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RJD2 creates music that's not easy to pin down, though everyone seems to try. The Columbus, Ohio-based DJ-producer explores the same basic formula used by
DJ Shadow and
Moby, but his style is more complex and, refreshingly, a hell of a lot less pretentious. Less bass-heavy than Shadow's 1996 release,
Endtroducing... (the album it's often compared to),
Deadringer showcases RJD2's master ability to layer unusual samples with complex drum patterns, funky grooves, and original vocals. The '50s horror movie-sampled "The Horror" starts things off on the grunge tip and then the album's sound progresses into straight-up hip-hop, break beats, rock & roll, blues, and more. Songs like the
Jimi Hendrix-influenced "Smoke and Mirrors" and the honky-tonk soulfulness of "2 More Dead" up the ante, demonstrating just how far the trip-hop genre has progressed since the mid-'90s. One of the most enjoyable albums of the year,
Deadringer is an essential addition to your listening library.
--Rebecca Levine
Most hip-hop producers make beats. RJD2 makes dope instrumentals that you can rhyme over. There's a big difference. Known as DJ and producer for the merely decent crew MHZ, RJ has really come into his own, and his debut full-length is quite an impressive piece of work.
On just about any track here, you can point to shards of DJ Shadow, David Holmes and Cup of Tea's instrumental output from the mid-'90s. But there's also something very unique about RJ. He takes what he needs from both his peers and his dusty 45s, treating them all equally, without undue influence from past or present. After starting with the movie score-ish "The Horror," he hits his stride with "Smoke & Mirrors" and "Good Times Roll Part 2," cueing rare-groove drum thwaps, strutting bass lines, dramatic chord changes and long-played blues vocal samples. Sure, Moby has walked a similar path. But there are so many twists and turns in RJ's work ("Smoke" takes a 90-degree diversion into a rain-themed female vocal; "The Chicken-Bone Circuit" breaks down with groupie samples while the drums get sloppy) that such comparisons fizzle into mootness. Three cuts feature MCs, and do a good job changing the mix up. Jakki da Motamouth's turn is probably the best, with "F. H. H.," a curmudgeonly think-piece on where rap is today, intoning, over a lite, harpsichord-imbued roller, "so what the fuck is your definition of underground?/depressing beats and bleak cats who love the sound? " No depression here, just dope songs that keep you engaged every step of the way.
Brian Coleman
~ RJD2
~ RJD2
~ DJ Shadow
~ DJ Shadow
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is RJD2's 
