SAN FRANCISCO -- Bomb Hip-Hop Records, the label behind the 1997 album

Return of the DJ Vol. II that helped provoke the current excitement around the

turntable scene, plans to capitalize on that buzz by releasing at least 12 albums this

year.

"I think that 1999 is going to be the biggest year for [DJ records]," label founder Dave

Paul said, speaking from a pizza joint near his home here.

"But I think in two or three years it is going to die down," the 31-year-old Paul said. "The

alternative crowd, the people who are buying DJ records right now -- they're not going to

be buying DJ records anymore. It'll go down to what it was originally -- other DJs buying

it, and a few other people."

Bomb Hip-Hop kept public interest in the turntable scene via 1998 albums by DJ Faust

(Man or Myth) and British hip-hop producer Baby J (Birth).

"The stuff that Bomb puts out is incredible," Baby J, 25, said last year.

"Dave has done a tremendous job of keeping his ear to the underground, and he gives a

lot of artists the chance to break through," said the producer, whose own album includes

such tracks as

music/Baby_J/Savior.ram">"Savior" (RealAudio excerpt), a collaboration with

Poetic of the rap band Gravediggaz.

Estimating that the label is in the right place at the right time, Paul has put together a

heavy release schedule, which finds the label expanding into various hip-hop genres.

The onslaught begins with the Feb. 2 release of Technics Chainsaw Massacre, a

two-CD set by British DJs the Jeep Beats Collective that will include such songs as

"Hip-Hop Hate Pt. 3"

(RealAudio excerpt). Also on the schedule are albums by DJ Craze, British rappers

Krispy, the Australian beatbox group Metabass, sample maven RJD2, and rappers

Profound, Paul Nice and Kreators.

Bomb Hip-Hop will continue releasing compilations, too, with the rap collection

Droppen the Bomb and the DJ compilation Contents Under Pressure, both

due in March. The former features 15 tracks by such rappers as Rasco, Blackalicious,

Swollen Members, Jedi Mind Tricks and Superfriends. Paul said the latter will appeal to

fans of the DJ-and-musicianship mix practiced by such artists as DJ Spooky.

Later in the year, the label will release Revenge of the B-Boy, for break-dancers,

and the third volume in the Return of the DJ series.

Paul said he stays current by checking his mailbox, which is continually flooded with

demos, and by keeping in touch with a loose network of contacts in the United States

and Britain.

"I've found artists by calling people's answering machines," he said. That, at least, is how

Paul discovered DJ Faust, whose Man or Myth album features

href="http://media.addict.com/atn-bin/get-music/DJ_Faust/Don't_Hurt_Em_With_The_Needle.ram">"Don't Hurt 'Em With The

Needle" (RealAudio excerpt). "I called Dave Tompkins, who writes for

URB, and he had DJ Faust's mix tape on his answering machine. ... You never

know how you're going to find someone."

While he will "always put out DJ records," Paul said he's "trying to do other stuff as far as

rap records and stuff like that because I know the DJ thing will die down a couple of

years from now."

"You'd be surprised what we're looking at," he said. "We've got some alternative stuff,

and there's a lot of [other stuff] that I want to put out right now. I'm just not set up to do it.

Probably in a few years. You'll see."