Various Artists
Giant Single: The Profile Records Rap Anthology
(Arista Legacy)
It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to hear proto-rap from the early ’80s, when both the art of rhyming and the science of audio production were in their relative infancies. LinnDrum and TR-808 drum machines are used with amateurish glee, and some stuff colors outside the expected lines (1983’s “Beat Bop” credits Jean-Michel Basquiat as producer). In retrospect, you can draw a direct line of ancestry from breakthrough classics like RUN-D.M.C.’s “Sucker M.C.’s” and D.J. Cheese’s “King Kut” to the Beastie Boys’ Ill Communication; a couple of tracks featuring Pebblee-Poo (“A Fly Guy,” “Get Off My Tip!”), who’s often credited as “the first female MC Soloist,” contrast starkly with modern conceptions of a female rapper, projecting more of an indignant, finger-waving Aretha Franklin-type character than a L’il Kim gangsta/dirty-girl image. Needless to say, samples abound. —Tom Sturm
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Zomby
Nothing EP
(4AD)
Though more a collection of leftovers than a step in a new direction, the latest release by one of the U.K.’s leading underground DJs is a well-timed, melodic break in the action. It was originally packaged as a bonus addendum to go with Japanese editions of his previous album, and many tracks continue in that record’s vein with catchy samples and repetitive beats taking up most of the mix. Evocative of the late-’80s hip-hop track “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, opener “Labyrinth” serves as a harbinger of the revival of “jungle music,” a genre that Zomby maintains will be “coming back hard” in as little as five years’ time. While many may point to Nothing‘s largely melancholy tone as a negative, critical listeners are likely to appreciate the disc’s down-tempo nature. —Michael Cimaomo
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Altan
Gleann Nimhe—The Poison Glen
(Compass)
Though the latest from Irish band Altan is, in some minor respects, a mixed bag, it’s got more than its fair share of hard-hitting traditional Irish music. The instrumental works repeatedly reveal a seasoned and adept bunch of players, and they stir up a storm of fiddle-driven reels and even a couple of slip jigs to open the proceedings. The vocal tunes, many in Irish, range from overdone sentimentality (on, thankfully, just a couple of occasions) to aching loveliness. “An Ghaelog,” in particular, resonates with a powerful, melancholy spell woven by singer/fiddler Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh. The band has long been a major force in Irish music, and reliably delivers the real deal—Ni Mhaonaigh is a native speaker of Irish, and is right at home in the tradition. It’s an interesting sidenote that guitarist Daithi Sproule, a renowned performer in his own right, is a former Valley resident. —James Heflin
