Height Keech is a producer/multi-instrumentalist and self-described rapper/talk-singer from Baltimore who has been putting out music for over fifteen years. Just last fall, he teamed up with Philly emcee Ialive to release the excellent album, Timewave Zero. Now he comes back with a proper solo album, Computer Rocker.

One of the most interesting aspects of Computer Rocker is the way in which it defies easy categorization. There have been producers who sampled garage rock before, but I can’t think of one who found this sweet spot between just actually writing and recording some garage rock and making hip hop beats by sampling garage rock. At one point, you might feel like this is more of a rock album, and then at other points, you’ll feel like this is definitely a hip hop album, and then other points, you’ll throw up your hands and say, “I don’t know!” Once you get over this hump though, you can start to enjoy this album for what it is, which is a really energetic, fun, and inventive album. The album opens with the title track, which builds off some post-punk guitar and big floor tom hits that come together to form a party-rocker that sounds like a long lost cousin to LCD Soundsystem. Keech doesn’t stay in one place, though, and he comes right back with “Zen on Ten,” which goes in a more traditional hip hop direction, building off a really short guitar riff and funky drums that are looped in such a way that I’m reminded of DJ Premier. As the album unfolds, Keech just keeps finding these nooks and crannies in between all of these subgenres, ping ponging between reference points that go from blues to punk to dance to hip hop and back again. My particular favorite is “Hell World’s Here,” which builds around this great horn riff and vocal hook, as Keech finally answers the question, “What would it sound like if someone turned King Kahn and the Shrines into a hip hop song?” As talented as he is as a producer, he’s just as entertaining on the mic, where he can move from rocking the crowd to moments of quiet introspection. As a lyricist, he tends towards abstract, but you can usually read between the lines and pick up on the subject matter, whether if he’s mad about institutions in our country, or he’s talking about personal relationships, technology, or anything else. All it really does is make his songs more malleable, and you can relate to them on the level that you find the connection.

Computer Rocker is absolutely one of the most unique albums you’ll here this year. Height Keech is talented, to be sure, but what makes him really successful is the ways in which he takes risks and doesn’t feel beholden to the rules of genre as he’s composing. The result is a sound that is extremely fun to listen to and all his own.