Hollertronix's calling card, Never Scared (Turntable Lab/Money Studies), ignites strip-joint/house-party vibes for 79 minutes. Dirty South rap rubs shoulders with '80s new wave; electro and dancehall get their swerve on; crunk and funk copulate with impunity. Here, Missy Elliott flows over the Clash's "Rock the Casbah," the Cars' "Just What I Needed" cruises naturally over a percolating electro rhythm; Björk croons, "It's in Our Hands" over a rip-off of Kraftwerk's "Numbers." A few rough segues mar Never Scared's flow, but cut Hollertronix some slack for conceiving so many audaciously thrilling ideas.
"Never Scared is about playing every genre and keeping it funky," says Diplo. "We sometimes wonder whether we should be playing certain tracks ('Is this corny?'), but if it works, we just drop it."
Hollertronix's droppings have been working well, leading them to choice gigs like a celebrity shindig at Sundance and a private party thrown by Nelly. Further inflating their profile, gruff Mississippi emcee David Banner has tapped Diplo to make some beats for him.
Returning to the ever-fascinating Never Scared, the mix seemingly involved much trial and error and painstaking editing. But Diplo claims its creation was more off the cuff.
"The first CD was straight mixed in two sessions live on turntables. You can hear where we were fucking up, pushing the record along or pausing the 50-cent vinyl [cheap wax, not the rapper on Eminem's label]. We were drunk and just putting mixes down as fast as possible. But I have done mixes and been real particular about what's on it."
With such a freewheeling style and about 9,000 records between them, Hollertronix surely must fall prey to train wrecks. "We always mess up or get real egotistical and play whatever we want," Diplo admits. "But now it seems like heads are ready for us, and we get to just throw down the crazy shit.
"This is the music that makes people move and wild out--basically, get crunk," he enthuses. "I've seen some little kids buggin' out to club music more than pole dancers, and they are definitely not trippin'. It's all about little kids; if they like it, it's all right. It's energy music and the production value is completely off the chain."
Hollertronix plays Thurs May 13 with Lifesavas, Don Caballero, the Lights, Wesley Holmes, and DJ Paco. Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 7 pm-2 am, free, all ages.
