RJD2: The Third Hand

Pop demands a fine balance between pushing boundaries and playing to your strengths, and one-time alt.hip-hop wunderkind RJD2 has stretched too far on his third album. Since 2002’s ‘Deadringer’, comparisons to DJ Shadow have dogged him, and not without reason. Now, tired of his niche, RJ Krohn has moved away from sample-based instrumental hip-hop, throwing in gently psychedelic Beatles-y songcraft and live instruments to achieve a jack-of-all-trades sound that, while perfectly pleasant, is done better by Beck. The vague, laid-back, mainly beat-free grooves do grow on you, especially on the Hot Chip-py ‘Beyond The Beyond’, but much to RJ’s probable disgust, the best track, ‘Get It’, is also the most Shadowy.

Emily Mackay