TomC3

Bay Area producer TomC3 creates an eclectic soundscape for Kool Keith and guests to rap over but too often the rhymes don’t sustain interest. The production is generally pretty stunning, though Kool Keith is uncharacteristically restrained and occasionally buried in the mix. Presented as a film soundtrack, "Space 8000” sets an intergalactic theme for the record with Keith rapping vaguely about science and the cosmos. Prince Po drops an energetic verse on "Mechanical Mechanix” and Keith is up to his trademark mischief off the jazzy tip of "Diamond District.” Choppy kicks and snares gets Motion Man going on "Clubber Lang” while "Feel Me” features a creepy interpolation of a Who song over a mid-tempo, lo-fi beat with bizarre verses by Keith and Roughneck Jihad. It’s hard to imagine but many of the guest appearances on Project Polaroid actually outshine Kool Keith’s contributions on a record that is only somewhat engaging.