Dego

album reviews

This is a wild and woolly DJ mix consisting of an almost forbidding variety of musical styles contributed by a kaleidoscopic panoply of musicians: the irrepressible Bootsy Collins opens the program with an old-school funk blast on "Fat Cat," which is followed by a strange and brief interlude credited to someone called INT; then comes a gangsta rap turn from Dabrye and then a desultory piece of scritchy breakbeat from J Dilla. All in a day's work for a relatively eclectic DJ like Dego. But then things start really going into left field: Raymond Scott's "Lightworks" is a piece of seriously obscure girl-singer novelty kitsch, here embroidered with slightly creepy electronica touches. After a brief detour into 1980s-style electro-pop, Dego suddenly dives deep into dub reggae territory, first with Scientist's brilliant "Blood on His Lips" and then the Skatalites' loping "Roots Dub." Patrice Rushen makes an appearance with her gloriously cheesy "Message in the Music," and Little Brother's "Nighttime Maneuvers" combines dreamy rapping with a slow and staggering beat. The album ends with Dego slicing and dicing his way through Waajeed's "Make Doe!" Nice stuff. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide