Hello loyal friends and fans. I realize it's been quite a while since I have taken the time to write, but life at the monastery continues to be challenging, holistic, and spiritually invigorating.

As part of my spiritual rebirth, I have taken on a new Zen Master, one who has led me away from ingesting the soothing and beautiful smoke of the marijuana buds and leaves except on very special occasions, when he is not around. For example, just last week a small package arrived in mail box along with the usual offers from various politicians and corporations eager for my words and blessing. I am but a humble man of modest means, so such things hold little interest for me. But the package was special, as it bore the trademark USOUNDS return address.

Excited, I decided to forgo my usual 10 mile walk around the outskirts of the village and instead retired to a quiet part of the monastery with my brand new Sony discman. Inside was a note from my friend Ric Befara and a CD: Kid Loco's DJ Kicks. I was beginning to get a very special feeling as I read the liner notes while the first track played.

Kid Loco is a stoned and handsome DJ , I read. I instantly began to see many parallels between Loco's life and my own, as a sample of Cypress Hill's "Don't you know I'm Loco" reverberated in my suddenly dry-feeling mind. Although I eschew such earthly pursuits as vanity and DJing, being stoned is right up my ally. Without further delay I produced a large hand-rolled joint of local organically grown tobacco and weed from the folds of my robe and smoked it through as the record played. My spiritual communion with Kid Loco was just beginning.

The DJ Kicks series has produced several excellent albums, most notably from DJ Cam, Kruder and Dorfmeister, and Smith and Mighty. Kid Loco's is probably the most challenging of the group, with interpolation of deeply abstrakt hip-hop with avant-garde electronics by Boards of Canada and Underworld.

However once the record gets going, it hits a place so nice that it is almost irresistible. Tracks 7 and 8, by Jazzanova and Common Ground are mixed together flawlessly, accenting the vibe that ties the two tracks together, and forcing one to admire the differences between the two. Every track on this record is at least decent for the background chillout scene, the mixing is flawless, and some tracks stand out as classics I had not yet heard.

This album is excellent as an introduction to some lesser-known acts, as well as to Kid Loco's general style. While nothing on this album sounds just like his individual albums, all of it fits into the downbeat, melodic, and surprisingly deep tones Loco has been dropping for the past few years.

I turned up the volume and took another drag on my spliff. It was times like this when I reflected on just how lucky I was to have left the rat race of the Western World and joined my Buddhist brothers for days of quiet contemplation, deep meditation, and hidden smoke-breaks in the gorgeous Japanese forest with my discman.