There was a time when turntables just went wikki-wikki-wikki-wikki.

(And, I guess, way back when, DJs simply played the songs

as artists intended. How novel?) Today's progressive turntablists, of

course, make the ones and twos go wikki-wokka-bibla-dibla-bap-bap

whirrrrrrrrr. In doing so, they are essentially playing epic drum solos

to their forefathers' "Be-Bop-A-Lula."

Which brings us to DJ Faust, an Atlanta-based mixmaster who is so

analog-oriented that he even creates his echo effects manually on

an eight-track recorder by re-recording the same bits at increasingly

lower volumes. With "Completeness" (RealAudio excerpt), DJ Faust launches his second

full-length album with sci-fi movie sound bites and bits of sound from

unidentified vinyl objects, creating a kind of musique concrete jungle

jam. And, just as things begin to get a tad out of focus, he centers this

swirling chaotic maelstrom with a rocketship countdown, followed by

big beats, samples and scratches. Unlike Herbie Hancock's 1984

Grammy-winning "Rockit" — the first popular recording to

prominently integrate the turntable into a traditional band — it is

the turntable that takes center-stage here. And, boy, do the styluses

fly on pieces such as the DJ Shortee collaboration "Boy Meets Girl" (RealAudio excerpt), "It's Time Again" and the Jimi Hendrix tribute "If Nine Was Six."

The distance between "Rockit" and today's ultra-proficient turntable

doctors can be marked in the same way that others have measured

the span between, say, the Troggs' "Wild Thing" and Emerson, Lake

and Palmer's Tarkus. Don't scoff at the progressive rock

reference, my friends; our pretentious Mr. Faust has divided this

album into four parts: Fire, Wind, Water and Earth. (A note to artists

out there: If you want to avoid the P-word label, don't name the

themes of your album after the elements! In fact, don't divide your

album into themes in the first place — you're just asking for

trouble.)

Fortunately, the primary difference between DJ Faust and ELP is that

Faust's long player is simply more fun to listen to than his 7/8-

rhythm-playing counterparts. I mean, could you imagine Keith

Emerson titling a song "Rock da House" (RealAudio excerpt) (as Faust does) — or

actually doing so, as this DJ also does throughout much of

Inward Journeys? Goethe, call your office.