Artist: Bibio
Album: Mind Bokeh
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Having spent an evening indulging in the very best of Boards of Canada and copious amounts of fine Scotch, it dawned on me that their work has never been equaled. Well, Bibio, who releases on the same imprint as BoC, is making some solid attempts at reaching their lofty heights of excellence. More vocal driven than BoC, Bibio utilises similar downbeats soaked in reverb and deep bass. His music has a manic quality, reminiscent of Prefuse 73, or even DJ Shadow. But ultimately, Bibio is fashioning his own original and absorbing sound on Mind Bokeh, albeit one that is purely Warp.
Artist: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Album: Belong
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On the title track of this release, an epic alt. tune in its own right, you can hear the myriad influences that have allowed The Pains of Being Pure at Heart to deliver their finest work. From the Stone Roses, to Nine Inch Nails this album reeks of the odour of those that have come before it and succeeded. But Belong is far from a soggy crouton leeching on the nutrients of its host soup, it’s a vibrant ‘up for it’ revelry of guitars and driving rhythms and an album likely to stamp its mark on 2011 with hot irons.
Artist: Snoop Dogg
Album: Doggumentary
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This is Snoop Dogg’s eleventh album, so not wanting to be a motherfucker who forgot about Dre, I mean Snoop, I thought it deserved a little spurt of ink. The album is called Doggumentary and this clever word play is indicative of the witty lyrical adventures that have allowed Snoop to remain top dog ahead of his game for an ice age. In fact, Snoop has been rapping about niggers, gin and hoes since I was a young lad waltzing around my school playing field with a ghettoblaster and a prisoner’s roll up. In summation, it’s the same bag of sexist, misogynist fun, with a satiating sprinkling of funk.