El-P recorded his first Weareallgoingtoburninhell mega mix shortly after the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. Its theme was "music to listen to during wartime," he says. Lo and behold, that motif is still relevant today, and so on El's third volume in the series — a 45 minute instrumental suite of continuous hip-hop — he offers up another masculine, aggressive toast to his home-country's quixotic, perpetual warmongering. Actually, for El, the leader of venerable, mostly-shuttered New York label Definitive Jux and one of the darkest, most penetrating artist/producers working, Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 isn't as bleak as it could be. Unlike his most recent studio CD, 2007's I'll Sleep When You're Dead, the sound isn't entirely apocalyptic, instead trafficking in cool jazz ("Honda Redux"), radio rap (Kidz in the Hall and Young Jeezy remixes), talk-box-driven disco ("Contagious Snippet"), and organ-fueled fuzz rock ("Secret Police Man's Ball"). Don't misunderstand: Tracks like "Jump Fence, Run, Live" are still intense, but there's nothing here that will make you reach for the cyanide capsules.

El constructed the work by stitching together fragments of unreleased songs, and says it serves as a "stopgap" measure before his next studio album. Think of it as a substantial musical appetizer, a moody,… read more »