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BANGZILLA
(Scratch/Immortal)
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As corporate hip-hop and its go-for-the-green superstars avoid sampling old vinyl as if it were the plague, underground acts continue to push old-school concerns, elevating their sampling methods to new heights of sonic subversion, disguise, and manipulation. One listen to DMC turntable champ and current Beastie Boys DJ-in-residence Mix Master Mike’s Bangzilla reveals samples that will surely bring down the law on this San Francisco native. Mix Master Mike (a/k/a Michael Schwartz) plunders from Public Enemy, kung fu movies, AM radio IDs, blues legends, and TV soundtracks with utter disregard for the legal consequences, being concerned only with their effect on his dizzying, Disney-esque scratch ’n’ sniff epics. Recalling Kid Koala’s Scratch Scratch Scratch for its constantly morphing surface, Bangzilla is like an animated movie, characters running amok above as big beats and freaky scratches roll below. "MJ-12 Strike" matches UFO documentaries, slide whistle, Moog synths, Steve Austin, and Dolomite with cheesy ’80s drum sounds; "Full Range Earmuff" mixes Flavor Flav, wobbly jazz drums, and salsa brass with the declaration "Blow ’em up with the five fingers of death" and the closing blues lament "I got to keep moving." Hip-hop that goes beyond dumbed-down clichés and moronic videos? That’s the mark of a true mix master.
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