Rating: N
Having spent 12 years as a DJ/producer for Jurassic 5 and five years on the decks for Ozomatli, Cut Chemist (aka Lucas Macfadden) finally delivers his debut album proper, and it’s a huge disappointment. Either he used up all his best records for the Brainfreeze and Product Placement sessions or all the dope breaks were provided by DJ Shadow and Dante Carfagna, because there’s nothing even mildly interesting about his sample selection (Astrid Gilberto? Parliament?), cut and mix technique or song orchestrations. The Audience’s Listening is kinda like a Fatboy Slim B-sides collection circa 1998 without the catchy bits. Perhaps he should stick to releasing under-the-counter mixtapes with deeper digging pals till he gets the hang of putting tunes together or stumbles on tracks suitable for chopping.