Mastered the Art

Personnel includes: Greyboy; Elgin Park (sitar); Dave Pike (vibraphone); MC Main Flow.Includes liner notes by Michael McFadin.Andreas Stevens (aka Greyboy) first emerged as a DJ at the end of the 1980s. After christening Michael McFadin's Ubiquity imprint with his Greyboy 12" #1, he provided the label with one of its first full-lengths, 1994s Freestylin'. On his third outing, Mastered the Art, the DJs dusty, hip-hop beats are found mingling with the retro sounds of his extensive 8-track tape collection. Late '90s rare-groove may still be the best description but Mastered the Art's flavors include the sounds of Italian cinema, 70s easy listening and tropicalia as well. Supplying the exotica, are Greyboy Allstar multi-instrumentalist Elgin Park (guitar, piano, omnichord, sitar), and veteran jazz vibe player Dave Pike. It's plainly obvious that Steven's genre-warping concept couldn't have worked without them. "Polyphonix" mixes kitschy horns, space-age-bachelor vocals and late-night-jazz-