Blunted in the Bomb Shelter (Antidote, 2002)

*GUEST REVIEW*
Madlib is a hip-hop producer who likes to make compilations, DJ live, do remixes amongst other things. He has many projects and aliases including Madvillan, Lootpack, and Jaylib.  Blunted in the Bomb Shelter is one of the many projects that Madlib has undertaken rather successfully.  This is a mix CD that skanks and trips through the Trojan back catalogue.  There are 45 tracks that make up the 64 minutes of this CD.  Madlib claims that this mix was recorded in his basement bomb shelter, and who are we to disbelieve him?  There are some lovely tracks on here with a nice variety of styles covered.  Artists include Zap Pow, The Vulcans, Trinity, David Issacs, Don Drummond, Price Far I, King Tubby, The Chosen Few, and Mikey Dread.  Like all decent DJs/producers, Madlib has a good ear for hooks and picks the best section of each track.  This of course means that the listener is constantly thinking, "I know that track from somewhere."  This is a great way of hearing a fresh sounding mix of classics and always makes me smile.  The only slight issue with this mix is that occasionally Madlib puts in some extra sound effects in between tracks.  This can be a little irritating but does not detract from the overall quality of the mix.  If you like Madlib's mixing talent, you should perhaps investigate one of his other projects that remixed the Blue Note back catalogue.  Now, if only DJ Rupture would do a reggae mix CD!