Rjd2 at Centro Lounge

By FEDERICO MONSALVE




Going from a well-produced record of instrumental soundscapes to turntables, there tends to be a slight degradation of sound. A lot of the vibe that a producer can achieve in the studio is hard to duplicate with the pressure of keeping turntables cranking smoothly.

Some DJ/producers use this to their advantage and improvise sounds and tempos that will suit the dance floor and the technical limitations of the sound system. Others, as Rjd2 (RJ Krohn) demonstrated on Saturday night at Centro, prefer to stick as closely to their LP as possible.

Krohn pulled off an almost seamless rendition of his 2002 album Deadringer (with only the sporadic slower tempo to allow the frantic Rj to swap 45s) and explored a few new tunes that still maintained the hip-head candy this Ohio DJ is well known for.

He looks more like the kid next door than the mean machine of hip-hop that Questlove, from The Roots, has branded him. He was unassuming, and even dismissed a couple of female groupies with a smile that would have pleased their parents.

His performance was focused, intense and highly professional; he glanced at the crowd and went back and forth from mixers to crate at a speed that was almost nauseating.

His arrival and departure seemed hurried and everything about the performance was as if he wanted to get the thing done with, hop in a cab and be off to the next town.

Krohn played two hours straight, swapping samples and feeding four turntables at the speed of someone who has become so familiar with a track that it can almost be deemed unhealthy.

The show was distinctly divided into segments. The first, and most space bubblegum of the evening, included classics like The Horror and slowly built up to collate obscure chunks out of Motown sprinkled with Hendrix' Purple Haze and Beastie Boys.

RJ did well in starting with known tunes and although there seemed to be little improvisation (bar a few sets of sci-fi like scratching) one could swear one was listening to a technically precise copy of Deadringers rather than a live performance.

He progressed to a more classic hip-hop sound with echoes of his song F.H.H., and from there to the funk-based part of the programme.

There are few people in the world who can put together Tears for Fears' Head Over Heels and James Brown, overlay them with what sounded like samples from an old Nintendo game and get away with it.

Rj's funkier tunes were slightly rushed, with rough transitions between leading melodies. He gave the audience a taste for new material but not enough time to groove to a melody before being dumped into the next.

Strangely enough this worked. The venue was packed and the mood was one of tolerant lambada rather than freestyling dance, and the rapid changing music served as good head candy rather than a maiden call to hip hop chaos. Fast, heady, crammed, Rjd2 delivered, and ran off.