Rocking the House--Sans Instruments

Record industry executives, media types and trendies packed the Troubadour on Thursday night, hoping for a clue to what this supposed Next Big Thing in pop--dance music--is all about. The attraction: Acts from England’s lauded Ninja Tune dance label.

So, what’s this new style?

It’s hip-hop, stupid.

British deejays Vadim, Strictly Kev and Ollie Teeba, along with Canadian Kid Koala, rocked five turntables in razzle-dazzle, competition style--relying on scores of American hip-hop classics, from De La Soul to A Tribe Called Quest.

As with their counterparts in the rock generation of the ‘60s, this new wave of Brits has made African American music--this time hip-hop, techno and house--their own. And rightly so. They appreciate it more than we do.

That much was evident as deejays Vadim and Strictly Kev (one half of the DJ Food collective) inspired the dance floor with funky beats, spoken-word bridges and lively turntable techniques (scratching, back-spinning). Interwoven with the East Coast classics were Ninja Tune beats--dry and lyric-less, yet viable and raw.

But it was Kid Koala who stole the show and displayed the skills of a competition master. So impressive was his cutting, scratching and side-to-side mixing that the crowd stoped dancing . . . and applauded. It proved that turn-tablists can now fill a house as well as guitarists.