Word: rock
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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There are also those who question whether deejay culture is being homogenized by merging with rock. DJ Premier has been busy of late: he collaborated with Limp Bizkit, he provided scratching on Lilith Fair veteran Paula Cole's new album and he worked on rapper Mos Def's brilliant new CD, Black on Both Sides (Rawkus). It's a sign of how divided feelings are that, on his album, Mos Def takes a lyrical swipe at hip-hop tinged rock-pop acts, including one his producer DJ Premier worked with, Limp Bizkit. "I ain't tryin' to slow your groove...
...Europe, deejay culture is more widely accepted. Bands like Roni Size's Breakbeat Era--whose new album, Ultra-Obscene (XL/ 1500/A&M), is a winner--and Portishead--whose 1994 album, Dummy, is a classic--build their sound around the turntable. But in the U.S., turntable rock is just starting to have a real impact...
What effect it will ultimately have on rock is still unfolding. A passage in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five describes a race of aliens who have transcended time. Past, present and future exist all at once for them. These aliens "look at all the different moments just the way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains...
Deejays bring the same feeling to rock. By sampling from various genres and eras, they make the past the present and vice versa; they turn rock into hip-hop and back again, throwing everything into the mix, making boundaries illusory. Lethal, for example, has 60,000 LPs in his collection, from different decades and different genres. DJ Skribble, who has performed with the hard-rock band Anthrax and who is the co-host of mtv's Global Groove dance show, says, "People are now into groups and artists and not specific genres of music. Deejays are making music less segregated...
...launched Freberg on a burst of satiric inspiration. He shadowed the pop-music hits of the day with his own meticulously crafted parodies. Doing most of the voices himself, Freberg skewered the schmaltzy Johnnie Ray and the early Elvis, made fun of gabby folk singers (Rock Island Line) and Harry Belafonte's calypso shout (Banana Boat). Freberg's parodies were notable not just for their dead-on mimicry but also for the sophistication of their musical commentary. A jazz lover, Freberg fought a rearguard action against rock 'n' roll, which he considered undisciplined and musically simplistic. Only Freberg would have...