A-Trak

When he was 13, Montreal's Alain Macklovitch [no relation, I swear -Ed.] used his bar mitzvah money to buy a used Technics turntable and a mixer. While still in his teens, Macklovitch was holing up in his basement listening to Jazzy Jeff records and focusing his vision. A decade later, the plate-spinner known as A-Trak (or Young Trizzle or Trizzy) still hangs onto his wunderkind status, even after hitting the hip-hop big time in 2004 as Kanye West's touring DJ. Adding some potent backing tracks to Common's critically extolled Be and West's Late Registration increased A-Trak's hip quotient even more. Although still in the midst of recording his debut, the just-released DVD Sunglasses is a Must presents the baby-faced wonder in all his post-adolescent glory, featuring appearances throughout his career and highlighting his impressive array of scratch patterns and solos. Although a little heavy on the between-track party-boy commentary, the DVD presents a dizzying amalgam of styles and influences. Like some mutant offspring of Moby and Adam Sandler, A-Trak proves he's a turntablist who's unafraid to let intelligent experimentalism get in the way of the standard crunk booty experience.