Review
Earplug
May 2008
Tight mixes, pithy dialogue, and rapid-fire vocal samples are apropos for his day-job as an ad man, but it’s Steve Stein’s delivery and sense of humor that have made him a crate-digging icon. Better known as Steinski, the DJ/producer launched his landmark “Lessons” mixes with Douglas “Double Dee” DiFranco in the early ’80s. Challenging copyright and mocking pop culture, What Does It All Mean? collects his many sampling milestones alongside an animated Solid Steel mix and two decades’ worth of solo work. “It’s Up to You (Television Mix)” — a loony and literal drumbeat to war featuring the first President Bush’s platitudes alongside media criticism and Mario Savio’s revolutionary bile — remains relevant and hilarious. Meanwhile, his Kennedy-assassination collage “The Motorcade Sped On” and somber 9/11 record “Number Three on Flight Eleven” show the Lessig-loving blogger is still in control of the podium.