Rotterdam-based Lowriders Recordings is back once again to deliver some innovative (mostly) European instrumental electronic/hip hop music. On their fourth release they take us to Edinburgh for AK Kids, a production duo featuring Tommy Forrest and Steven Hyslop. This EP is the first in what AK Kids hope will be a four part series of collaborative efforts. They originally wanted it to be one full length album, but realized that it would take too long to track everybody down that they’d like to work with and coordinate schedules, so they decided a series of EPs would be more feasible. On this release we get Sofia, Bulgaria’s 1000 Names, Fresno’s Argyle Pimps, London’s Slugabed, and Breda, Netherlands’ Coco Bryce.

The first track, “Pop Girl,” with 1000 Names, starts with an aggressive beat and harsh and tense synthesizers before giving way to a gentle and melodic atmosphere. Things glides along peacefully before swirling into frenzy once more before ending. “Rock On,” with Argyle Pimps, takes a late eighties sparse hip hop beat and updates it with more modern European synth lines, giving it a tension and kicking the energy up a notch. The rhymes are fairly generic, though, and as a result don’t really add anything to the track. Things pick up substantially on the second half, first with “Charles Bronson,” featuring Slugabed. The track is full of unrelenting drum hits and layers of synthesizers that continually build upon each other. The best song of the EP comes at the end, “Acid House,” with Coco Bryce, which features some amazing constructions and deconstructions of beats and melodies. I’m not well versed in the skwee/hip hop that’s happening over in Europe, but what I’ve heard is exciting.

If this is EP is an indication of what to expect with the next few volumes, it should be a good series. As with any collection of collaborations, some are going to be stronger than others, but AK Kids prove that their talent will drive the project forward and insure that even at it’s worst, it will still be pretty interesting and entertaining.