So...How's Your Girl?

1	Rock n' Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) 4:21
2	Magnetizing / Del Tha Funkee Homosapien 6:11
3	Metaphysical / Mike D 3:24
4	Look at This Face (Oh My God They're Gorgeous) 1:59
5	Waterworld 5:22
6	Once Again (Here to Kick One for You) / Grand Puba 4:01
7	The Truth / J-Live 5:35
8	Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II) / DJ Shadow 4:01
9	Calling the Biz / Biz Markie 0:50
10	The Projects (PJays) / Del Tha Funkee Homosapien 4:28
11	Sunshine / Paula Frazer 4:09
12	Modeling Sucks / Chris Elliot 1:02
13	Torch Song Trilogy 3:55
14	The Runway Song 4:48
15	Megaton B-Boy 2000 / Alec Empire 4:57
16	Father Speaks / Father Guido Sarducci 1:27

Barnes & Noble

Hip-hop doesn't get much more, well... handsome than this - or as wonderfully strange. Not that it's any surprise: the brains behind Handsome Boy Modeling School are none other than groove legends Dan "The Automator" Nakamura and Prince Paul. Both are famed for funky as hell bizarro beats that have blown many a mind. The Automator provided the sickly ominous production for Kool Keith's brilliantly demented Dr. Octagon project, while Prince Paul has tweaked soundscapes for everyone from De La Soul and Gravediggaz to Queen Latifah and Chris Rock. As you might expect, there's more than a little class clowning - a telephoned in Biz Markie sings the Bee Gees' "Night Fever" over solemn organ chords; and long lost Saturday Night Live regular, Father Guido Sarducci, closes the disc with a modeling school testimonial. The collaborations are even iller. "Metaphysical" finds Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori flowing against Beastie Mike D (who sounds like a dusted Puff Daddy), while "The Truth" blends jazzbo trip-hop with underground raps and "Megaton B-Boy 2000" finds techno enfant terrible, Alec Empire, and Company Flow's El-P making white-boy white noise like you've never heard. Still the straight-up hip-hop tracks remain undeniable. Grand Puba and Sadat X shine on "Once Again (Here to Kick One For You)," the hottest Brand Nubian-associated track in recent memory, while "Magnetizing" demonstrates that Del Tha Funkee Homosapien wasn't a casualty of the early '90s but is a wicked lyrical force to be reckoned with. It's rare that hip-hop these days stretches to be so insanely diverse and experimental; for this alone, Handsome Boy Modeling School graduates with honors. Matt Diehl

All Music Guide

The concept behind Handsome Boy Modeling School -- if you separate it from its origins in a Chris Elliott sitcom -- can be taken as a subtle parody of hip-hop's player affectations: two geeky producers masquerading as jet-set male models. Given that framework, and the fact that those two producers are eccentric geniuses Prince Paul and Dan the Automator, you might expect So...How's Your Girl? to be a goof from top to bottom. And that isn't the case. The album ends up as more of a showcase for their eclecticism, tailoring productions to their collaborators and creating a colorful universe where classicist rap, turntablism, trip-hop, and electronica all get along comfortably. Parts of the album are surprisingly atmospheric, and rely more on the texture of the sound than the star power of the guest -- which makes sense for a producer's album. The finished product does lack some of the sheer craziness one might have anticipated, but the meatiness of the best music also keeps the Elliott-centered comedic interludes from turning the project into a mere novelty. The DJ cuts -- the duo's own "Rock n' Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This)" and the DJ Shadow/DJ Quest team-up "Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II)" -- are some of the most exciting tracks on the album, and of the rappers, Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Brand Nubian's Grand Puba and Sadat X turn in the most memorable performances. The electronic collaborations range the farthest afield, and provide some of the most intriguing highlights -- especially the bluesy trip-hop of "The Truth," featuring Moloko crooner Roisin Murphy. Meanwhile, Alec Empire and El-P -- each arguably the most abrasive experimentalist in his field -- live up to their billing on the massively distorted "Megaton B-Boy 2000." It's true that a few of the quirkier experiments never quite get off the ground, but by and large, So...How's Your Girl? is packed with imaginative, intriguing music. Steve Huey