Tiggidy turntablism, ha ha. Wriggidy wrists on decks undercut a theatrical grasp of production. It serves notice to all post-modern music criticism in a near-indiscriminate crossbreeding of genres as varied as dub, jazz, disco, and the dreaded, but equally inevitable, Voodoo influence.

"Voodoo?!" Goddamn right, friend. DJ Cam has converted, or something like, as evidenced by this record's title; Loa is the religious faith of Voodoo practicioners. But this hasn't got anything to do with pins, dolls or black magic. The titular invocation of this tremendously rich spiritual fabric says Cam's done his homework and is intent on offering a sacrifice to the spirits. It comes in the form of bottled up beats, irritatingly wayward (but not misplaced) vocal samples, and the odd bleed-through of classical influence.

Throwing such exotic cultural baggage into the mix rejuvenates the cut-and-scratch style that's become increasingly familiar since the evolution of the MC to the DJ occured in the early '90s. Too bad Cam's approach isn't as grassroots as the Voodoo faith he intends to conjure-- this work could have used some of the grit our boy left behind in the Parisian grottos. The haze of his previously gritty, subterranean work has been scrubbed with a wire brush, and as a result, the polished second installment of the Loa Project reflects like James Carville's hairless dome. But what Cam loses in atmosphere he makes up for in texture and enthusiasm.

Voodoo can best be appreciated by stretching the fabric of the self to approximate the practice's borders. Dissection often leaves the searcher with a handful of nonsense and a shrunken headful of expertise. So, what Loa Project 2 amounts to is a non-offensive condensation of various genre nuances, highlighted by references to "ghetto love" and the ubiquitous "ganja man." These have been placed in the adequate framework of the "DJ Cam sound system" in the hopes of bringing this post-equestrian musical style into the post-millennial age, with cultural divinity void of the dogma that's been dragged along by association.

DJ Cam would love for us to believe that he breaks cultural barriers like he breaks his beats. Unfortunately, it's going to take more than an admirable scope and a penchant for ethnodivinity to transcend a certain DJ's shadow, sniff sniff.

-S. Murray