Album: Oh No <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

Exodus into Unheard Rhythms, STONES THROW

The younger brother of the chief Stones Throw producer Madlib, Oh No has chosen for this follow-up to his 2004 debut The Disrupt to draw on the little-known output of Galt MacDermot, whose records furnish the grooves and fragments used here. Best known for the Sixties musical Hair, MacDermot later released solo records on his own Kilmarnock label, using legendary jazz-funk players such as drummers Idris Muhammad and Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. The samples bring an individual slant to Oh No's backing tracks, with violins see-sawing behind Aloe Blacc's gospel-tinged plea for mercy "Second Chance", weird woodwind fanfares and harpsichord figures carrying AG's "Low Coastin'", and Moondog-like flute and violin lending a chamber-rap vibe to LMNO's bank-robbery narrative "Hank". Heavy hitters from the conscious-rap fringe such as Poor Righteous Teachers' Wise Intelligent, Cannibal Ox's Vast Aire and De La Soul's Posdnuos lay down reflections on the state of their nation, with the mighty Murs asking, "Am I too dope for mainstream, or not that cool?/ I'm not bitter, I'm just better than these top-ranked fools".

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Black', 'Second Chance', 'No Aire'