Latest CD release reviewed

ALOE BLACC
Shine Through Stones Throw ****

Hip-hop's footnotes record Aloe Blacc's MC apprenticeship alongside Exile in Emanon, but his current throw of the dice has landed in far more noteworthy terrain. Shine Through dazzles at every turn, an album where the all-singing multi-instrumentalist turns on the style in the widest and deepest sense imaginable. There is much to admire in the Panama-born, southern California-reared dude's ability to mine the weirder side of his influences, be it tripping out on some sunny folky vibes, cutting a cheery Latin groove or rethreading Sam Cooke's A Long Time Coming as a piece of psych-soul. There's a lovely dig-out from Madlib on One Inna, while Blacc can dine out for some time to come on the funky strutting of Dance for Life. This is what summer in the city probably sounds like in your head. www.stonesthrow.com