Album Notes

Meet Xraydusa, a musician/producer from San Francisco and his first album, Capiche? This DJ mix is an intriguing blend of groovy beats, various instrumentals, random noises, and some good old gratuitous swearing. The defining track for me was "F#@% Your Way to the Top." Reminiscent of RJD2, it is a languorous beat behind a repeating keyboard with a layer of guitar jam on top. Listening to this song is chilling in a room hazy with pot smoke. But then someone slips some PCP into your pipe as it descends into frightening melee of voices.
Crave some scratching? There's plenty of it here. “Salvage” layers scratching with groovy guitars and percussion, a la DJ Z-Trip. Xraydusa likes to mess with his listeners a bit. He gets you comfortable with a beat, then abruptly breaks it. This is sometimes accompanied by vocals sluiced through a vocoder or even a baby crying. It's kind of like having your love handles grabbed--a little abrupt, but still fun.
I have to give props to DJs who aren’t afraid to get a little silly. Xraydusa has the balls to throw in a sample of Hello Dolly! on "In my Suite." There are many other little surprises like this. You're allowed to chill to this album, but you've got to pay attention a bit.
Capiche? is at turns accidental, funky, and freaky. We need more DJ's that aren't afraid to step out and risk a little. Xraydusa is one to keep your eyeball on. Capiche?

Elissa Calvin-kotorimag.com


"Capiche?" by Xraydusa plays upon the strings of the subconscious conjuring up the abstract, the groovy, and the downright trippy elements of the listener's inner workings. It is a methodically mad but effective instrumental arrangement of half hip-hop, half 70's funk beats, random noises, live instruments, DJ scratching, and an occasional mix of something that smacks of tribal influence. A highlight of the CD is the high level of creativity and the ability to bring together the diverse sound effects and styles of music ot yield a very interesting and enjoyable CD. The production and instrumentation quality are superb. The song, "the amberrr" is a song favorite with its anthem-like, dizzying dance grooves, signaturely weaving in and out of beat breaks armed with a wailing alarm and guitar in the highs and percussion in the lows. The smooth saxophone sound of "Spaghetti Straps" is completely jazzy and chill and a great note on which to end the CD. It's relatively straightforward and traditional when compared to the other tracks on the CD that we checked out, but the more subtle production on this track provides its charm. The reverse playback vocal effect along with the tight drum and bass groove add fine funk to the song. All in all, "Capiche?" is a funky, flamboyant delight for fans of multiple genres--from psychedelic to funk to hip-hop.
-Joel and the RadioIndy Reviewer Team