DR WHO DAT? Beat Journey Lex ****

It's the freshness of the sound that will hit you right between the ears from the off. At this stage of the game, we're probably become a little over-familiar with how hip-hop producers sketch out their sonic visions with layers of samples and riffs. We know the shorthand, we recognise the lexicon and we start nodding our heads just as the jazz hits the funk.

In the case of Dr Who Dat?, the well-travelled US rapper-turned-producer Jneiro Jarel, the real joy is in just how vivid, rich and futuristic his journey sounds. Jarel has been around many blocks, trying his hand as an MC in Houston and New York before hitting the production trail in Philadelphia. Whatever about the rhymes he's put down on wax (and last year's Three Piece Puzzle album had some superfly moments under the bonnet), his production abilities are a real joy to behold. There's an ease and a flow here that instrumental hip-hop has long abandoned in its rush to photocopy last month's hot flavour.

Many have kicked around with the same Brazilian, jazz, hip-hop and soul textures; the difference is that Jarel scores every time. From the lovely, sun-dazed bounce of Braziliant Thought to the effervescent glow of March to Viberia, Jarel sounds as if he's having a great time. www.myspace.com/drwhodat

Jim Carroll