Yo man, you got a booger hangin' out your nose. That's it. What were you saying? Oh yeah, you busted a nut for DJ Shadow's Endtroducing but feel cheated by Preemptive Strike and you need a fix. You want the percussion, the texture, the hip-hop without the Puffy and the music without the attitude. You want those sinister, dense, creative arrangements and beats that Shadow addicted you to, am I right?

I feel your pain, my man. Have a breath mint. Hey, check her out. Damn... what were we talking about? Yeah, I was gonna help you with your problem. I heard something recently that brought my faith back. What's that? Yeah, get me one while you're goin' up. But listen now, I wanna tell you about DJ Vadim. Got this disc a couple of weeks ago, and I love it, man. It's darker than Shadow, heavier, but what would you expect from a guy from Russia? Yeah, Russia. Is that what they're calling it nowadays? Who the hell keeps track? Me neither. The CD's called USSR Reconstruction, and it's all remixes of tracks off Vadim's 1996 release, USSR Repertoire. Who's doin' the remixes? Y'know, y'gotcher Animals On Wheels, DJ Krush, bunch of Ninja Tune kids. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Remix disc? Those things never hang together right. Ya get fifteen different DJ egos hot- steppin it front to back and it just don't work. This one does, though. It's got the slippery samples and the beats. Delicate moments intercut with unexpected groove and dark textures. Oh yeah, it works-- it works real good. Sure, I'll make ya a tape, if you buy the next round. What's that? Buy the next one anyway, just remember who your buddy is. We're all friends here. This is the free world man, the free world. Hey, look at that...

-James P. Wisdom