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DJ Z-Trip and DJ P: No Samples Cleared

By Paul Labich

The tune is familiar enough as DJ Z-Trip and DJ P’s Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 opens up with Glenn Campbell’s AM radio classic “Rhinestone Cowboy”, but something is wrong. A drum pattern straight out of Africa Bambaata’s closet dances innocently enough through the background as the chorus makes its way around.

“Like a Rhinestone….,” the record scratches to a hault for a split second, “B Boy.” And from that moment on, you’re either in or you’re out

Uneasy Listening Vol 1 is a hip hop manifesto meant to attack all DJ’s intent on playing it safe. Using more illegally sampled songs than Licence to Ill and Paul’s Boutique combined, the album breaks every rule in the unofficial mixtape rule book, which is precisely what makes it such and enjoyable listen.

The term “mash up” is known in DJ terminology as taking an old “a cappella” vocal track and laying it over a modern beat or vice versa (DJ Z-Trip was a featured “mash up” expert in a recent Rolling Stone article on DIY internet mixology). DJ’s have been doing this for years featuring different hip hop tracks to varying degrees of success. But Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 goes above and beyond to explore this technique into places it’s never even thought of going before, not just pushing to envelope but “tearing the envelope to pieces”, to quote the album’s liner notes.

Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 has no intention of playing it safe and sometimes seems to go out of it’s way to prove this point. The mix jumps from brilliantly inspired ( mixing Midnight Oil’s “Beds Are Burning” over the classic thrash of Metallica’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls”) to hilarious absurdity ( Pharcyde’s “Passing Me By” over Pat Benetar’s “Love Is A Battlefield”, booming breakbeats over Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind”) to downright wrong (The Police’s “Walking in Your Footsteps” over Nas’s “Dr. Knockboots”). Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 is nothing if not unpredictable , it is impossible to gauge where the next track will take you.

Meant as a gag to poke fun at the sterile banality of other DJ’s mixtapes on the market, DJ Z-Trip self financed the pressing of 1,000 copies of Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 during April of 2001 and distributed them to independent record stores in the LA area. Since then, the record has become a word of mouth phenomenon with copies soon landing on the desk of every major record label in the LA area. DJ Z-Trip soon found himself the first American DJ ever caught in the middle of a major label bidding war, eventually signing with MCA for an undisclosed sum. Capitalizing on his industry buzz, Z-Trip was signed alongside Cypress Hill and Linkin Park on last year’s Countdown to Revolution Tour and also landed a spot at the Bonnaroo Music Festival ( sandwiched between Phil Lesh and Friends and Trey Anastasio of all people).

DJ P continues to play clubs in the Portland area and self-distributes his own original mix tapes, but has been content to let Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 be largely Z-Trip’s ticket to mainstream exposure and paychecks.

All that being said, Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 stands as a remarkable breakthrough in the advancing of DJ culture in America (DJ’s as celebrities has been a common practice in Europe for many years). Just try and keep from nodding your head to the Natural Born Chillers’ “Rock The Funky Beat”/ Beastie’s “The New Style”/ AC/DC “Back in Black” mash, or a Star Wars jam over vintage breaks that incorporates the orchestral themes and dialogue from every film in the series. Light on the turntable gymnastics and scratching, Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 is more impressive for it’s strive for the impeccably smooth mix.
The album leaves no musical milestone untarnished, from the classic lounge of Stan Getz’s “The Girl From Ipanema” to The Beatles “Yesterday”, nothing is too sacred to avoid the Z-Trip makeover (even incorporating Martin Luther King’s “ I have a dream” speech in one sequence). As inconcievable as any explanation may sound, Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 is definitely worth a listen. The album is on sale at all of Z-Trip’s concert dates as well as DJ P’s website with a rumored second pressing in the works due to overwhelming demand. Keep an eye or ear out for it cause Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 is well worth the extra effort.

Paul Labich is a senior cinema and photgraphy major. Email him at Plabich1@ithaca.edu.