Considering Seiji's pedigree as not only a member of Bugz In The Attic, but also being considered one of West London's leading electronic music pioneers, I have to admit that as I prepared myself to write about "DJ Tools", I looked around to see what other people have said about it. I don't usually do that. My uncertainty stemmed from the simple fact that I am not a DJ. It turns out, there really aren't any reviews to speak of. There is however, a short review over at the site for CraterTech Magazine that introduced it pretty well by stating "This is a disc for CD selectors and listeners with a very short attention span".

1. Sweat Band 100-118
2. Velour 123
3. Loogaboo 120-100
4. Bat Eyed 106
5. Rasberries 116-123
6. Not You 121-107-93
7. Chiggy Time 81-130
8. Dribbler 110-124
9. Money 118-100
10. I'm Sleepy 103
11. Funny That 100-126
12. Somehow 126
13. Come On Everybody 126-110
14. We Can Still Have a Party 105-139-105
15. Charging 85-128
16. Wave at the Bus 125-112
17. Grimewave 142
18. Shoobedoo 145-118
19. Pyuta 128-105
20. It's Not Working 130-118
21. Lame 106

It's true, most of the tracks clock in around two-minutes in length, and it's equally true that this disc is meant more for professional than personal enjoyment. Its 21 tracks take aim at demonstrating a perfected technique, a solitary technical challenge; smoothly transition between two disparate bpm's, and make it sound good. Make it sound like it should have happened, as opposed to just being some accident of sounds akin to a five car pile up.

With Seiji being more than an installation in West London's broken beat scene, you can expect the style of music to follow in kind. Seiji, also known as Paul Dolby, throws together beats and rhythms from all over the place, from house to electrofied hip hop and 80s and well beyond. The persistent tone you can expect is fat, bassy tones and squared off synth keys. The beats are all over the map, but spend at least half the time riddling out mid-to-fast paced breaks.

In the end Seiji's DJ Tools raises a number of questions, and it depends on who you are as to which ones you'll ask yourself. If you're a DJ you may ask: Is it right if I use these tracks in my own set? If you're not a DJ you may ask: Where the hell are the rest of these songs!? or where's the rest of the mix!? In either case, there is one final thing to add to your question: ...because this is just dope!


Note: Vol. 1.0 is the CD album format, but vinyl seekers can sniff out Volumes 1.1 & 1.2

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Originally released in Europe on July 2, 2007

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