In Brief

On his debut album, Boston-based Van Helden--whose club craftings of tracks by Tori Amos, Janet Jackson and others earned a re-mixer of the year Grammy nomination--turns his house deejay aesthetic to a hip-hop setting. But he’s not as sharp with raw material as with other people’s compositions, and his album lacks distinction beyond some arresting sonic juxtapositions.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).