The album’s only misstep is “It’s Goin’ Down.” Featuring the inexplicably popular Linkin Park, the track was perhaps meant as an inroad to broader audiences. Instead, it undermines the X-ecutioners’ roots by diluting the urban elements with a quintessentially suburban and pathetic attempt at being edgy. Not only does Mike Shinoda sound like he’s reading lyrics from a scrap of paper, but the musically rigid “nu-metal” shoves the DJs to the side, as if they were guests on their own album.

This is symptomatic of the crew’s ultimate failure to achieve a consummate synthesis of experimental scratch music and more mainstream funk. But given turntablism’s radical, fragmentary nature—weaving pieces out of pieces of other pieces—this is a pointless goal anyway. Built From Scratch’s many high points ensure that it’s banging, if not revolutionary, hip-hop.

––Ryan J. Kuo

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Live at the Quick

Sony

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones have often invited illustrious guest musicians on stage with them during concerts. During the summer of 2000, they decided to bring a number of these musicians together for a single tour. From that tour, they produced the new album, Live at the Quick. The album unites the deft musicianship of Fleck and his Flecktones with the unique talents of artists like saxophonist Paul McCandless, bassoonist Paul Hanson and Congo ol’Ondar, a Tuvan throat singer capable of simultaneously singing different pitches. Combined with Fleck’s electric banjos and Future Man’s drumitar, the collection of musicians produce unique instrumentations and texures which are unlikely to be repeated again.

In typical Flecktone fashion, the ensemble re-envisions several Flecktone classics, including “Big Country” and “Earth Jam,” and transforms pieces from various musical traditions, including “Amazing Grace” and a Bach prelude, into a contemporary format. The result is an exceptional and exciting album.

Fleck fans will enjoy the mixture of the familiar with an edge of strangeness and novelty. Those unfamiliar with Fleck will get an excellent taste of the band’s talent in a captivating listening experience that is utterly unlike anything elsewhere. For anyone bored with the radio-friendly sounds that are climbing the charts, this album is a must have.

––Matthew S. Rozen