Rjd2

Rjd2 made his name as an elegantly diverse turntablist—a producer/DJ with a knack for backing up MCs and creating eclectic, sample-based, instrumental hip-hop tracks. The cheeky vocal samples and looped funk instrumentals on his 2002 Def Jux debut, Dead Ringer, earned him frequent comparisons to the legendary DJ Shadow. Rj has branched out since then, and fans found him more subdued on the indie-rockish vocals and downtempo beats of 2004's Since We Last Spoke.

The Third Hand welcomes back mellow Rj, who seems to have grown more comfortable with his hybrid indie-rock/hip-hop persona: guitar riffs are used liberally and he's developed a vocal style that bears a striking resemblance to that of Chromeo's Dave 1. The album opens with two hooky pop tracks—the oddly twee "You Never Had It So Good" and the industrial funk anthem "Have Mercy." Rj puts his storied sample-mining skills to good use on "Work It Out," evoking Beatles-style rolling vocals and psych harmonies.

By and large though, the lyrics on the album—and their banal subject matter—are disappointing. On more than one track, Rj grapples inelegantly with the anxieties and responsibilities of adulthood, as on "Someday" ("Someday i'm gonna make her a wife"). He's better served when he sticks to the more frivolous concerns of youth: a little braggadocio and a nice beat. "Sweet Piece" has just the right amount of subtle hip-hop bravado injected into the vocals, and "Just When" is a nice disco baby-making groove with an emotional undertone.

Though they're in limited supply, the pure instrumentals on The Third Hand are delicious commodities. "Bad Penny" and "Beyond the Beyond" match seamlessly into a two-part, hip-hop hymn on electric organ, while "Paper Bubbles" evokes the Bladerunner soundtrack with its leering synth cascades. In the end, these few instrumental tracks pulse with more life than those with lyrics. Rjd2 may be trying to crossover to pop stardom, but to make it he's going to have to dig deeper—and not just in his crates.

- Andrea Neustein
03.08.07

Give Rjd2 credit -- he certainly couldn't have moved from undie rap to indie pop without believing in the music he's making. It's no wonder he felt he had to move from Definitive Jux, the home of Aesop Rock and Murs, to XL, the home of Thom Yorke and Lemon Jelly, to have any hope of being taken seriously. And while there's no hint of hip-hop anywhere here, The Third Hand is a surprisingly natural mix of his beat-heavy productions and kaleidoscopic tastes with reflective songwriting and plaintive vocals. Sample spotters beware, everything on the record was written, produced, and most importantly, performed by Rjd2 in his home studio. So, after the gigantic mind shift required to reflect on a record that needs to be compared to Broadcast rather than Blueprint, it has to be admitted that Rjd2 is onto something here. His vocals are thin but tuneful, and he has a knack for good harmonies. His productions still overwhelm the songs, reflecting the requirements of hip-hop instead of pop, but they're far better than what's found on the majority of indie pop records. Two skills he has mastered in the past, mood and texture, make this record especially good; witness the transitions from the quiet short-form piece "Someday" into the wide-ranging instrumental "The Bad Penny" into the highlight of the record, "Beyond the Beyond." [An instrumental version of the album also appeared in 2007.] ~ John Bush, Rovi