Artist: DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid & Dave Lombardo
Album: Drums of Death
Label: Thirsty Ear Recordings
Tracks: 16
Length: 52:41
Review By: Christopher Thomas!

Remember that “collaboration” between Nelly and Tim McGraw?  Oh my gosh, that was terrible.  If there was ever an entirely evil money-making scheme concocted by a record label exec, that was it.  That ranks (no pun intended) up there with From Justin to Kelly – the movie starring those two lovable kids from American Idol – and any endeavor involving Ashlee Simpson.  Somewhere there is a long list of terrible hip-hop collaborations (probably under P. Diddy’s pillow) to testify that maybe we should just let hip-hop be hip-hop.  I’m sad to say that this is one record that belongs on that list.

In all fairness, this collaboration began as an earnest experiment, and that’s what puts this immediately above all the other cross-genre mishaps you can think of.  According to DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, this record is about “rhythm dialog, building bridges between scenes and styles.”  That is something I can definitely get behind, and I applaud all involved for experimenting with music in a way that is exploration and not commercialism.  But not all experiments are a success. 

The problem with this record is that it sounds like DJ Spooky and Dave Lombardo (drummer for Slayer) went to the studio with some friends (including Living Colour’s Vernon Reid on guitar) and jammed.  And like most jams, each song is just one or two riffs played at length.  And sadly, neither the scratching nor the drumming on this record is anything noteworthy.  The whole thing just kind of lays there.  The press release says this record was two years in the making, but I can’t imagine what could have taken so long.  The playing isn’t even solid, and there are a few times when Lombardo drops the beat a little (which is fine if you’re just jamming around with friends, but not on a record).

The best tracks are those that are actual songs, and those are generally the tracks that feature someone rapping, which gives the songs some structure.  On the mic we get a few tracks from Chuck D of Public Enemy and one track with Dalek.  Specifically the best tracks on the record are “B-Side Wins Again (2005)” and “Public Enemy #1 (2005),” both rehashes of old Public Enemy songs with Chuck D on vocals, and “Incipit Zarathustra,” which features DJ Spooky and Lombardo trading off in a jazz-duel format.  “A Darker Shade of Bleak,” their take on abstract, freeform jazz, is kind of interesting, but it only serves to break up some of the monotony of the rest of the record.

I was hoping for the best on this one, but it just didn’t happen.  But even at 52 minutes, it’s still easier to sit through than that Nelly/Tim McGraw disaster.