Hudson Mohawke – Butter

These are exciting times in the world of underground hip-hop. A new breed of artists have emerged within the recent years, dazzling and confusing the listener with out of sync beats, ethereal synths and obscure (and most definitely copyright infringing) samples. The members of the syndicated musical press have so far struggled to find a fitting genre to cast around these musicians. Phrases like Glitch-hop, Crunk-Step, Instrumental Hip-Hop, even Dubstep have been bandied about, but none of them seem to accurately encapsulate such oft-extreme variations between creators, albums and even separate tracks. Regardless of the lack of a sufficient moniker, this music has been making serious waves in the U.K. and U.S.. American luminaries such as Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, Gaslamp Killer and the all-conquering Glitch Mob are now wooing the ears of British listeners thanks to the sterling efforts of disk jockey extrordinaire Mary Anne Hobbs, and this exposure has allowed some of our own home-grown talent to gain prominence in this eclectic musical movement.Enter Hudson Mohawke. A member of the LuckyMe collective, who have been creating and releasing alternative masterpieces for the best part of 2 years now from the likes of Mike Slott and Rustie, Mr Mohawke has gained a lot of popularity outside of the aforementioned Scottish music collective thanks to a spate of small releases and many internet-only mixes. Warp Records (who have quite possibly the best taste in music since Sub Pop) have since got involved, and Butter is Hudson's first full length-offering on the label. And let me tell you, young and impressionable reader, this album is a crowd-slaying heavyweight in the world of messy hip-hop, and one that would make the true godfather of the scene, Daddy Kev, nod in approval from his studio in the heart of Los Angeles.Hudson Mohawke is a man of many talents. You want a mainstream friendly pop track? Alright, how about the infectious groove of 'The Joy Fantastic', a three-way Prince Vs Outkast Vs Kameo deathmatch featuring the perfectly matched vocals of Olivier Daysoul. Olivier's charming and slightly lazy delivery perfectly complements the botched funk vibes created on “The Joy Fantastic”, and the track “Just Decided”, which crops up just past halfway through the album. But pop won't pave the way for underground success alone, so Hudson has gladly supplied us with many blissful and experimental tracks for us to get our elitist knickers in a twist around. 'Fruit Touch' is a shattered and scattered landscape of vocal cuts, jazz hi-hats and stuttering kick drums. 'Gluetooth' and 'Rising 5' exhibit more of an RJD2-esque instrumental hip-hop flex, showing that not everything in the Glitch-Hop world has to change pace every 5 seconds. 'Velvet Peel' and album closer 'Black n Red' are both simplistic uptempo tracks which are repetitive without ever being boring. These tracks are very unique in style and construction, and are a great weapon in Hudson's arsenal considering most tracks presented by his peers are nearly always set at a slow and ponderous speed. 'Allhot' (featuring Nadsroic)Â is a pounding and dynamic slice of marching music, borrowing a female vocal and using and abusing it to add a Telefon-Tel Aviv style overlay to what is essentially an M.I.A. backing track on amphetamines.As much as this may sound like a cheap journalist trick to cut down on the word count, an album such as this doesn't need a massive track-by-track dissection to transmit its essential brilliance, what it really needs is for as many people to go out and buy the damn record as possible. Butter improves with every listen, and you could spend an age combing through the tracks, finding new and unexpected bits of orchestration that you may have previously ignored or overlooked. This stunning debut establishes Hudson Mohawke as a main player in this new wave of talent, and if you're into this kinda Future-Step/Neo-Crunk style, you need to buy this album on the very day of release, for fear of missing something truly wonderful indeed. Heavily and heartily recommended.