They don't pretend to be Native Tongues or try to imitate the output of D.I.T.C., but they come off like the logical antecedent of those artists, as if the lineage from one to the other has remained unbroken by the last 10 years of capitalist confusion, or at least as if the reigns of those artists had continued uninterrupted.
Okayplayer
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New York mixmaster cross-breeds Busta Rhymes, T.I., Nas and Snoop with the always-eerie Richard D. James. Fortunately, the results are not nearly as scary as the video for "Come to Daddy."
Rolling Stone
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100dBs has a soulful and at times hardcore selection of beats as his remixes make you wish they were originals.
Urb
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The Argyle Album plays more like a music-lover's dream mix and the samples are more attentively deliberated over. "Allure," which sheds Radiohead's Kid A in a playful light, represents the utility in music today - really, Thom Yorke and Shawn Carter aren't as far apart as they seem. The album's closer, "My First Song," is an inspired piece of bubbling blues energy with a whiplash rhythm section, steeping Jay-Z in Delta watering-hole flavor which is oddly provided by The Zombies' "I Want You Back Again."
Glorious Noise
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Fans of DJ Premier's two-bar cardboard breaks and scratched out choruses come for the production, buhloone mindstate heads stay for O'Neil's graduation ceremony laments.
Butter Team
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While most modern hip-hop producers try to blow their load in three minutes, 100dBs uses a softer palette, tempering the energy. Like the tortoise, he wins in the end. Unlike his earlier work, the source sounds no longer dictate 100dBs destination - he's in the driver's seat, and his tools are a means to the end. It's now his voice entirely.
Glorious Noise
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The beats sound modern, but with a major nod to that early/mid 90's feel. I can't front, it's just tight. This isn't an LP of a few standout tracks with a load of filler, it's an album of complete consistency, back to front.
Urban Species
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dBs plays the role of magician as well as maestro; he manages to cram a ridiculous number of sounds, samples, cuts, and scratches onto each track without the sum sounding like a crowded mess.
Beatbots
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