Fabriclive.34

by Rick AndersonBreakbeat maestro Krafty Kuts owes his success to two complementary impulses: a preference for watching people dance over watching people stroke their chins in hip comprehension of his cleverness, and a willingness to draw his funky grooves from just about any source. On his contribution to the Fabriclive series, his seemingly bottomless record case yields material ranging from such perversely unexpected fare as Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going out with Him?" (which is used as a hilarious vehicle for Deekline and Ed Solo's "One in the Front") to selections so classic and obvious that it maybe takes a genius not to dismiss their inclusion out of hand (Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's "The Message"). In between those extremes are cuts from the obligatory secret-handshake names (Lady Waks, Splitloop, Friendly) and such well-regarded colleagues as DJ Icey and the Plump DJs. And yes, he scratches -- but he knows that showing off your turntablist skills is of minimal interest to all but his colleagues, so he limits himself to the occasional startlingly skillful flourish and effectively leaves you wanting more rather than less. Add a few flashes of humor, a dose of Latin groove, and a minimum of long-winded instrumental blandness and you've got something perilously close to a perfect dance album.