Monitor: Listen

DJ Vadim - "USSR: The Art of Listening"

Words: Sue Apfelbaum

Ninja Tune - $16.98

Headz are gonna roll when they hear the latest from UK via USSR's Vadim. On his fourth LP, comrade on deck flexes his international muscle with a mélange of MCs (including Phi Life Cipher from the UK, Gift of Gab from the US, TTC from France and standout Brazilian lyricist Yarah Bravo) plus a WOMAD's worth of instrumentation (djembe, Chinese strings and tabla are all in the mix), not to mention the beats and samples you'd expect. Sounds complicated but The Art of Listening is worth paying attention to.