Iowa City's Tack-Fu creates 'all-star' jam disc

Iowa City's Tim Tack has worked tirelessly under the stage name Tack-Fu to bring hip-hop to Eastern Iowa.

Now, Tack is using that hard earned public profile to bring other hip-hop artists along, forming the group 85 decibel Monks and crafting a sort of all-star jam on the new group's debut disc.

The 85 decibel Monks- Tack, Kent Williams ("The Chaircrusher"), Hartless and Clancy Clark ("drumk") are joined by a who's who or area and national hip-hop perfomers. In addition to local performers like DJ Skwint and Bad Fathers, the disc features Blueprint, Illogic, and DJ Vadim, all with national reputations.

On some tracks, Tack-Fu handles most of the production chores, with some help here or there from a fellow producer, rapper or turntablist. On other tracks, several DJs and MCs gather to create a dense wall of sound. Regardless of the genesis of the song, the beat rules supreme.

Most of the tracks lack vocals, and a few of these are a bit too spare. "Hot Water for Tea" offers little more that a beat with a few squeaks and squiggles over its two-minute running time, for instance.

The tracks with more people involved are better, the swirl of sound offering many ways into the song for your ears. The best songs like "Rebirth" & "Mr. World" have a jazzy feel, helped along by the presence of live instruments.