DJ Rels Theme for a Broken Soul

• Words: Peter Nicholson
• Label: Stones Throw
• XLR8R Rating: /10

More dusty funk business from Stones Throw, but here they stretch out into broken territory. Yet another Madlib alter ego (this one sharing a spliff with Afronaught, perhaps?), DJ Rels is more about grooves than songs, about moods and beats over choruses and melodies. The result plays like a studio session outtake rather than an album, and I'm left wishing for an objective editor. Nevertheless, the humping, subterranean bass of "Sao Paulo" and spastic inchworm pitch-bends of "Diggin in Brownswood" keep this exploration somewhat engaging.