From the Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2005 issue

Music

BEATSEEKING MISSIVES

DJ QBERT

by Dave Segal

DJ QBert is something like the Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis of the turntable: a pioneer and a restless innovator. Known to the government as Richard Quitevis, the San Francisco decknician established a vast vocabulary of scratches and effects throughout the '90s that won him countless DJ battles and the respect of wax obsessives worldwide. He has played a major role in transforming the turntable from a passive device on which records spin to an absurdly expressive instrument that can emit a near-infinite amount of alien sounds that musicologists are still trying to determine how to notate.

QBert cut his teeth--and much vinyl--with the Livestyle DJ crew in the mid-'80s. But his star accelerated when he met Michael Schwartz (AKA Mix Master Mike) in 1992. Q, Mike, and DJ Apollo won the DMC championship that year under the moniker Rock Steady DJs. In 1994, those three plus Disk, Shorkut, and U.B. formed Invisibl Skratch Piklz, a largely Asian-American clique whose deck skills far surpassed their spelling abilities. Both Q and Mike were banned from competing in the DMCs after winning the '92 and '93 battles; organizers said they were "too intimidating to competitors."

Actually, the Piklz were as much about clowning and telling ludicrous stories through stitched-together snippets of film dialogue (most of which were lifted from grade-Z sci-fi and kung-fu flicks) as they were about sonic innovation and flexing technical prowess on Technics. Through their live performances and Shiggar Fraggar Show series of mix CDs, the Piklz attracted more fans from the rock and IDM sectors than they did from the inflexible ranks of hiphop purists. The group constructed dense, Cubist collages of fractured funk, employing the scratch, crossfader, and pitch control as virtuosically as Coltrane or Parker blew into saxophones.

The Piklz' members split in 2000 to pursue solo careers. If you're curious, seek Mix Master Mike's Anti-Theft Device (1998, Asphodel), Disk's Ancient Termites (1998, Bomb Hip-Hop, as Phonosycographdisk), and QBert's Wave Twisters--Episode 7 Million: Sonic Wars within the Protons (1998, Galactic Butt Hair) and Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik (the latter should be available at www.djqbert.com).

Q's solo works are like sports-highlight reels for hiphop aficionados. Wave Twisters proffers a ceaseless stream of often slapstick sounds and wonky effects. For example, in "Aphrodisiskratch," Q furiously cuts vinyl and inserts horn stabs and tumescent funk beats to a recording of a woman in the throes of orgasm. Near the climax (hers and the track's), his scratches perfectly mimic the groans of pleasure. To some, it may sound like novelty music for attention-deficit-disorder sufferers. To others, it's the sonic equivalent of watching a masterly graffiti artist spraying his signature on a moving subway train.

I recommend getting to Chop Suey early and planting yourself near the stage. Q's dazzling skills need to be seen to be believed. DAVE SEGAL

QBert plays with DJ Jazzy Jeff, Grand Wizard Theodore, DJ Flare, and DJ Juni Fri Jan 28 at Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 8 pm-2 am, 21+, $15 adv.

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