Kutmasta Kurt

Essentially a greatest hits record, Redneck Olympics gathers some of Kurt’s finest moments in production in the past few years, and when you line them up one after another in this fashion, the results are quite incredible. The formula to a Kutmasta Kurt beat is quite simple and the results generally work out to be the same: a massive break with tight cuts and a gifted MC to flow like water. His sound is becoming distinctive, and maybe predictable, but Kurt always makes good on tearing up a remix or original production and never slows things down — instead opting to turn a party out. Fans of the West coast producer should recognise the majority of the jams on Redneck Olympics, such as his tinkering with the Beastie Boys’ "Body Movin’” and the absolute classic Dilated Peoples joint "Work the Angles.” Though you might not have heard the sensational Titan remix of "1,2,3,4” that employs the equally impressive Motion Man, as this number has apparently only shown up on a German-only pressing, it is one of the greatest Kurt compositions ever. PMD sounds the best he has since his days with the Green-Eyed Bandit with a very fast-paced and high energy "Straight from the Heart” and Blackalicous grace a remix of "Redemption,” which could be one of Kurt’s smallest beats-per-minute, and even this slinky track is still bumping. Kool Keith and Motion Man are two of Kurt’s right-hand men, having worked with the producer on entire full-lengths, so it’s nice that they are given more obscure selections such as Keith’s "I Don’t Believe U” remix and Motion’s "Show Up for Practice” b-side, when you really could have picked one of the dozens of amazing collaborations. Sure there are a couple of stinkers, like Linkin Park and Resorte, but they are no match to the rest of this solid gold record.