XLR8R

Nhu Golden Era, the second album by Norwegian producer Espen Horne, feels like a warm, smooth lounge record for the modern cocktail-swilling groovemeister. God knows the world doesn't need yet another "lounge" record (a.k.a. generic coffeehouse jazzy downtempo crap) but luckily, the Bobby Hughes Combination has come up with enough innovation and musical talent to buck the usual blandness. Barely. Emphasizing glistening live instrumentation churned out by several jazz musicians-including flutes, harp, trumpet, organ, percussion and more-under the electronic aegis, Bobby Hughes creates a head-nodding amalgam of jazz, funk, hip-hop and Latin rhythms that sounds both retro and new.