Sound Catcher

His first full-length project since 2005's critically acclaimed supergroup release One Self, DJ Vadim's BBE debut The Sound Catcher is everything you've come to expect from the Russian DJ/producer/musical incendiary: unpredictable, varied and ambitious. His definitive work to date, the seventeen-track set sees the former Jazz Fudge head and longtime Ninja Tune artist throwing formality out the window and following his own path and plan. Present are straight shots of soul ('Black Is The Night' f/ Kathrin DeBoer), charged MC-driven wake-up calls ('Ballistic Affairs' f/ Skinnyman) and dense, dubby instrumentals ('Manchester'; 'SD4'). The dark grooves of 'Talk To Me' reference Gwen McCrae's '90% Of Me Is You'; 'Fear' and 'Watch That Sound' delve into reggae while classic rap informs 'Got To Rock' and the sly, infectious 'Soundcatchers' with stalwart West Coast MC Abstract Rude. Stylistically leagues away from drab contemporary rap, The Sound Catcher is a bold and winning hybrid of 21st century hip-hop.