This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
You may not have heard of Howie B, but you’ve heard him. And no, he’s not one of the Backstreet Boys.
Howie Bernstein is the remixmaster to the stars — he’s produced or reproduced tracks for U2, Björk, Tricky, Brian Eno, yadda, yadda, yadda. Snatch, his third solo effort, lives up to its title in more ways than one: Not only does audio kleptomaniac Howie grab samples from everywhere — driving post-bop drums, gurgling synths, Mexican salsa — he cuts them down to the briefest snippets, stitching and looping them into tracks that are less songs than surreal paintings where texture and juxtaposition replace melody and groove. Free your mind and you’ll find this album contains more than a few snatches of genius.
