It's almost inconceivable that someone could make a career out of composing mixtapes; after all, how many of us spent our youth taping songs off the radio and formulating our own outrageous musical concoctions? When it's Duncan Beiny (aka DJ Yoda) mixing, however, matters become a little clearer. Yoda's mixtapes aren't your ordinary mish-mashes of disjointed musical fragments, you see; the 29-year-old North Londoner has a flair for mixing, scratching and gelling samples (from songs, films and TV) and beats to create lucid, clever, and often funny remixes of classic songs. His two mixtapes (How To Cut and Paste Vols. 1 and 2) skyrocketed him to international fame within hip-hop circles, and the subsequent 80s Edition - featuring nifty remixes of the likes of Johnny Hates Jazz, Rick Astley and Betty Boo - secured his reputation as a crossover maestro. The Amazing Adventures Of.. is his first album of entirely original compositions, and although most songs are sample-heavy, guest appearances from the likes of sassy rapper Princess Superstar (of Bad Babysitter fame) and soul-garage rocker Mr. David Viner ensure that the material still appeals to the diverse audience he attracts. At just over an hour long, Amazing Adventures borders on sadistic, not to mention tiresome at times; not enough of the 24 tracks appeal to hold anyone's attention for that long. The ones that do, though - the cartoonish, Christmas-morning joy of Fertilizer, the cool little stuttering beat of Jungle Brothers collusion Playin' Around, or the wacky, scratch-happy update of Deliverance's Duellin' Banjos - show a DJ that's leading the pack when it comes to innovation and progressive remixes. Collaboration-wise, UK rapper Sway holds court in the excellent Chatterbox, a frenetically-delivered, electro-jitter delight, while MC Paul Barman brings geek-chic to the innovative Salaam, a Nintendo/drum 'n' bass track on a bad acid trip. It's not in the nature of hip-hop to do things by halves; but if twelve of the mediocre tracks here had been cut, The Amazing Adventures Of.. would be a firm contender for crossover album of the year. For now, DJ Yoda will have to be content with being a cool sonuva with a lot of potential.
