Dave Chamberlain

Our European brothers sure do like hip hop, and DJ Vadim (born in the Soviet Union, but who has spent most of his life in the U.K.) proves the hypothesis that you don't have to be from Brooklyn or a housing project to do it well. Since founding Jazz Fudge in 1995, Vadim has been both extremely busy--touring and playing in front of everybody from Krush to Kraftwerk--as well as extremely prolific, releasing eight full-lengths and EPs. Unlike the traditional hip-hop show, in which two or three guys perambulate across a stage, shaking jewelry and looking hard, Vadim takes live hip hop to the next level with the help of Russian Percussion. Garnering support from former Scratch Pervert Mr. Thing on the turntables and abetted by the MC talents of Yarah Bravo and dancehall-toaster Demolition Man, Vadim makes his concerts more extravaganza than rhyming party. Instead of running down the set list, Vadim and the RP improvise tracks, mutate standards, showcase each artist and toss in healthy amounts of covers just to mix things up. Coming in the fall, look for Vadim to release "USSR--The Art of Listening" on Ninja Tune. A sampler of the record indicates Vadim has moved to a higher echelon, with more emphasis on atmosphere and jazz-based counter-timing, using soul, dub and jazz as a backbone from which to expand. A track with Demolition Man, "Up to Jah," seamlessly combines ghetto dancehall, hip-hop aesthetics and a tuba, driven home by DM's unbroken string of patois banter. High-end hip hop with soul--regardless of its Slavic origins.

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