***1/2 Phoenix Orion

ZIMULATED EXPERIENCEZ

(Celes-tial Recordings)

Even in indie hip-hop, where eccentricity is the coin of the realm, LA-dwelling Brooklynite Phoenix Orion is a real character, a tight-flowing, vocally schizoid mad scientist who thinks "MC" stands for "Messiah Complex" and flashes Internet jargon the way other rappers show off Glocks or gold teeth. Zimulated Experiencez sounds like Jeru the Damaja's Return of the Prophet with an ironic laugh track by Dr. Octagon -- Phoenix impersonates cackling mad scientists and the Devil, rhymes over drum 'n' bass, battles self-aware computers, and (aided by producers Hermes, Daddy Kev, and DJ Hive) self-referentially samples big chunks of The Last Temptation of Christ. That's gotta be a hip-hop first. It's hard to tell whether Orion's given his conspiracy theories more than a cursory study-hall once-over -- often it's as if he were just Playstation-gamin', polysyllabically, on everybody else's paranoid Y2K bugout, a futurist Prince Paul slapping Canibus with a kick-me sign. Either way, Zimulated is the kind of brilliantly weird project that makes underground-rap prospecting worthwhile. The corny-but-inventive "Dead Men Don't Download" mixes Raymond Chandler clichés and jaunts through virtual reality, with Phoenix on the case as 2023's toughest black private dick -- and when he says "dick," he's talking Philip K.

-- Alex Pappademas