DJ Wich - The Golden Touch

Hailing from the bustling European city of Prague, the capitol of the Czech Republic, comes DJ Wich. An unfamiliar face who has applied familiar old tactics to create a cohesive and musically affective new album vaingloriously titled "The Golden Touch". Wich, a dynamic producer (to say the least) who utilizes the latest in sequencing drum machines and keyboards, stretches himself across the Atlantic to fashion his new album and does so with pretty extraordinary success thanks to some of America's finest hardcore Hip-Hop names.

Releasing "The Golden Touch" on his own indie imprint Skoop Entertainment, the first thing that is guaranteed to strike you about the album is how cultivated Wich's production is. Like his fellow European production counterparts The Returners, Shuko, The Kollabo Brothers, Snowgoons, Tommy Tee and many others, Wich has successfully mastered the American Hip-Hop sound and dare I say it, performs at a higher level than many of our so-called best and brightest producers. Unlike his European brethren however, is his actual style of making music. While many across the pond are opting to carry on where American "Boom Bap" Hip-Hop artist's of the mid and early 90's like Pete Rock, DJ Premier and The Rza left off, Wich has moved decidedly more toward the sped-up soul sampling that became intensely popular more so in the late 90's and early 2K thanks to producers like Kanye West, Just Blaze and The Heatmakerz. Wich falls directly in line with what those fellas were doing back then courtesy of his precise and liberal use of intricately chopped Soul samples, thunderous kicks and slapping, layered, claps and snares. Aurally, he passes with flying colors on his frenzied, yet ardent 2008 release.

For me the production was only the icing on the cake if you can believe that. I have long been a fan of compilation-style album's put together by one "super" producer who has collected a huge amount of his best beats to hand out to emcee's. But what about that second part....that being the emcees. Yes, I have witnessed thee best compilation style album's ruined due to a lack in care when it came to that aspect of their construction. Either the DJ/Producer poorly selected emcees or was to poor to select the right emcees. In any case it takes away from the overall project. That would not be the state of affairs here at all though, as Wich scores one of the gaudiest and thrilling guest feature lineups I've seen in a while. From the hardcore stylings of M.O.P., Raekwon, Big Noyd and Guilty Simpson to the mellow and philosophical underground musings of Little Brother, Talib Kweli and Slum Village, "The Golden Touch" definitely has enough serious emcee's on it not to be looked at as just another trivial batch of basic beats and rhymes slopped together. In truth Rather, it's a supremely viable and lyrical Hip-Hop endeavor. All the same, DJ Wich does a good job of not pigeon holing himself and also enlisted assistance from some perhaps, more surprising guests, I think you could say....Lil' Wayne isn't someone you instantly think of when you hear about an album that contains both the likes of Kurupt and Royce Da' 5'9", yet here he is on that album, with them both and truthfully it wasn't as eye gougingly bad as I thought it would be. More confirmation of Wich's abilities as a producer? Maybe, The incessant, unnecessary inclusion of an artist due to his recent popularity? Most Likely. Part of me just thinks that I was probably too caught up in the ferocity of the beats and the solid lyrical contributions from everyone else to notice that small, but still noticable blemish on what I would otherwise consider an outstanding effort.

-BIG D O






1. (00:00:54) DJ Wich - The Man With The Golden Touch (Intro)
2. (00:03:25) DJ Wich - Get Live (Feat. Slum Village)
3. (00:05:19) DJ Wich - Give Up Your Guns (Feat. Royce da 59, Talib Kweli & Raekwon)
4. (00:03:28) DJ Wich - Coasting (Feat. Kurupt & Nironic)
5. (00:03:49) DJ Wich - It Don’t Stop (Feat. Big Noyd, Frank Nitty, Guilty Simpson & DJ Rafik)
6. (00:03:07) DJ Wich - Classic (Feat. M.O.P.)
7. (00:03:58) DJ Wich - Gone With The Wind (Feat. Cali Agents)
8. (00:03:40) DJ Wich - Is You Ready (Feat. Young De, J-Ro & Tekneek)
9. (00:04:01) DJ Wich - What We Need (Feat. Glasses Malone & Lil’ Wayne)
10. (00:03:28) DJ Wich - Give It Up (Feat. Little Brother)
11. (00:03:26) DJ Wich - They Don’t Know How (Money Over Here) (Feat. Havoc, Kurupt & Roscoe)
12. (00:03:44) DJ Wich - Do My Thing (Feat. Nironic)
13. (00:02:55) DJ Wich - On And On (Feat. Rasco)
14. (00:03:30) DJ Wich - Superman (Feat. Frank N Dank)
15. (00:03:14) DJ Wich - Much Higher (Feat. Kurupt & Nironic)
16. (00:03:41) DJ Wich - We Finally Here (Feat. Tangled Thoughts)
17. (00:03:29) DJ Wich - Unstoppable (Feat. Guilty Simpson & Rasco)
18. (00:04:04) DJ Wich - Always On The Run (Feat. Gail Gotti & Roscoe)
19. (00:04:10) DJ Wich - Cheat On Her (Feat. RL & Nironic) (Bonus Track)

http://rapidshare.com/files/169876171/DJ_Wich-The_Golden_Touch-2008.rar