Cautious Clay Offers a Sophisticated Take on Love with ‘Deadpan Love’
On Cautious Clay’s Deadpan Love, the music is always infectious and the subliminal message has an erotic aura.
alternative hip-hop
Beck’s ‘Odelay’ Is Still a Potent Stew of Rock, Hip-Hop, Folk, and Soul 25 Years Later
Beck’s Odelay is 25 years old. It remains unique with the mighty combination of Beck and the Dust Brothers resulting in some fascinating music.
Mick Harris, Kool Keith, and Submerged Discuss Scorn’s “Distortion”
Scorn’s new LP adds to the foundation Mick Harris built 30 years ago. We spoke with Mick Harris, Kool Keith, and Submerged about how their universes collided.
Kool Keith Delivers Another Surreal Rap Odyssey on ‘Keith’s Salon’
Veteran rapper Kool Keith’s latest album, Keith’s Salon, finds his brand of dirty, absurdist hip-hop in especially sharp form.
IKOQWE’s ‘The Beginning, the Medium, the End and the Infinite’ Is a Sublime Debut
IKOQWE’s The Beginning is a compact yet and complete package, a fearless debut that promises to keep finding new and imaginative ways to assemble fascinating sonic stories with unique aplomb.
Slowthai’s ‘TYRON’ Revels in Complexity of Human Relationships
Despite the rowdy noise of TYRON's first seven tracks, it's the gentler songs on the second half that genuinely highlight Slowthai's voice.
Clipping Take a Stab at Horrorcore with the Fiery ‘Visions of Bodies Being Burned’
Clipping's latest album, Visions of Bodies Being Burned, is a terrifying, razor-sharp sequel to their previous ode to the horror film genre.
Shabazz Palaces Bring the Funk on “Bad Bitch Walking” (premiere)
A sultry, locomotive shuffle of hip-hop and hot blue funk, Shabazz Palaces' "Bad Bitch Walking" features Ishmael Butler as a susurrating lover whose languid gaze of a woman is slowly supplanted by the erotic ellipses of female motion.
After Nine Years Away, the Streets Returns Without Much to Say
None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive finds Mike Skinner, aka the Streets, staring at his phone and ignoring what made him interesting all along.
Hip-Hop Since the Don of Rhyme: Shabazz Palaces’ ‘The Don of Diamond Dreams’
With the release of Shabazz Palaces' The Don of Diamond Dreams, producer-rapper Ishmael Butler envisions yet another lunar world of sound disturbed by his anxieties and desires.
L’Orange and Solemn Brigham Bring Dissentient Experiments and Dangerous Poetry in ‘Marlowe 2’
On Marlowe 2, L'Orange finds an inventive range, interleaving the hip-hop with textures that bring his landscapes into tuneful definition; Solemn Brigham, brings his deft skills as one of hip-hop's brightest poets.