DJ I-Dee

Being a DJ is bit of a paradox. You get your hands dirty with an inorganic style of music. Using cut and paste buttons, your creativity is tested by recycling and refurbishing pre-existing beats. Essentially, you use computer tools to craft a song. It's a thoroughly modern way to be an artist, because you're still employing hands, mind and forethought, and your tunes will either end up blaring amidst strobe lights and hits of Ecstacy at the clubs and raves, or as shopping background music at the local Hollister or Abercrombie and Fitch store. DJ I-Dee sexes it up with Solitude, a mish-mash that combines spoken word intros, sound bytes, waves of looped beats and just about anything he can get his mitts on. There's a bit of a hipster element omnipresent on Solitude, but if you want to tweak out and generate a little disconnect between your mind and body for a few hours, than this is the album for such a task.

"Marble Oasis" is swathed in new age funk. With its lilting, gentle loop and what sounds like chirping birds, it's like something you'd hear at a wellness spa or at a high end boutique, thanks to the funkadelic, heavy percussion. "1991" prances out of the gate in a similar way, with keyboards escalating in a way that'll affect your mood in a positive way. DJ I-Dee knows how to lull listeners into a trance with his musical moves and ebbs and flows. "Explosions" is the most structured and listenable-dare we say "mainstream"?- song on the record, because it features the hardcore rap stylings of Royce Da 5'9", who drops the verbage in his sing-song cadence all over this mechanized, industrial'esque track which houses thunderous beat work. This is the jam that you'll find yourself hitting the "repeat" button for. For the most part, though, this is an acquired taste for a niche audience.

— Amy Sciarretto
10.21.08