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Rosemarie Lion Various Artists Return of the DJ, Vol. 2 Bomb After the underground success of Return of the DJ, Bomb Records could have used the leftovers (Invisible Scratch Pickles, Beat Junkies, X-Men) to piece together another classic installment. Instead, the follow-up scours the world for the up-and-coming names of turntablism. The styles are as diverse as the locales: San Diego, Paris, Richmond, Amsterdam, Finland, Cincinnati, Montreal. Most of the DJs represented hit up a syncopated style, intent on showing off their dexterity. Kid Koala and Roc Raida sculpture sound like interplanetary artisans, bending samples and tones. Of all the entries, flashy stylist Z-Trip shatters turntable tectonics on the grandest scale with "Rockstar," scratching Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" and flaring Van Halen's "Eruption" toward the stratosphere. For those tuned on DJ Shadow, here's a chance to get acquainted with his cosmic cousins. (Todd S. Inoue) Leather Hyman Host Body Frozen Hound There's something particularly eye-opening about the disturbing imagery floating around on Leather Hyman's album: flies, excrement, host bodies, anti-vivisectionist rhetoric, revenge scenarios. The spicy dialogue is cloaked in tepid mope-rock, owing much to '70s progressive ("Rake") and fake grunge ("Scabs," "Host Body"). Violas and synths inject some levity, and Heather Lockie's lithe delivery is disarming. Unfortunately, Leather Hyman runs out of ideas and seems to be grasping at styles by track seven, "Steve McQueen," which uses Acetone keyboards and vocoders. Like a game of checkers, Host Body jumps all over the place when a good, relaxed game of chess would do. (TSI) [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]