and his own "Journey (Paraspace Mix)," a shapeless sound pastiche that mutters and grumbles without ever generating the slightest interest. Those who endure the first half-hour of this 75-minute program will be rewarded by Sub Dub's skanking "SoundCheck" and DJ Soulslinger's excellent "Abducted (U.F.O. Mix)," but it's hard going until then. There's no excuse for music this potentially interesting to be this boring. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide