Hip Hop / R&B Recommendations November 2012

Review: Four years on from their last full-length, veteran hip-hop/funk fusionists The Herbaliser return with their seventh album. Those who've followed their career, from the early days bashing out stoned, sample-heavy hip-hop on Ninja Tune to their reinvention as a white-hot, horn-totin' live act, will find few surprises on There Were Seven. That's not to say it's not a good album, though; far from it. Nobody else has yet managed to nail the spy-funk/hip-hop fusion quite as well as Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba. There Were Seven is full of the stuff, as well as genuine hip-hop tracks, floor-burning funk jams and even a dash of dub.

Review:  One of the highlights of Rustie's recent Essential Mix, Glasweigan producer S-Type's "Billboard" sees a release through LuckyMe on this six track EP. Channelling the weighty MPC styles of TNGHT and Araabmuzik into one package, it combines heady melodies, neon synths and heavy beats, with the vocoder filled "Walrus" and the ghetto styles of "Whole Lotta" making for particular highlights.

Review: Karriem Riggins has enjoyed a varied career to date, dividing his time between creating beats for the Roots, Common and Talib Kweli, and playing jazz drums for the likes of Paul McCartney (really), Diana Krall and Donald Byrd. Here, he presents his debut solo full-length for Stones Throw, a typically deep and jazz-wise exploration of hip-hop beat science. At 34 tracks deep and with almost as many skits and sketches as fully-fledged jams, it's a fast-flowing, thrill-a-minute trip. While Riggins' percussive skills (both with a drum kit and an MPC) dominate, there's enough musical depth and variety to make it more than just a mere exercise in beatmaking.