October 21–28, 1999

disc quicks|hip-hop

Jimmy Luxury and the Tommy Rome Orchestra

A Night in the Arms Of…

(Epic/Work)

Hip-hop purists beware: As music approaches a new millennium, all manner of post-hip-hop cross-pollinations are dawning. On A Night In The Arms Of…, Luxury and former Goats member Rome help blur the lines betwixt two pretty distinct musical eras: swing and hip-hop. Drawing on the likes of Billie Holliday’s "Stormy Weather," and Dean Martin’s "Kick in the Head," the self-dubbed "originators of swing-hop" use many of the classic song titles. Luxury rhymes his casino and barroom stories while Rome provides a loungy groove with velvety big-band horn samples and sings many a chorus with drunken elegance. San Francisco’s DJ Porkchop scratches those vintage 45s to perfection and Rucyl Mills (also of Goats fame) counterbalances the gritty hip-hop with simply marble-smooth vocals. Though Rome’s eccentric sound bites and found-sound dings and honks provide polytextures to both relax and bounce to, Luxury’s choppy, offbeat rhyming style and prankish tall tales can wear on your nerves like Weird Al. A Night is an adventurous debut demonstrating that swing and hip-hop can blend as smoothly as your favorite mixed drink. But it’s also a reminder that it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got tight MC-ing.

—Hamida Kinge