Pete Rock Underground Classics (2-LPs)

A two-disc album of rare tracks found and made available thanks to the crate-digging work (and then the subsequent selection process) of Kon & Amir and DJ Muro, The Kings of Diggin' is a good example of why so many DJs spend hours and hours in record stores, looking for obscure, out of print vinyl. Both Kon and Amir, who compiled and mixed the first disc, give brief explanations of their tracks in the liner notes (it must be an outdated version, however, as the Tyrone & Carr and Soseme Makonde songs are missing information, while there are two, the Trinidad Tripoli Steelband and the TnT Band, for which Amir gives nice descriptions -- though neither actually shows up on the record), and the music varies from Brazilian funk to jazz but never steps too far out of the range of something that seems like it could easily be sampled by hip-hop producers and that an MC could rhyme over. The focus, of course, is on the beat (made not only by drums but also bass and guitar), the same idea that is also heard on disc two, which, unlike the first one, generally consists of one- to two-minute song clips (38 in all) mixed expertly together by Japan's DJ Muro. Again, the selection stays mostly within the jazz-funk realm, but there are also ventures into R&B (Tony Middleton's "Return to Spanish Harlem"), easy pop (the Bob Crewe Generation's "Menage a Trois"), disco (the Disco Fox's "The Fox"), and Latin (Palmeira's "Tapajos"). Together, The Kings of Diggin' is enough to make nearly anyone -- DJ or not -- run to the nearest record store and start looking for new things to add to his or her collection. ~ Marisa Brown