Zheel

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Violinist Verstrepen (Fukkeduk, Cro-Magnon) and celebrated abstractionist DJ Grazzhoppa stage an avant-garde freefall through rustic ethnic dances, 20th Century Classical dissonance and turntablized hiphop. Tuxedomoon pulled off a similar coup in the early '80s but without the urban flair which makes this production for the Hush Hush Hush & Lod company so compelling. Verstrepen's skittering dervish-like strings and Sandra Lammens' nimble piano bagatelles (highlighted by the Rubenstein-ian "Course Pour Suite") strive for a communion of Russian bittersweetness, Bohemian gaiety and, on the tabla-driven "Buikdans" I and II, Arabic fervor. Along with Lode Vercampt (accordion, cello), the musicians ably bring in the heavenly noise; so it's up to Grazzhoppa to bring in da funk. On "Aquatic" and "Grazzdancebreak," Grazzhoppa pumps out the low end, a chunky mix of samples, scratches, enormous bass and tumultuous beats, while KRA-Z (Yvan Bertrem) drops blistering rhyme like MC Solaar's more volatile gangsta-frere. The composers put their headz together for "Buikdans II," a hip, streetwise half-sister to the bellydance which opens the album, and the massive "Hip Hop (Hoera!). Ill in the truest hiphop sense, drawing tension and strength from the conflict between the DJ's forceful flow and Verstrepen's avant-acrobatic distractions, and resolving their differences in an excoriating hail of noise and laughter.