Mr. Dibbs

He was underrated by Spin magazine in 1999 when they declared him only the #6 ranked DJ in the world, but Mr Dibbs reinvented the mix tape with his drum-heavy 1995 solo-debut, Turntable Scientifics, later released on CD. Since then, Dibbs has continued to refine his sound, but he's never really topped the raw quality of the Turntable Scientifics bedroom recordings. For his newest, Dibbs compiled a collection of songs that range as far back as his 1998 vinyl-only single, 231 Ways to Fry an Egg. It's nice to finally have the three songs from the single — the title track, along with "Redout Brick Hemmorage 3.5/Mental Herpres" and "Captain Splatter Patty," one of the top 20 songs of all time according to Ego Trip — on CD. They're also some of the album's best cuts, but as the saying goes, "been there, done that." Also in this collection is "Omega Prophecy," a live track featuring Boo Boo McAfee on drums, a Presage track with Jel ("Rhythmic Soaring"), and the epic XXX-track "Porntablist" with DJ T-Rock (collectively known as Travel Lodge 205). There's even a disappointing vocal appearance by Slug on "Thrice." Like most Dibbs releases, The 30th Song is heavy on drums, with plenty of psychedelic layers and cuts added, but sadly it still doesn't live up to his best effort, resting somewhere between the skate soundtrack Primitive Tracks and his Turntable Scientifics masterpiece.