2009 reissue of his most popular album - On just about any track here, you can point to shards of DJ Shadow, David Holmes and Cup of Tea's instrumental output from the mid-'90s. But there's also something very unique about RJ. He takes what he needs from both his peers and his dusty 45s, treating them all equally, without undue influence from past or present. After starting with the movie score-ish "The Horror," he hits his stride with "Smoke & Mirrors" and "Good Times Roll Part 2," cueing rare-groove drum thwaps, strutting bass lines, dramatic chord changes and long-played blues vocal samples. Sure, Moby has walked a similar path. But there are so many twists and turns in RJ's work ("Smoke" takes a 90-degree diversion into a rain-themed female vocal; "The Chicken-Bone Circuit" breaks down with groupie samples while the drums get sloppy) that such comparisons fizzle into mootness. Three cuts feature MCs, and do a good job changing the mix up. Jakki da Motamouth's turn is probably the best, with "F. H. H.," a curmudgeonly think-piece on where rap is today, intoning, over a lite, harpsichord-imbued roller, "so what the fuck is your definition of underground?/depressing beats and bleak cats who love the sound? " No depression here, just dope songs that keep you engaged every step of the way.
