Dosh

I like to think of instrumental hip hop as background music for alternative-universe waiting rooms. Instead of easy listening, lite rock, and smooth jazz, all the doctors in this other world groove out to tracks by RJD2, Wagon Christ, and Four Tet. In this land, Dosh's second LP would be on constant rotation. "Simple Exercises" is the pediatrician's aid, with its prancing Rhodes keyboard parts and its Tinker Toy drum riffage (not to mention the samples of his wife talking about her pregnancy). With its clinking percussion and whirring organs, "Rock It to the Next Episode" offers a soundtrack to the operating theater, while the languorous keyboard purring of "Bye Rhodsy" recalls the post-op grogginess of a wisdom-tooth pulling. And while some of the tracks -- "I Think I'm Getting Married," especially -- hint at the ominous dread that often goes along with hospital visits, much of the Minneapolis native's album is as shiningly bright as a new scalpel. Besides, which would you rather hear at the doctor's office: Whitney Houston yowling about how she'll always love you or Dosh provingit, via lovingly crafted organ-and-drum jams?