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Local CD review: DJ Car Stereo (Wars) ‘Explains It All’
‘Explains It All’
Chris Rose, known better as DJ Car Stereo (Wars), blankets the art of sophomore album “Explain It All” — to say nothing of the Clarissa-dropping title — with references to early ‘90s Nickelodeon, and appropriately so. The mashup maven crafts music for the ADD generation, assembling a 35-minute Frankenstein’s monster of an album composed entirely of samples from decades of pop music, where track breaks are arbitrary and raps from “Who Is Mike Jones?” rest comfortably alongside the iconic guitar riff from the Toadies’ “Tyler” and the foot stomps from Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
You can’t judge music like that by any conventional rubric. But by slice-and-dice standards “Explain It All” is a runaway success, evidencing that Rose might have finally eclipsed his contemporary — and genre pioneer — Girl Talk. “Explains It All” loads its 10 tracks with an astonishing density of samples, keeping its flow cohesive even as it wanders down unexpected back roads, like throwing Mya’s sexualized vocals against keyboards from Vampire Weekend. Its utility as a party record — put it on and watch your kegger catch fire, undergraduates of Austin — can’t be overstated. But just as importantly, it acts as a passionate love letter to popular music likely to trigger at least a few dozen nostalgic remembrances.
“Explains It All” can be downloaded for free at www.artifactworkshop.com.
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