Search results: Louis

Review: Louis VI's Earthlings album has been three and a half years in the making - with final sessions done deep in the Amazon rainforest - and now finally arrives on vinyl via Nightmares On Wax's new label HiyaSelf Recordings Unlimited. It is packed with high quality guests such as the one-and-only Moses Boyd plus Oscar Jerome, Alex Cosmo Blake, Bluestaeb and Greg Paul. The album is inspired by his love of nature and he says of the record that he hopes it reminds people we need to take care of our planet. It's a great message to match a great album..

Review: Here comes the latest reissue of this gem of an album from American rapper and hip-hop artist Oddisee. The Iceberg album originally landed in 2017 and is steeped in classic sounds with catchy grooves. The wordsmith's fine mic work anchors each groove in storytelling while he tackles everyday topics but with his own unique bent and often though provoking depth. Each well-crafted composition standalone and is run through with a warming sense of soul. Guest appearances from Toine and Olivier St. Louis add extra character and make cuts like 'Rights & Wrongs' really stand out next to the catchy grooves and melodic hooks.

Review: Curren$y and The Alchemist first teamed up in 2010 for the Covert Coup album, which was reportedly recorded in full the first day they met. Alchemist has worked with all manner of high profile heads from Dilated Peoples and Ghostface Killah to Mobb Deep's Prodigy, Royce Da 5'9" and plenty more besides, but he's at his best working with New Orleans' Curren$y on these low slung jams. There's a wistful, soulful lilt to beats Alchemist conjures up like the Boldy James-featuring 'No Yeast', while Wiz Khalif and Havoc sound reflective on 'Corvette Rally Stripes'. This is hip-hop to sink into - one for mellow moments when you want the lyrics to soak in and the beats to take you far away.

Review: Daniel Dumile is the British-American rapper-producer known best as MF Doom Vaughn. His third album Vaudeville Villain came back in 2003 under the Viktor Vaughn pseudonym and was reissued for Record Store Day last year. That one went quickly off the shelves so here comes another reissue that you should move quickly on as it's timeless hip-hop with sick beats and sicker bars. Most of the cuts are produced by Heat Sensor, King Honey, and Max Bill, who are members of the Sound-Ink label, with plenty of fun-to-identify samples from classic records gone by. The record came about when Doom was working with Madlib on the seminal Madvillainy and an early demo was stolen and leaked. Both went their separate ways and this album is the result of what came next.

Review: Cult German beat maker Bluestaeb is a core member of the Jakarta label family. He has produced with and for others, as well s serving up some hugely seductive solo albums. Here comes another of those with a range of contemporary guests including JuJu Rogers, Miles Singleton, Ric Wilson and Louis VI. The short tracks mean the album moves along swiftly and freely, with plenty of romantic, chord laced numbers as well as more stripped back and late night jams. Soul and jazz are defining overtones here but the whole thing feels fresh and forward's looking rather than too heavily reliant on the classic hip hop tropes.