C O V E R		R E V I E W
		Imagine Bongload-era Beck dressed up, fronting a killer band and driven along by, of all things, a narrator between album tracks. The picture you'll come up with is probably pretty horrifying, but don't panic -- URCHIN is far, far better than that godawful description implies. Take the low-key storytelling of rapper/drummer Tomato11, a man who sounds like he'd be equally at home working with sampled breakbeats or a live jazz combo. Add the ultra-slick production-stylee of Barbie Smooth, who keeps everything pleasantly low-key and sophisticated. And don't forget the most unique and mind-blowing ingredient -- the between-track narration of a guy called Black Sebabbitt, whose old-time-radio-styled voiceovers sound like a cross between Jon Lovitz and Walter Winchell. Until you hear Sebabbitt talk to his silent companion Red, you can't really understand the effect he has on the music, driving everything into an alternate reality of sophisticated pipe-smoking hip-hop acid-jazz consciousness. The songs hammer home the surreal mood -- "Green Green Gold" travels rapidly from mundane conversation to hallucinatory kafka-esque vegetable transformation, while the stellar (giggle) "Space Station on the 4 5 & 6" weaves a complex tale involving Aerosmith and time travel, among other things...certainly a nice change from tales of twenty-something angst. If you buy only one more CD this year, you can't go wrong by making it The Sound of URCHIN.
	I N F O
URCHIN The Sound of URCHIN Steven CD
		Review by George Zahora

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