Album Review
DJ Yoda – Breakfast of Champions
14 years on from his initial Cut’n’Paste instalment and after forays into audio-visual DJ sets, DJ Yoda’s unique approach to mixing has seen him become widely recognised as one of the best at what he does. But that doesn’t mean that he is ready to rest on his laurels.
The release of 2012‘s Chop Suey saw a Yoda that twinned his eclectic and electrifying tastes with thrilling production standards and a slew of guest appearances to appeal to a number of generations and Breakfast of Champions is a wonderful progression.
Out go the most recognisable cameos by established MCs and in a bold move that reflects both our cultures concurrent obsession with talent shows and the internet’s inherited power in shaping new celebrity DJ Yoda has recruited an 11-strong line-up from an open casting call and the resultant entrants that flooded in via soundcloud and YouTube. The album that this social media experiment has spawned feels more like a true album rather than a mash-up of favours called in from friends in high places.
The vocal talents on display are understandably of the highest quality and gel to create the feeling of a collective rap group being orchestrated with perfect balance, DJ Yoda’s flair for absurdities take a back seat to allow the MCs involved to truly shine, indeed the uniquely creative touches of leftfield sampling that smack of humour and trademark boundary pushing are well measured and kept in check, only leaping to life at the most opportune moments.
What we have instead of beat-juggling and expectation-pandering is a new chapter in DJ Yoda’s story that strands the Wu-Tang Clan on Plastic Beach, the similarities between Damon Albarn’s efforts as Gorillaz and Breakfast of Champions are entirely complementary and may even signal a number of new directions to follow, as surely DJ Yoda’s live movie re-scores are only a stones throw away from some fully immersive and forward thinking theatre pieces over the horizon.
Venue: Breakfast of Champions
Support Band: Kartel/Believe Digital