DJ EDDIE DEF
Inner Scratch Demons (Ipecac Recordings)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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DJ albums reside in a rather motley territory. You either get "mix albums," like DJ Spinna’s superb Strange Games and Things collection, or a somewhat more stunt/action oriented record with rabid scratching, and a cut & paste bacchanalia of sounds that you would never expect would be comfortable sitting very close to certain others. On Inner Scratch Demons Eddie Def (The Last Creep) takes the sweat drenched orgazmo shrieks of Prince, the tumult of Slayer, Run DMC boasts, cats growling, Gang Starr at various speeds, an anonymous Dixieland band, two notes from "Jack & Diane," an orchestra playing at 16 beats per minute, old school rapping, a distorted upright bass run, random voices from obscure films, and it all becomes a mere handful of ingredients in the stew that is his music. For instance, Peter Frampton’s live talking robot guitar just got on my fucking tits until it was regurgitated here years after I heard it on eight track.

At 49 minutes and 26 tracks Eddie Def appears inexhaustible. This is his sixth album in a year! An excellent release from an up and coming label, also responsible for recent uprisings from Fantomas, Melvins, The Kids of Widney High, and others. Demons was glued together (or edited) by Ipecac chief Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, and Faith No More). This collection received plenty of rewind action from me, as I sat astonished at the fluidity of the tracks, and the way Eddie Def could loop something like babies crying, and turn it into music.

© 2001 - Jason Thornberry