It's been four years since most of us last heard from Kinnie, but it's not her fault. Although the Vancouver trip-hopper recorded an album called Mending in 1998, it was never released in North America thanks to the wisdom of her then-bosses at a major label. Now she's back to being her own boss -- and if her mind-bending comeback Tune-Up is any sign, she's out to make up for lost time. Simply put, it's the best Canadian hip-hop disc of the year -- a dozen slices of dubby, deep-dish trance fully loaded with scrambled, sampled grooves, subatomic bass tones and textured, tactile loops that serve as a perfect canvas for Kinnie's hushed, sensual vocals. Tracks like Nearer, Leaving and Red%x have gentle, flowing grooves that put them in the league of Luscious Jackson -- although when Kinnie breaks into a Spanglish rap or delivers a lighthearted rhyme a la De La Soul, it's obvious she's in a league of her own. Starr's career may have been on blocks for a while, but on Tune-Up she's firing on all cylinders.

Saturday, July 15, 2000

Kinnie Starr goes in for a tune-up