A dashing young figure in the Los Angeles underground hip hop scene, Busdriver returns with his latest, Jhelli Beam both smart and smartass, theatrical without being pompous, and, as always, funny as hell. BD's legendarily breath-defying flow teeters precariously on top of samples of classical music, jazz drumming and proggy guitar parts, without ever losing sight of the electronic music that helped define his sound, enthralled fans and stood out from the soggy beats that weighed down much of his contemporaries' work. Sound schizophrenic? It's not. And as usual, Busdriver has some heavy friends to help out: legendary underground battle rapper Nocando guests on a classically witty Busdriver track "Least Favorite Rapper" while Islands' precocious Nick Thorburn's influence can be heard on an almost ELO-flavored song "Happy Insider." The sum of Jhelli Beam's seemingly disparate parts creates a record that is mindfully engaging and booty shaking at the same time - a wholly unique take on what an underground hip-hop album should be.

 

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