a.hymnz & oracy - I Just Work Here

Some albums just seem to drop without anyone noticing at all, and many times those records can be real gems just waiting to get discovered. I Just Work Here is one of those albums. I think that the first time I really noticed a.hymnz was when he back in 2010 released the record Off the Beaten Path together with variex. That was an album filled with really great songs, and it's still a record that I like to return to. This time around a.hymnz hook up with oracy. I wish I could tell you something about him, but to be honest I have no clue who he is. What I do know however is that these guys work really well together. If you're a fan of labels such as Milled Pavement and New Cocoon, you should definitely check out this one. And you don't really have any excuse not to. I Just Work Here is available here as a name-your-price download. So go ahead, treat yourself.

Rating: 6.5/10

Child Actor - Victory

Child Actor is the frail lovechild constructed by Max Heath from Anonymous Inc. and Sedgie Ogilvy. I think their own description of their music says it best; R & B for the digital age, with hip hop and psych elements clawing at the walls of a restless alt-pop soundscape. And that's just what it feels like. It's a great mix of influences that in many cases would feel contrived, but here comes across as natural and really quite beautiful. It's the combination of Max's massive, but still constricted productions and Sedgie's dreamy and personal voice that makes this stand out from most of the thousands that throughout the years has attempted to do what Portishead succeeded with many many years ago. Perhaps not an album that I will return to time and again, but for now it's pure enjoyable pop, and that's just enough sometimes.

Rating: 5.5/10

Wordburglar - Drawings with Words

New video from one of my favourite geeks Wordburglar. The track is taken from the album 3RDBURGLAR.

Soundtrack to Week 43

PersephOne - al jawab

Time again for a new video from Texas based emcee PersephOne. She's definitely one to look out for!

epilog - Lauf feat. soda

Brand new video from epilog's upcoming album Vakuum that drops on the always superb label postrap on December 8th.

otem rellik - Blood Bone Piano

otem rellik's album Elephant Graveyard was one of the best albums coming out in 2010. After that it's been kind of silent from him. Until now. And it was definitely worth the wait! Blood Bone Panic is even stronger than its predecessor and feels just like I was hoping it would do. This time around he makes an album that it's more frail and beautiful then before, and at times it even feels slightly emo. I know, emo is a word that makes me cringe too, but it's not always necessarily a bad thing. It's more that otem puts his soul into his creations, and what comes out is beautiful and heartfelt music. What more can one ask for?! One of this year's best albums for sure.

Rating: 8/10

Soundtrack to Week 42

babelfishh - the king's horse

New video from mr babelfishh. Taken from the superb tape howl bender. Get it here.

El-P - Stay Down

Spanking new video from El-P's amazing album Cancer 4 Cure.

Soundtrack to Week 41

Asiatic - Problem Attic & Erb-N-Warfare

I honestly didn't see this one coming. Usually when I had An Accident Records release anything that is vaguely in the hip hop direction, I most of the time like it. So when I popped Problem Attic & Erb-N-Warfare in my headphones I was expecting to hear something new and exciting. This bored the shit out of me though. Boring rap, uninteresting topics and more than lackluster beats. I won't return to this one. Next!

Rating: 2.5/10

DJ Bizkid - Features & Collabos (2006-2008)

Just as the title of this album reveals, it's a compilation of tracks featuring DJ Bizkid between 2006 and 2008. As such, I won't look upon this as a proper album because that would be a bit unfair I think. With that being said, I have to say that this is a solid compilation that shows his skills as a DJ, and it that he has a good ear for good music. The list of people he's worked with is quite impressive, and include names such as Aamir, Nomar Slevik, dumbfoundead and Xczircles and he manages to bring flavour that match their own personal styles. Unfortunately the DJ gets more and more left out nowadays, so it's nice to see someone getting a bit of recognition at least. 

Rating: 5/10

Soundtrack to Week 40

DJ Scientist - For Better, For Worse

The first time I stumbled across the music of DJ Scientist I think was when he produced most of Ceschi's album The One Man Band Broke Up back in 2010. And what an introduction it was! Those two guys really complemented each other and make one of the best albums of that year. Earlier this year he released The Artless Cuckoo, an EP which sounded really promising for the future. So therefor it was with great expectations that I sat down to listen to For Better, For Worse which is his first full length album under his own name. And it is a good album. He's really good at building up moods and atmospheres with his productions. But, and there has to be a but here. After a while I'm kind of loosing interest for the album and even though it's still good, it doesn't sound very unique and personal. At times it feels like some of DJ Shadow's old left overs (which necessarily isn't a bad thing) and sometimes it sounds like those collections of samples that I used to listen to 10-12 years ago. One reason for this is of course that the material on this album was recorded between 2001 and 2006. But I guess what I miss is some vocals from time to time to really complete the album in a way that it's not able to do now. Like I said though, it's still a good album but if I had to pick only one instrumental album to listen to this year, I think I would pick The Small Minority by 2econdclasscitizen instead. 

Rating: 6/10

cars & trains - We Are All Fire

The Roots, The Leaves was one of my absolute favourite albums of 2010, so I've really been looking forward to this follow up from Tom Filepp's cars & trains. After my first listen I loved it, but after a couple of more I felt that something was missing somehow. I wasn't able to put my finger on it, but I think it was that We Are All Fire wasn't as immediate as his last album. But with that being said, this album still is very good and I think it is one that will grow more and more on me, and end up being a really good piece of art. He's a incredibly talented musician, and sometimes great art doesn't hit home at once. I really should be reviewing this after listening to it for a couple of months, but for now this will have to do.

Rating: 7.5/10

PJ Katz - ´92 Renault Music

I have no idea who PJ Katz is. I don't know where he's from, or if he's done any albums prior to to this one. I never heard of any of the guesting emcees either. I probably never would have either if I hadn't got this album through Dezmatic. Sometimes it can be a bit annoying not knowing anything about the artist, but sometimes it can be nice. You get to listen to something without any kind of expectations. ´92 Renault Music is straight up soulful boom bap of a really nice standard, PJ Katz is good at what he's doing, and the emcees comes out strong too. At times however it feels like I've heard this a few times too many already, but all in all it's a nice album from a very promising producer.

Rating: 6/10

Soundtrack to Week 39

WHY? - Strawberries

Brand new video from WHY´s album Mumps, etc.

Dark Time Sunshine - ANX

I have to start off with admiting that I never really been a big fan of Dark Time Sunshine. I have always loved Zavala's productions, but Onry Ozzborn to me has always been an overrated, and quite boring, emcee, and therefore I haven't bothered too much with their releases. Luckily enough, things change and finally it feels like Onry has stepped up his game and the result is that for the first time I'm pleased with a release from these guys. There are some true gems on ANX, and it's clear that they both have developed since their last outing. But with that being said, it's the instrumentals that are really doing it for me in the end.

Rating: 6/10