Balifon Planet

This is the sort of record we like to sit back and have the “Is this new music?” debate over. Any yes or no answer to the question is fairly pointless, of course, but the debate it can generate usually gets so loud we attract the attention of the entire office. DJ Logic’s tracks are tricky, and I’d find myself equally comfortable taking up either side. Creative integration of myriad folk and pop sounds and phrases? Yup, it’s practically Bartók. But can “new music” make use of hand claps under any circumstances, especially if said hand claps induce the listener to foot tapping and hip swaying? DJ Logic usually get toasted for bringing jazz into the hip-hop tent, and if you want new music pedigree, he’s been spotted on stage with luminaries of the Downtown scene, most notably Medeski, Martin and Wood. “Balifon Planet” is a mash of samples, scratches, and beats and because of that you could call it a lot of things, but I’m going to call it new music—if of the popular, many record-selling sort.

—MS