DJ Jester
River Walk Riots
(210 Records)
I'm a sucker for wacky mix discs. Although I enjoy releases that have a good flow, I'm also all about crazy, all-over-the-place, everything and the kitchen sink mixes as well. When I heard Kid Koala's Scratchcratchratchatch a couple years back now, I was blown away by just how wacky and listenable it was, mixing odd samples, funky beats, and random other bits into a hilarious musical stew. While I still enjoyed his Carpal Tunnel Syndrome album, there was something about the illegality of all the samples on his cassette debut that made it even better to me.
It's probably the same reason I enjoy much of the bootleg remixes that have come out lately and splashed across the internet. There's something about throwing two completely different tracks together (Christina Aguilera Vs The Strokes and Celine Dion Vs Sigur Ros to name a couple) and somehow getting them to come out as something new and interesting that really appeals to me, especially if I didn't enjoy one or either of them in the first place. More back to the point, River Walk Riots is the debut (at least as far as I know) of DJ Jester "The Filipino Fist." Released on the tiny Two-Ten Record label, the mix is 35 minutes of turntablist fun, complete with illegal samples, phat beats, and the mixture of things you just didn't think could go together.
The disc opens with just under three minutes of an introduction track, and in the hilarious track everyone from Rob Swift to Ice T to Willie Nelson (no kidding) name drops DJ Jester, providing the only namedropping on the disc. Just about the time you're processing those former names, though, the music fades up again and the voice of Richard Simmons bursts out of the speakers in his usual excited state before mixing into Black Sabbath, Ennio Morricone, and the Shaft soundtrack respectively while dropping samples from movies like Willie Wonka And The Chocolate Factory and Austin Powers. In the middle of the first track, he starts up an old Hank Williams record before dropping a fat beat over it for a little extra giddy up.
From there, the track runs through Run DMC, Terrence Trent D'Arby (uh, really), and others. Near the end of the record, he brings back Willie Nelson (actually a song of his), and again drops a downtempo beat over it, changing the track from country into one of those odd pairings that indeed works. As you may be able to guess from the above, the record isn't for those who want to sit back and let something flow, as the album is more constructed for those with short attention spans and a good sense of humor. Although the production isn't very good in places (the release gets quieter and quieter towards the end of the release), it's the thought that matters most, and this is a clever little release from someone we'll hopefully hear more from. A bit hard to hunt down, but worth it if you're a turntablist fan.
Rating: 6.75
