Search - Nobody, Elvin Estela, Freestyle Fellowship :: Soulmates

Soulmates is a wondrous beat orchestra culled from the oddest of sources. Los Angeles' Nobody sidesteps the funk/soul paradigm of today's hip-hop productions, outfitting his solo debut instead with otherworldly jazz bits, space rock, and lifted guitar psychedelica. Nobody's music, like DJ Shadow's, is heavily layered and rooted in the obscure. As a folksy, sleepy alternative to Shadow's Endtroducing, Soulmates collects and assembles diverse sounds that seem like they were born to be together. The amazing "Green Means" builds steadily from a hypnotic acoustic guitar arpeggio into a heavy storm of crashing cymbals and backwards loops; teetering drums and shrill feedback accompany Freestyle Fellowship on the underground hit "Planets Ain't Aligned." Even though Angeleno hip-hop legends Fellowship, Medusa, and Abstract Rude show up to lend rhymes, their appearances almost distract from Nobody's slavishly intricate, hypnotic productions. --Hua Hsu