HIP-HOP

Latest releases reviewed.

THE ROOTS
Game Theory Def Jam
***

Hip-hop had always shown a lot of love for The Roots, but that has never resulted in a major payday or higher profile for the Philly crew. When label prez Jay-Z decided to bring them into the Def Jam fold last year, hopes were high that they'd finally found a connection who could deliver the audience. The only problem is that this also requires some big-ticket sounds from the act, and that's where The Roots come up short on their seventh album. While there's nothing inherently wrong with Game Theory (in fact, it's tougher and more coherent than 2004's unfocused The Tipping Point), there's very little here to tempt the casual browser or radio programmer away from Fiddy or Kanye. However commendable it is to turn out dark, introspective rhymes such as Clock with No Hands, the heartfelt J Dilla tribute Can't Stop This or a succession of sonically smart grooves, it's not going to budge The Roots from their current status as perpetual under-achievers. www.defjam.com - Jim Carroll

DEEP BURIAL
Black Music Penny Dreadful
****

While Deep Burial have long sought to bring out the John Carpenter in their music, Black Music is the first time you can hear their own distinctly sinister sculptures take shape. Dublin duo George Brennan and Richie Howard have already spent 10 years in the instrumental hip-hop game, producing a number of sporadic releases along the way in an attempt to get all Rza on our asses. Black Music, though, is a huge leap forward, an album strung out on perfectly-pitched hissing soundscapes, shuffling tearaway beats and brilliantly realised ennui of the late-night-in-the-'burbs kind. In Deep Burial's zombie nation, you never know where the next attack will come from, and the likes of Waggot Confetti, 18 West Road and Psychedelic Sewer contain buckets of menace. With nods left, right and centre to such masterly scene-setters as Carpenter and Herrmann, Deep Burial are beginning to really get the hang of putting both blood and gore in the music. www.deepburial.com - Jim Carroll

VARIOUS
Bmore Gutter Music Milkcrate/All City
***

Just as Baltimore has been the setting for the best TV show in recent years (go see The Wire right away), Charm City is also staging a takeover bid for turntables and CD players with its own super-sized brand of dance floor music. B-more club music is sleazy and brash, a clattering, energetic, blurry blend of bare-bones hip-hop and house with much hooting and shouting on top. Long a local delicacy, the success of Spank Rock and attention from Diplo have seen more and more look towards Maryland for fun and games. Here, Aaron LaCrate and Hollertronix's Low Budget round up some bangers and attempt to put a shape on the sound. While there's plenty of dynamite in the boot (a couple of cuts from Spank Rock, in particular, will have you reaching for a copy of the YoYoYoYo album), there's also a sense that B-more club sounds may already have moved onto newer and louder pastures. www.allcitymusic.net - Jim Carroll