Mixmaster Mike
Eye Of The Cyclops(Asphodel)
Quite what distinguishes the essence of a turntablist - one who makes music by playing records in lots of very strange ways - from other, more traditional practitioners of instrumental masturbation is not immediately apparent. Are not the likes of Mixmaster Mike merely the emperor's new Joe Satriani, what with their cross-fade theatrics, stylus solipsism and all-round don't-try-this-with-your-Linn-Sondek showboating? Er, of course they are - when Mike cuts up Rush's 'Tom Sawyer' during his Beastie Boys solo spots he's acknowledging as much - it's just that the end result sounds a lot cooler and you could just about dance to it. 'Eye Of The Cyclops' is the usual merry mash-up, featuring as much casual enjoyment as you can have with needles without damaging your health. Each of its four tracks gets divided into subsections with stoopid names ('Bermuda Tri-Axl', 'Harsky & Starch') and while it's never less than diverting, the thought eventually dawns that there must be better things to do with life than sit at home listening to a man play silly buggers with old funk albums.
Keith Cameron
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