Return of the D.J. Vol. II

Competitive turntablism can get a bit overwhelming, in the way non stop guitar soloing can - and the mid-late 90s were saturated with scratching more broadly. But The Bomb Hip Hop label’s Return of the DJ series is the place to go if you want to remind yourself why people loved it in the first place. The first volume was epochal, providing an early platform for Cut Chemist, Mixmaster Mike, Invisibl Scratch Picklz and more (relatively) household names, and fun from start to end. But the second was even more musically exciting as it went further out on a limb. “Static’s Waltz” launched the wild abstractions of Canadian DJ Kid Koala into the world, and the crazed cut ups of Van Halen and Black Sabbath on Texan Z-Trip’s “Private Parts” and “Rock Star” just have to be heard to be believed.