those who know the respected irish producer john daly for his bubbly, melodically nuanced house and techno tracks may get thrown off balance by his latest work under the smoke clears handle. while his 2011 release for further, sea level, hinted at his fondness for manuel göttsching/klaus schulze-like kosmische ambience, on listen daly veers off into more introverted and arcane abstraction terrain. the title track kicks off the album on a decidedly downtempo, contemplative note while maintaining dalys knack for understatedly beautiful melodies. it sounds like the best song morr music never released.

the real mayor of brixton aka acclaimed and respected rapper/producer ty returns with his 5th longplayer ‘a work of heart’. produced predominantly and written by ty, this hip-hop classic is a proper artist album that elevates the genre in an ambitiously artistic manner akin to kendrick lamar and kanye west.