Search - DJ Andy Smith :: Document

Insane!

05/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"it takes a skilled, insane man to be able to gather, blend, and mix these tracks together all so seamlessly and yet make you stand at attention and LISTEN WHILE SHAKIN' your money maker. damn! now, i'm sorry i missed him when he passed through town last week. who would've thought? portishead and funky breaks and beats? next only to norman cook (or perhaps had in hand with norman) this man is able to make disparate sounds come together. i mean, come on! peggy lee and grandmaster flash holding court together in one disc? buy this album if you're looking to be arrested by a plethora of sounds."

If deejays were chefs, he'd be Wolfgang Puck.

08/23/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Document plays like a Thanksgiving dinner. The listener begins eager, hungry, waiting to try every dish. By the end, Smith finds his audience stuffed and thoroughly satisfied. The debut of DJ Andy Smith, Portishead's touring deejay, is indeed quite fulfilling. Smith has created a tasty spread of varied audio delectables, whipped up in the way only a talented deejay could prepare them. He subtly seasons original works of artists ranging in style from Peggy Lee to Jeru The Damaja. The fascinating thing is that it works and it's *delicious*. What sets Smith apart from others like DJ Shadow is that his creations aren't so much pieces constructed from salvaged samples and killer beats, but rather he starts with the original work (say, for instance, Tom Jones' "Looking Out My Window") and ever-so-slightly molds it to his liking. Track after track glides seamlessly into another, at some points so skillfully altered that it's nearly impossible to recognize what exactly **wasn't** part of the original song and when one track begins and another ends. From Jeru to the Meters, Grandmaster Flash to Peggy Lee, Smith's magic scratching does the trick. Few genres are left untouched. If you can appreciate true deejay artistry, definitely pick up this album. Yet remember that one could hardly call a mere slice of pumpkin pie Thanksgiving dinner. The same goes for this album. It must be enjoyed in full to be truly appreciated."

Mad mix of tunes from a truly talented mixer

Steve Chahley | Toronto Canada | 08/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For me, this CD plays like my favorite mix tape - but better. Seeing this guy live is pretty incredible too!!! He went from classic dub to Jimi Hendrix to Hip Hop to Northern Soul in less than 20 minutes!!! It's a favorite CD of mine that never fails to get people in the room asking what the heck it is. Not likely to appeal to people who don't like a broad range of music, or people with cloth ears in general like Jameson Fink up above there. Respect the fact you have an opinion man, but there's no excuse for uneducated ignorance. If you listened to the thing properly, you might have noticed that he actually does more than just fade the songs in and out - but then again I don't expect you have heard most of these songs before anyhow - right???"