Ras G - Brotha From Anotha Planet (2009) (320)

I can't say that I can keep up with all of the beats these days. Seems like everyone and their mom has a Roland MS-1 and a crate full of wacky samples to go with it. But as I recently came into a number of collections of beats, and with the increasing presence of a number of DJs/beatmakers in my current location, I felt a big ups to LA's Ras G was necessary. Not the first or the the last to make afrofuturistic soundscapes and pulses, Ras G nonetheless has a fantastic grip on the genre both musically and in terms of his image: just look at the album cover. The dude is rad.

And so are the beats. Totally atmospheric, confused, drowning in noise and broken, delayed rhythms which take the shattered sounds of original dub into the 21st century, scattered and crashing and swirling around complex concepts about humanity, race, technology, duplication, art, and probably a whole host of other stuff. Unlike many ambient and dubstep musicians, Ras himself is always present behind the plates and samples he uses. You can sometimes hear his fingers slipping or a miscount, but from that imperfection comes a supreme self-awareness. Dysfunction, like dissonance, are part of the contemporary playbook for music like this, where fracture and memory reign in two intersecting arcs which create the heady sphere that Ras produces in. Do yourself a favor and light up a Phillie, put on your nicest pair of headphones, and dim the lights. Go Ras!

Tracklist:

1. Dishwater
2. Earthly Matters
3. Penny's Confession
4. Shinelight
5. Eunice in White
6. Sun Behing The Clouds
7. Astrohood
8. Nothing But hange
9. In Coming
10. Come Down (2 Earth)
11. Desert Fairy
12. Return Form The Great Unknown
13. Alkebulan

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