DJ Yoda

UK turntablist DJ Yoda built his rep with his quirky cut and paste mix-tapes and he’s brought the same attitude to this mix in the latest edition of the FabricLive series. A brief scan of the track listing could understandably induce a bout of head scratching, as Yoda seemingly thrives in sonic incongruities that would make a blinkered hip-hop purist scream. For every underrated gem like D-Nice’s "Crumbs on the Table” he pulls out of the crates there are curveballs you wouldn’t expect in a hip-hop set like Violent Femmes’ "Blister In The Sun.” Then again, you’d be hard-pressed to call this a "hardcore” hip-hop set, as the eclectic selections range from g-funk, dubstep and calypso to ’90s R&B (shout out to Bell Biv Devoe). Unfortunately, the humorous novelty and heavy-lidded irony begin to wear off rather quickly. Because the range of his DJ skills demonstrated here rarely goes beyond a few rudimentary rubs at the beginning of tracks, and slipping anaemic beats under numbers like Minnie Riperton’s "Loving You,” it’s easy to tune out by the time the disc’s rather strong and less ebullient drum & bass and dubstep climax rolls around. Shame, really.