Music Evolution, Columbia Records | Performance 7 | Sound 7 | Buckshot LeFonque's second record (a Branford Marsalis project) Music Evolution is a radical musical trip that shoots you though a musical experience that pushes the limits of standard Jazz, R&B, Rap, Rock and Hip Hop. Most notable is the title cut "Musical Evolution" which couples a tight hip hop beat, a catchy melody and lyrics that explore the roots of rap in 50's Jazz. Other cuts of note are the super funky "James Brown Part 1,2" and the hard rocking "My Way (doin' it)".

Various Artists, Paramount - Virgin Records | Performance 6.5 | Sound 6.5 | This record is comprised of a who's who in futuristic, techno music. From the melodic Sneaker Pimps and Duran Duran to the more hardcore Moby, Orbital and The Chemical Brothers this record has a wide variety of music to enjoy while you surf the net or to test the performance of your system.

Homework Virgin Records | Performance 6 | Sound 5.5 | Eurotrash music rules! This record is in no way punk, it is much more a funk thing with that "Dieter and the Sprockets" German nightclub feel. The best track on the record is 'Da Funk' a cut that has a really catchy hook that has become completely lodged in my head for the past two days. `Da Funk' is now being played on two stations here in LA. If you are looking for a fun Eurotrash record for your summer soundtrack Daft Punk could fit the bill for you!

Life After Death Bad Boy/Arista Performance Disc 1 = 7.5 Disc 2 = 5.5 Sound = 7 Being that this release came so close to the death of it's artist, it is impossible to separate the man an his music. In that respect this album is sad, because it is apparent that Biggie Small's talent had so much more room to grow. One of rap music's current problems seems to be the pull between becoming a successful, respected rapper on one hand and selling records and getting rich on the other. Or as it's stated on the track 'Going Back to Cali,' ". . . What's your plan? Is it to rock the tri-state, almost gold, five G.'s a show date, or do you want to see about seven digits . . ." It is unfortunate that artists sometimes get caught between such a pull, but music is a business, as most producers know ...

Groove Yard, JVC Music XRCD re-issue 1997 Performance 8.5 Sound 9 Stylish and groovy, Wes Montgomery and his brothers Buddy and Monk crank out a very enjoyable and classic performance including "Bock to Bock" and Carl Perkins' "Groove Yard". Akira Taguchi, the producer of the XRCD release, digs deep into his bag of audio tricks to make this record stand out as excellent.