Invisibl Skratch Piklz

• Genre: Bay Area
• Hometown: San Francisco

About

They are the quintessential scratch collective. They are banned worldwide from entering contests (out of courtesy for the competition). They are globally recognized masters of the turntables. They are oddly named. They are the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. What Coltrane was to the saxophone and Hendrix was to the electric guitar, these San Francisco DJs are to the Technics 1200. They didn't invent the scratch, but they've introduced a level of virtuosity that's redefined the art. With raw speed conquered years ago, the group has turned towards innovation. Using turntables as both percussive and melodic instruments, they compose detailed musical odysseys with nothing but wax. One Pikl will rock stabbing sound bites -- like kick and snare drums -- while the others use crossfaders to reconstruct the genetics of instrumental loops and vocal samples. With the occasional aid of elaborate effect arrays, they bastardize sounds into musical mutations whose origins aren't always clear. No sound, whether man made or organic, escapes their mad science.

- Alex Henning