Ghetto-house, gutterbreakz, and other guttural exhalations adhere together like pursed lips suctioning sweat-beaded skin on this “two-sided” coupling of New York producer Drop the Lime and LES DJs Syrup Girls (in the interest of disclosure, half of which is XLR8R editor Vivian Host). DTL‘s unrelenting 42-minute pitch-and hell-bent dubstep is as condensed and grimy as all five boroughs. Meanwhile, Syrup Girls‘ 38 syncopated standout minutes of 4×4 grime, Bmore club, and bubbly bass are viscous yet brisk, splattered with cum-ons and poppin‘ off. Muggy and at times almost gunmetal-grim clanging on side A, raunchy and steely strut on side B, Shotgun Wedding Vol. 4 fires at a crackin‘ clip.
Various Artists Marc Mac: How About a Game of Chess?
From the depths of a Chess Record drought comes How About A Game of Chess?, a record that has the soulful energy of the greats with just enough street flare to keep hip-hop heads happy. The double LP features tracks with a plentitude of samples from the likes of Ramsey Lewis, Rotary Connection, Howlin‘ Wolf, Dorothy Ashby, Shirley Scott, and Ahmad Jamal. Think jazzed-out horns, sporadic drumbeats, and some lazy days. If you‘ve got love for the Visioneers or sleepy time soul, this is your jam.
Alog Catch That Totem! (1998-2005)
Can-channeling, Terry Riley wink-winking, and Aphex-aware Norwegian free-jazz superstars (and Rune Grammofon lynchpins) Alog footnote the stately avant-majesty of their preceding albums with this compendium of unreleased, rare, and remixed work. Alog‘s approach favors the narrative, apparent in every track‘s intricacy; the title number-a remix for Swiss band Velma-became a cover of sorts when, upon discovering that they didn‘t have the proper lyrics, they had to substitute words from an unrelated album. With or without stories or deciphering the liner notes, these are all independently brilliant songs for you to catch.
Autophonic Slack
Slack indeed. Eight years after a stellar debut on Djax Up Bitch‘s DUB sub-label, Sander Borst‘s scant body of work resembles that of a dissipating cloud cover. A shame, as Autophonic‘s not-so-sanctimonious take on IDM-where clattering, tactile percussion nuzzles up to deliciously decayed snippets of jazz instrumentation and sinus-shattering bass-proves provocatively lasting in its visceral innovation. Luckily, this deftly curated compilation culls highlights from past releases and throws in five unreleased morsels. An essential selection, but the next record had better be called Workaholic.
Kero Kerologistics
Known for pummeling persons worldwide with his graphic design fugue of 0s and 1s-not to mention a vast discography spread across labels like Bpitch Control, Sender, Shitkatapult, and his own Detroit Underground-Kero suitably slows things down here for a subdued English label. Kerologistics isn‘t entirely the backing track for the onramp to Sleepytime, as Kero‘s ever-complex arsenal of hiccupping rattletrap sounds claustrophobically coats every digestible space of sound. Lackluster in its entirety, Kero‘s skill for dark-side computer trickery is probably best suited for sublimating the dancefloor.
Various Artists San Francisco Under a Groove
The problem with a scene as rich as San Francisco‘s is that it‘s full of talented musicians setting the bar really high. On this compilation, Goapele‘s “Closer” and the bass-driven “Where‘s the Tape” from Triangle Orchestra do a good job of showcasing the city‘s distinctively warm, laid-back, and groovy style. In that vein, veteran Miguel Migs contributes “Do it for You,” and Karmacoda turns in their “Masterplan Remix,” which has the slinky vibe of an old Sneaker Pimps record. But with so many other excellent San Francisco comps already released, this one needs to be a bit more unique to make its desired impact.
Chihei Hatakeyama Minima Moralia
The track titles on Hatakeyama‘s debut alone provide a pretty good hint at what‘s inside: “Bonfire on the Field,” “Granular Haze,” and “Beside a Well” all invoke a sense of environment. Throughout the disc, moods, scenes, and feelings emerge, and the results are warm and free-floating. But while the layered tones are beautiful, the album overall could use more variety. The guitars underlying “Swaying Curtain in the Window” and “Towards a Tranquil Marsh,” for example, give both tracks a distinctiveness that the disc misses in other places. There‘s a line, after all, between subtle and soporific.
William Orbit Hello Waveforms
Too often, ambient equals snoozy, but in the case of über-producer William Orbit, ambient denotes a range of sounds. On this, his first solo album since 2000, Orbit shows his typical keyboard-heavy style while creating a varied disc. He nods to his previous works with “Humming Chorus” (taken from Madame Butterfly) while tracks like “Spiral” (featuring vocals from Kenna and UK girl group Sugababes), with its texture and moodiness, lean more toward pop. Though he‘s perhaps heavy on the spacey noises, it‘s easy to see why everyone from Madonna to U2 keeps his number handy.
Tha Alkaholiks Firewater
No one‘s ever accused Tha ‘Liks of being overly conscious, and this, their fifth and last album, certainly won‘t be the disc that changes any preconceived notions. Hip-hop‘s gleeful hedonists sign off with the signature style that‘s kept them popular since their 1993 debut; this one‘s a boozy collection of party tracks with an undercurrent of intelligence and wit. Tha Alkaholiks revel in their reputation, as evidenced by referencing their self-proclaimed “West Coast sip-hop” on “Chaos.” Any guesses as to what “Party Ya Ass Off” is about? The party might be ending, but it‘s not over quite yet.
Jel Soft Money
Anticon‘s long been a standard-bearer for innovative hip-hop, and with this full-length from co-founder Jel, the label continues that tradition. To be fair, though, Jel‘s album spans more than just hip-hop. The album slices and dices genres throughout, and the music sounds all the better for it. He showboats his flow on the opener, “To Buy a Car,” a collection of commercial snippets and anti-materialistic messages, but “All Day Breakfast” sounds like nothing so much as a lushly beautiful landscape translated into music.
