The Problemaddicts - The Dark Side of Oz

A mere two years following their founding in 2006, 6-man crew The Problemaddicts undertook a project that pulled together two albums that had already coexisted comfortably in smoky dorm rooms around the world for more than 40 years: Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and "The Wizard of Oz" soundtrack (1939). As one might imagine, such an unoriginal pairing could produce one of only two outcomes: Groundbreaking or Heartbreaking. As it should already be obvious from its inclusion here, the release of The Dark Side of Oz put to rest any question of The Problemaddicts falling prey to any pitfalls that may have led to the latter. Never before has a 40-year-old concept sounded so fresh and current.

Much more than a mash-up of already-made masterpieces, The Dark Side of Oz takes elements from many source materials, including interviews with Pink Floyd, an anti-drug George W Bush speech, and plenty of other playful audio pieces-parts, which all come together with precision-cut production similar to Gorillaz or Handsome Boy Modeling School. What The Problemaddicts bring to the table is a wholly-new hodgepodge of hedonistic helpings of hip-hop goodness; and it'll keep you coming back for more. The beats are built organically over repeating riffs mined from Dark Side of the Moon. The rhymes are dropped like pennies from heaven, falling end-over-end, flipping and turning, becoming more and more dangerous as they approach the masses below, yet brilliant and rich nonetheless. Think Wu-Tang. No, I'm not really comparing The Problemaddicts to the untouchable greatness of The Wu (R.I.P.O.D.B.), but the lyrical flow of The Dark Side of Oz lays a little looser in the groove than much of today's click-tracked, on-the-beat borefests. There's something "old school" about it, like something you might've seen stacked between Spice 1 and Run DMC on "Yo! MTV Raps" back in the day.

This is an immensely complex album that could have imploded at a hundred different points along the production path, but it didn't. (Just one advantage of being addicted to problems, I guess.) Instead, this wise-cracking crew from Massachusetts (yeah, you read that right - MASSACHUSETTS) took on the task of breathing new life into old classics, and as Dr. Frankenstein would say, "It's alive!" Best of all: You can preview the whole album right here: http://www.last.fm/music/The+Problemaddicts/The+Dark+Side+Of+Oz. And like your old standardized test instructor used to warn before each section, "Do not skip ahead". This album is like the Yellow Brick Road, the fun is in the journey. The inclusion of poppies are entirely up to you.

Highlights: "Somewhere" and "Home"