Daedelus - Taut

Daedelus has been one of the most innovative and prolific artists working in hip hop and electronic music over the last twenty years. The Los Angeles producer hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, either, with his entry into Fat Beats’ Baker’s Dozen series coming out last year. Now he comes back once again with another full-length album, Taut. Daedelus was part of a wave of really innovative electronic music coming out of Los Angeles in the early ‘00s, and over the years he’s given us a lot of different looks, never resting on a predictable sound.

Mecca:83 - Midnight Radio EP

Manchester producer Mecca:83 has been doing his thing all decade long, carving out a little niche for himself along the way with some great soulful and jazzy beats. The last time we heard from him was last September, when he delivered Life Sketches Vol. 3, which served as the soundtrack to the all the changes in the last five years of his life. Now he comes back with something with a bit lower stakes, Midnight Radio.

Sudan Archives - Sink

Sudan Archives made a splash last summer when she released her self-titled debut EP on Stones Throw. The Los Angeles-by-way-of-Cincinnati artist grabbed peoples attention by studying a North African style of violin, and then combining it with her love of electronic music and soul. Now she builds upon that style with her second EP, Sink. If you’re not familiar with her style of music, you might be wondering how this all comes together.

Prefuse 73 - Sacrifices

Prefuse 73 has had a long and varied career, making his mark as an instrumental artist in the early ‘00s with releases like Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives and One Word Extinguisher. There’s also been tons of collaborations and side projects like Savath and Savalas, Piano Overlord, Diamond Watch Wrist, and his latest, Fudge, which featured Boston emcee Michael Christmas, which came out two years ago. Now it’s time for Prefuse to get back to basics and release this, Sacrifices, his first solo album in three years.

Brownout - Fear of a Brown Planet

Brownout is an Austin-based Latin funk group that was formed about fifteen years ago by members of Grupo Fantasma. The group had been touring, lending support as a backing band, and releasing albums for quite some time before they garnered even more attention for their Brown Sabbath album which came out it 2015, which featured their interpretations of Black Sabbath songs. It was so successful, in fact, that they came out with a second volume just last year.

Blueprint - Two Headed Monster

Once upon a time, we had to wait quite a while in between Blueprint releases, but ever since we hit the 2010s, the Columbus emcee/producer has been working at a much steadier clip. Now, two years after his last release, the Aesop Rock-produced Vigilante Genesis EP, he returns once again with another self-produced solo album, Two-Headed Monster. Blueprint has long been one of my favorite artists, and certainly one of the best to produce their own beats and spit their own rhymes.

Tongue Helmet - Brain on Fire EP

Tongue Helmet is not your usual hip hop collaboration between two emcees or an emcee and producer. Instead, this is the collaboration between an emcee named Timbuktu (Backburner, Swamp Thing, Teenburger) and a drummer named Danny Miles (July Talk). They then enlisted the help of COINS (Peter Project) and DJiRATE to help fill in the sound with instrumentation and scratching. The end result is their debut release, The Brain on Fire EP.

Substantial - The Garden

D.C./Virginia artist Substantial has been releasing music for years now, with his most recent full-length album coming in January of 2017, when he released The Past is Always Presents in the Future. However, last December, Substantial released an instrumental EP called Seeds, which not only reminded everyone that he’s a producer as well as an emcee, but also promised an instrumental album to come in the near future. Now that album, The Garden, is finally here.

MC Paul Barman - (((echo chamber)))

MC Paul Barman remains one of the most enigmatic figures in hip hop over the last twenty years. He pops up in 2000 to deliver his debut EP, It’s All Very Stimulating, produced entirely by Prince Paul. He followed that up with his debut album in 2002, garnering some critical praise, but then disappeared for seven years before finally coming back with his sophomore album. He once again garnered a lot of praise, and worked with such individuals as ?

Nikitch & Kuna Maze - Cake

Nikitch and Kuna Maze are both French producers who have been working in hip hop and electronic music for a little while now. They both have released EPs with French label Cascade Records over the past two years, with Kuna Maze actually appearing as a guest artist one Nikitch’s last release. After being in each other’s orbits for a little while, we finally get this collaboration out of them, and EP named Cake.