REVIEW: DeeJay Punk-Roc, ChickenEye (Skint/Independiente/Epic)
- Tim Mohr
Though the form of electronic music termed Big Beat borrows heavily from American hip-hop - frequently adopting the signature drum arrangements, using vocal and instrumental samples from old funk and soul records, idealizing elements of Old School style - the music has never gained much of a following in the States (and particularly in American hip-hop circles). In fact, discounting the Crystal Method (and they do deserve to be discounted), DeeJay Punk-Roc is the first major proponent of Big Beat with origins in the US.
Punk-Roc's music also betrays his up-bringing in the city where hip-hop was invented. Alongside the bits of modern noise and rumbling bass is the notable presence of classic hip-hop: archaic synth riffs and beat boxes, vocal clips, and even the occasional rap.
Of course, because Punk-Roc left New York and took up residence in the UK, the sound of his debut album also has the bone-rattling depth of bass and mind-warping blips of post-techno that typify Britain's current dance music, with beats so prodigious that "Big" Beat is an almost humorous understatement.
The mixture makes so much sense that it is surprising DeeJay Punk-Roc is not only the first, but the sole, American to make the combination of hip-hop and Chemical Beat so explicit. While the new Fatboy Slim record takes in much more hip-hop than did the first, and bands like the Freestylers drift in that direction, too, Deejay Punk-Roc is probably the first member of the Big Beat clan who grew up literally surrounded by real hip-hop culture. And since his Brooklyn upbringing makes him unique among the British indie kids who, up to now, invented, re-invented, and animated the genre of Big Beat, it is only appropriate that this distinguishing quality be put to good use on his record.
American hip-hop purists will, of course, not accept the unconventional adoption of European measures to enhance the record, while some indie-cum-Chemical Beat fans may object to the intrusion of such an indiscrete dose of the boroughs of NYfuckin'C; everyone else will hail DeeJay Punk-Roc as the odds-on favorite to unify the belts in the super-heavy-weight class of beat music.
