50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1

30. The Antlers – Familiars

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Stream: “Intruders” (5:25)

By now, everyone knows what to expect from a record by The Antlers, and Familiars sees the American indie rock/dream pop outfit choosing not to buck that trend by tunneling even deeper into the niche that they’ve been carving for themselves since 2006’s Uprooted. That being said, if results continue to be as good as this, few will complain. “Palace”, Familiars‘ opening track and lead single, is a ringing endorsement of the band’s default setting, with its multifaceted arrangements and striking lyrical play (“Now he hangs your mirrors separately/So one can’t show you what the other reflects,” whispers vocalist Peter Silberman at one point) finding a precise balance between melancholy and erstwhile nostalgia. Elsewhere, “Intruders” is a masterclass of the dramatic musical narrative: “Well this is my house/So fuck your doubts and your cute battalion,” intones Silberman poisonously over a bed of swelling strings. For a group of artists who have always specialized in the art of being subtle, these are a couple of surprisingly loud statements of intent, and only serve to bode well for the future. –Irving Tan

29. Mekong Delta – In a Mirror Darkly

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Stream: “The Armageddon Machine” (6:38)

When Germany’s Mekong Delta were reactivated in 2005, metal fans with a serious penchant for essential tech metal rejoiced, as the band were a major player in the field during the ’80s and up until the mid ’90s. Lurking Fear made a hell of an entrance back in 2007, but the follow-up album, Wanderer at the Edge of Time, somewhat blurred the picture. In what may be regarded as an action to ameliorate the situation, band mastermind Ralph Hubert “coached” the newly assembled Mekong Delta line-up through the band’s “’80s to ’90s” legacy material in the Intersections compilation. The fruits of the said deliberation are readily available in this year’s affair In a Mirror Darkly, where the mind-bending tech thrash metal of the ’80s meets progressive rock and classical music, on par with the excellent Mekong Delta albums that appeared during the not-so-distant ’90s. –Voivod

28. Shabazz Palaces – Lese Majesty

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Stream: “Down in Luxor” (3:57)

I get lost about ten minutes into Shabazz Palaces’ second album. The beginning suite of Lese Majesty is fairly structured – its inner architecture of its three songs is clearly defined, but the feeling they give off is cloudy and vaporous, the whole thing an aural equivalent to a funhouse filled with smoke and mirrors. “Solemn Spells” marks the moment this phase meets its end, catapulting the album into an enumeration of abstract ideas – few of them pass the three-minute mark. An album like this doesn’t stand out much for its erratic structure in a genre like hip hop, especially after Madvillainy made the idea as acceptable as it is today. But Black Up was a much more clearly defined album, and that supreme leap makes Shabazz Palaces even more of a fascinating group. While I may get less out of listening to Lese Majesty all the way through, I can tell it’s clearly an album Shabazz Palaces needed to make. And if anything, the ambitious aesthetics of this record promise that this group – former Digable Planets member Ishmael Butler and accompanying multi-instrumentalist Tendai Maraire – is going someplace special with their own take on this thing we call rap. –Jacob Royal

27. Grouper – Ruins

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Stream: “Clearing” (4:41)

Pain is an indelible part of life. It’s normal to feel completely shattered, as if you’ve been broken into so many pieces that you could never possibly be whole again. If you’re lucky, you’ll only feel this way a few times – but for those moments, there’s Ruins. This album plays like a musical still frame, as if all of Liz Harris’ melancholy got bottled up into a singular moment in time. When she doesn’t sound entirely consumed by the rawness of her emotions, she seems to be full of thought and wonder…like someone who is trying to come to terms with what they’re experiencing because they can’t fathom its sheer magnitude. The oddest thing about all of this is that amid the soft melodies and haunting classical piano, it’s often barely even enough to break the silence. There’s this palpable, empty room sort of tension…like you’re just waiting for Harris to lose her shit and completely break down, but she never does. It’s a testament to both her skills as a musician and her self-control as a human being. Perhaps Ruins had no choice but to be minimal because there’s no tangible way to express the pain that lies within. It’s an emotionally acerbic record whose blade has been purposely dulled, perhaps for our own protection. –SowingSeason

26. Spoon – They Want My Soul

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Stream: “Rainy Taxi” (3:58)

Experiencing the new Spoon record is a bit like waking up and finding out that an old friend whom you haven’t seen since grade school has just turned up unannounced on your doorstep. Four years can be a fairly long time in rock and roll, but furious exchanges of emotions, accolades, and the unexpected resuscitation of long-dormant memories have a certain way of making entire periods of quiescence disappear in an instant. But while some of the more assiduous lyrical spelunkers among us will note that several lines on They Want My Soul could easily be read as a satirical take on the band’s decision to return from their self-imposed sabbatical (“I got nothing I want to say to ’em/They got nothing left that I want!” is definitely the first to spring to mind), it should also be noted that the American rock outfit have never hidden their desire to always be the ones in charge of their destiny. Indeed, as our very own Rudy K noted in his similarly excellent review, “The only narrative Spoon own is the one they create themselves.” And so it goes: They Want My Soul resolutely refuses to be an immediately engaging and direct listen, but once the record hits home – and believe me it will – the rewards start to flow thick and fast. Songs like “Knock Knock Knock” and “They Want My Soul” are the sort of gnarly, irreverent, and abrasive yet totally human compositions that fans of Spoon will know and love, while the pacey “Rainy Taxi” is probably one of the best songs anyone has put out this year. Ignore this album at your own peril. –Irving Tan

25. Swans – To Be Kind

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Stream: “Oxygen” (7:59)

Since The Seer was such a landmark in Swans’ career, the follow-up was highly sought after by every fan and music critic around the world. Michael Gira & Co. released such a massive and blistering work, there was no turning back. Instead, they were stimulated to stretch out even more than before. Still, To Be Kind is a completely different entity that, even though it shares the same mesmerizing riffs, it rarely bursts into the hellish noise that characterized a vast majority of The Seer. Here we have sick grooves, moody segments and more subdued layers of instruments which help create a constantly tensed atmosphere. Gira’s vocals range from faint whispers to demented screams, pushing the twisted tunes further into oblivion. “Just A Little Boy”, “Oxygen”, or “Screen Shot” are the best examples of really good, hypnotizing melodies that let the vocals take them to a whole different level.

Although a very demanding record, To Be Kind feels quite airy and relies on a lot of improvisation. Maintaining what seems to be the most exciting line-up in Swans’ history, Gira keeps exploring new territories with very unexpected yet amazing results. There’s an entire world to immerse in here and you’ll enjoy every second of it. –Raul Stanciu

24. Todd Terje – It’s Album Time

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Stream: “Strandbar” (4:28)

2014 was a banner year for the thinking person’s electronic music. Inigo Kennedy, Answer Code Request, Aphex Twin, Andy Stott, Gesolten Cirkel and Lee Gamble made penetrating, dense records that challenged listeners as much as they got feet moving. But when considering records that truly have staying power, it was the most fun record that won out in a landslide. That record is It’s Album Time. Todd Terje’s minimalist nu-disco was exactly what every party needed — from midnight apartment ragers to big budget festival stages. His leisure suit approach to Studio 54’s glory days, Terje took everything that failed on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and flipped it into a rousing success of throwback dance grooves. Every track on It’s Album Time resonated with a beautiful unremembered nostalgia (the best kind of nostalgia for hip kid twenty- and thirty-somethings by the way!) for the cocaine dusted floors of the ’70s. With It’s Album Time, Todd Terje took dance music’s most indulgent era and turned it into an indulgence for modern ears. –Adam Thomas

23. Jessie Ware – Tough Love

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Stream: “Want Your Feeling” (4:21)

On “Say You Love Me,” Jessie Ware takes on the hammiest, cheesiest song she’s ever had in her catalog, complete with a gospel choir and a call and response final chorus that ascends and ascends to the presumable conclusion of Ware marching on the gates of heaven and casting them asunder with the power of her voice. It’s a really good fucking song! Yet it succeeds because Ware is able to sell it so well: when she belts, “I want to feel burning flame when you say my name,” the syllables bending under her passion, the “you” almost furious in its punch, the heat is palpable. Where 2012’s Devotion was a slow burn, finding more insidious ways to sneak past your emotional defenses and destroy you, Tough Love fits its namesake: it smashes through the doors and torches everything to the ground.

It’s a testament to Ware’s versatility and her flawless curating skills that “Say You Love Me,” the most traditional song here, is far and away the outlier with respect to the rest of Tough Love. As an album, Tough Love is very much a statement from an artist growing comfortable in her own skin, and confident in her own power. The bubbling sensuality of “Sweetest Song” takes equal bites from the xx and Sade; “Pieces” swoops and soars over gloriously dramatic, cinematic strings, while “Kind Of…Sometimes…Maybe” takes that same rising and diving melody and turns it inwards, falling into a delicious 8-bit sex jam that unfurls languid and drowsy over a few cups of wine. That’s not even getting into the resistance-is-futile beat of “Want Your Feeling,” a vein-tapping bit of nu-disco that worms not into your ear but your spine. Tough Love is the kind of juicy, multifaceted pop record that pulls from a tastefully diverse selection of producers and writers yet never overshadows the voice at its center – mainly because Ware refuses to let anything of the sort happen. Like the relationships Ware has become better and better at coloring in, Tough Love is messy and true, emotionally naked and unflinching in its portraits. Despite all this, one spin of the record makes it clear the title is a winking one: there wasn’t an easier listen all year. –Rudy K.

22. Darkspace – Dark Space III I

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Stream: “Darkspace 4.20 (Edit)” (6:59)

III I is unlike any album Darkspace has ever made. That is not to say that the cacophony of swirling guitars, drums, and vocals are suddenly absent from their sound, but instead it is as if Darkspace decided to take an already detached, atmospheric sound to a level even further removed from the personal attitude a lot of music decides to embrace. III I is so huge, so indescribably massive that it makes listeners feel utterly insignificant; no longer an active participant in what is going on but rather just along for the ride as a silent observer to a cosmic performance that is beyond understanding, let alone control. So Darkspace have always been, but the increased use of spacey keyboards lingering in the background helps to realize a certain attitude that the unrelenting ferocity of their past work could not quite achieve. Still present are the raging chords and endless tremolo-picked riffs that string the three 18-plus minute tracks together amidst several stretches of bleak, piercing ambiance, and still prevalent is the abrasive production, but underneath it all there is a breakthrough. It is as if the swirling black hole that Darkspace have woven over the years has finally spun us helplessly down to the singularity, and all III I is here to do is to help us peek through the door at what lies beyond what we cannot see or comprehend. –Kyle Ward

21. Insomnium – Shadows of the Dying Sun

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Stream: “While We Sleep” (6:20)

Despite its apocalyptic title, Shadows of the Dying Sun is anything but submissive. The lyrics on the title track may proclaim that we’re nothing more than shadows, destined to fade away into nothingness, but not before reminding us that we’re also “vessels for a surging power” and “glimmers of hope against a black sky.” Expressing a firm onwards and upwards ideal throughout, you can find plenty of motivational lines littered across the entire album, backed by powerful, constantly surging music. As expected, Shadows of the Dying Sun is thoroughly new-school Insomnium, lacking the moody doominess found on the band’s earlier records, instead featuring a higher paced, sweeping melodic death metal sound (just as on the preceding One For Sorrow). It’s a sound the band absolutely owns though, proving they are plain great at composing music, regardless of which tempo or stylistic approach they opt for.

There is a more unified theme running throughout this particular Insomnium album, weaving every song into a creative whole whilst retaining their individual playability, which is the real cherry on top. Shadows of the Dying Sun starts as strong as it finishes, featuring all the important aesthetics that make melodic metal as good as it is in between. Ambition paired with emotion, musical integrity intertwined with accessibility. Unlike the lyrics sung on the eponymous title track, the album doesn’t grow tall and fade away; it grows tall, and maintains its presence for and during repeated listenings. Not only does it challenge us to be the best we can be this very moment via its lyrics, Shadows of the Dying Sun is a fantastic piece of heavy music even when all underlying ideas are brushed aside and only the sounds themselves are left to do the talking. But you don’t want, and you definitely don’t need to exclude the lyrics, or the ideas present to prove a point, since everything on Insomnium’s sixth full-length album works exactly as it is supposed to, in unison – no deductions or inclusions are necessary, for Shadows of the Dying Sun is a skyscraping record written to weather the passing of both seasons and generations, until all that’s left are indeed shadows. –Magnus Altküla

20. Spectral Lore – III

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Stream: “The Spiral Fountain” (10:46)

It is without doubt that Spectral Lore has crafted a magnum opus with III, a record which rises above the unwavering nihilism that takes root deep in the core of black metal’s very identity. Instead, the record is an artistic expression of the evolution of meaning and human worth in the minds of those who seek it, rising above the pessimistic roar that the guitars blast us with at the record’s beginning and into the synthetic instrumental closer “Cosmic Significance” that personifies spiritual awakening through a massive electronic buildup that unleashes its energy into a swirling mass of harmonious guitar riffs. III is a double LP that takes us on a journey between those extremes – pessimism and optimism, a life of no meaning and a life of pure meaning. The progressive black metal that Spectral Lore’s mastermind Ayloss wrote to drive the weight of the album’s concept is full of complex, weaving compositions that seek to drive us from the dark beginnings to the harmonious end. III’s mood shifts distinctly with each passing song, and by the time the last three tracks erupt the guitars are churning out tremolo-picked melodies in volume, with each one being more breathtaking than the last, creating pieces that are in constant evolution and yet completely devoid of self-indulgent pretentiousness. III is a record that is more than just black metal, more than just another collection of tracks meant to simply entertain us – it is music that, during its many benign moments, makes you think and, during its thundering heaviness and clawing buildups, makes you feel. Each song in and of itself is brilliant, and when taken together as a single cohesive, progressing unit there is just no other way to put it: III is Spectral Lore’s masterwork, and without doubt one of the crowning conceptual achievements of the black metal genre. –Kyle Ward

19. Have a Nice Life – The Unnatural World

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18. St. Vincent – St. Vincent

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Stream: “Digital Witness” (3:22)

St. Vincent’s fourth album may also be the best one yet. Annie Clark, who operates under the aforementioned moniker, had already delivered three consecutive winners in Marry Me, Actor, and Strange Mercy. Her eponymous fourth release is the culmination of seven years’ worth of traversing the more artistic realms of pop, which means that sometimes it can sound downright wacky. I mean, what kind of album doesn’t discuss rattlesnakes and masturbation? Her off-the-wall lyricism is matched by the vibrant and unpredictable nature of her music. Throughout St. Vincent, there is this abrupt, borderline panicky progression that is constantly unstable yet never chaotic. Just listen to the way that “Huey Newton” does a complete one-eighty from lush balladry to reverberated, distorted cynicism. It’s not like the song gradually evolves or builds to a logical transition, but it’s still perfect in a way that only the talented Clark (and her producer) could pull off. “Digital Witness” is an even more obvious case-in-point, highlighting St. Vincent‘s flavor for punchy, off-beat rhythms while throwing in an unexpectedly heavy horn presence that ends up being the life of the party. It’s unlike anything you’ll listen to this year, and while it is undoubtedly one of the better songs on the record, it still doesn’t overshadow this collection of risky, artsy pop tunes. Even the more predictable moments are wholly satisfying, like the 1980s-splashed “Severed Crossed Fingers”. Moments like these prove that St. Vincent also possesses depth and unraveling beauty. Even though Clark yanks us around from time to time with unprecedented tempo shifts and stylistic changes, there’s this fundamental level of vocal skill and artistic prowess that allows her to make fully grounded, human sounding tracks as well. It’s this blend of future-leaning, unpredictable cynicism and down-to-earth poignancy that makes St. Vincent the new measuring stick by which we will judge all future Annie Clark compositions. –Taylor Swift’s Paramour

17. Musk Ox – Woodfall

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Stream: “Part II: Windswept” (10:44)

Instrumental neofolk is a perilous game. Much like having to act a Shakespearian drama without so much as uttering a single phrase, the kind of epic sought by Nathanaël Larochette must inspire through movement and speak without words. The story told by the strings is a melancholy one, but it is often the saddest tales that invoke the most emotions within us, and indeed this is the case with Woodfall. Until now, Musk Ox has been a bit of an enigma, a work of obvious passion for Larochette that up to the release of Woodfall felt as if it were tugging at the heels of something much larger than the project’s current state. The balance of the compositions on Woodfall and the way in which they show precise ebb and flow makes the more amateurish iterations of Musk Ox’s string-driven arrangements seem like another band entirely, for it is on Woodfall that an identity is found, and that is not just a reference to the band and its mastermind. There is a world to discover in the harrowing movements of the record, and between the nylon-strung acoustic guitars thumbing their peaceful rhythms there are bold violins to wrench at the heart, while at the same time inspiring hope as they clash against the moroseness of the bellowing cello.

At its core, Woodfall is an entirely human piece; a place comforting to all because it conveys emotions that are true and are real to each and every one of us. From its storming beginning to its blissful end, the record is a story of the human condition – not in the macro use of the word, but in the way it reflects on the microcosms that are our own individual lives. That is how this kind of instrumental folk speaks: subconsciously, to our own hearts and our own minds, because within the rising buildups or the simple, warm plucking of the guitar Musk Ox is something different to each and every listener. It is because of the fact that we are to rely on a voiceless soundscape to conjure atmosphere that we find ourselves projecting our own voice onto this canvas, making the record uniquely our own. More than any other neofolk record of the past few years, I feel that Woodfall achieves this exceedingly rare quality, one that not only tells the story that Nathanaël Larochette is giving us, but allows us to tell our own. –Kyle Ward

16. Behemoth – The Satanist

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Stream: “Messe Noire” (4:05)

With the advances in modern medicine and society’s instant gratification complex, I often wonder if many people have ever given credence to confronting their own mortality. For Behemoth’s Nergal, a leukemia diagnosis in 2010 might have been a death knell in more ways than one, so for The Satanist to see the light of day is an astonishing achievement. The record is the Polish blackened death metal band’s tenth full offering and first since Nergal’s terrifying health scare, and he does not sound weak or tired: Nergal is as sinister and caustic as we would expect, lashing out against conforming to societal protocol in a powerfully vivid manner. The album’s production is masterfully crafted; of note, Orion’s bass rumble – especially in the album’s latter half – is stunning. Truthfully, it’s as if there wasn’t a half-decade gap in between studio albums.

What makes The Satanist most appealing is how the band have veered back to their black metal roots from the ’90s, with some death metal embellishments added to the mix (whereas, in contrast, the scales were previously tilting more towards death metal with black metal flourishes — an important distinction). This is arguably as hard a left turn as Behemoth could make given their progession and discography, and it’s an emphatic success. Throughout The Satanist, the atmosphere is almost operatic in nature, even when juxtaposed with crushing riffs in songs like “Amen”, “Oro Pro Nobis Lucifer”, and “Furor Divinus”. The album’s bookends – especially closer “O Father O Satan O Sun”, where the record definitively reaches its zenith – are superbly arranged. My favorite track is “Messe Noire”, highlighted by the album’s most ferocious solo, but The Satanist‘s unrestrained emotion and musicianship makes this record as welcome a “return to form” as any for Behemoth. The DVD accompaniment, containing a 70-minute concert filmed in Russia and a “making-of” featurette, is a satisfying bonus. Recommended: “Messe Noire”, “O God O Satan O Sun”, “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer”. –Jom

15. Gates – Bloom & Breathe

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Stream: “Persist in Delusion” (3:39)

Thrice disciples, come hither. Post-rock fans, gather ’round. This Gates debut, elegantly titled Bloom and Breathe, seamlessly welds together the passionate, purpose-driven vocal style of a singer like Dustin Kensrue with the beautiful flow and grace of a band like Maybeshewill. In fact, there’s songs on Bloom and Breathe that could have easily fit in on Major/Minor or Fair Youth – which is a high compliment in itself. However, Gates proves to be more versatile than either of those bands, combining aspects of post-hardcore and post-rock with their own unique brand of stunning production – which somehow manages to be gritty and wholly accessible at the same time. Lead vocalist Kevin Dye fades in and out of the forefront, knowing when to deliver a loud, knock-out chorus as well as exactly when to fall back and essentially become another instrument. The atmosphere, which is full of sparkling, pristine guitar work and ambient pianos, subtly underscore Dye’s aggressive edge. The contrast allows tracks to glide into one another smoothly and effortlessly, serving to build towards the sweeping, powerful climaxes that are every bit of what you’d expect from a seasoned post-rock band. It’s perfect songwriting, basically, and when you inject it with a high dose of vision and creativity like Gates does here, it’s easy to see why it is resting so comfortably within our top twenty albums of the year. –SowingSeason

14. Ben Frost – A U R O R A

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Stream: “Venter” (6:45)

Nearly 7 months on from its release, Ben Frost’s A U R O R A still hangs over 2014 like some mystical monolithic object. Propulsive, moody, drenched in sweat – its sound is the collision of giant objects pulled towards their demise by the weight of their own gravity. In Frost’s own words he “created a monster“. And A U R O R A is exactly that – a lumbering behemoth, full of sound and fury. Conceived in intense heat yet raised in the empty vastness of space, there’s been few albums this year that have exerted such an influence, provided such a visceral and violent exercise in dictated chaos as this. It doesn’t aim for the jugular so much as it preys upon our own innate fear of the unknown, twisting the inherent dread into jagged blasts of noise and sweltering crescendos of bludgeoning percussion. A U R O R A will be remembered for a number of things, but perhaps its truly lasting testament will be its prestigious achievement in sound design. Utterly foreign and vividly unpredictable, Ben Frost’s latest is a masterclass in suspense and foreboding uneasiness. –Deviant.

13. Kimbra – The Golden Echo

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Stream: “Carolina” (4:13)

How do you feel about “ambitious” art-pop? Sounds horrible, no? Contrived? Disingenuous? Mismatched ideas? Disjointed themes? Haphazard, half-baked hooks? The funny thing about ambition is that it’s inevitably constrained by unforeseen limitations of expression (vis-a-vis connecting with an audience): limitations that, by their very existence, handicap ambition to a certain degree.

I am not going to argue that these are not valid criticisms to put forth when discussing popular music (although I will confess that I hate reading them). I’m also not going to say that I don’t understand these sorts of things being flung at Kimbra’s The Golden Echo, a beautiful fucking tornado of mismatched ideas.

The Golden Echo is an asteroid. It’s what we call a global killer. Nothing short of an extinction level event. If the viscera of pop is a tightly-crafted mixture of attitude, musicianship, and marketing, then this album is unapologetically not a pop album. It is an experience in genre-bending, ’90s-throwback, teen heat. Whatever the opposite of “an exercise in restraint” is, The Golden Echo is it. It makes it abundantly clear that, every now and then, a bit of overkill goes a long way. –The Academy

12. Banks – Goddess

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Stream: “This is What It Feels Like” (5:02)

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Stream: “Brain” (4:42)

I discovered Banks the same way I discover all cool music: she was playing on the TVs at a Target I had stopped into to buy some Diet Dew. This had to be fate, too, because it was only by chance that I was even in the electronics section, chasing after my four-year-old cousin. Like somebody flipped a switch, I found myself locked in a trance that I could not vibe myself out of. I watched until the promo ended and immediately bought the album (from Amazon, on my phone). By this point, my cousin had fully unboxed a Captain America toy shield that shot little Nerf darts, so I bought that, too (full disclosure: totally worth it).

Goddess is the kind of album that just bleeds into your life. You hear the title track playing in an overpriced NoHo bar. Your new roommate is playing “Beggin’ for Thread” when you first meet her, and you demonstrate that you know the song and dig the album, but pretend to not know every word (although you do) while you also struggle to not seem out of breath from carrying your bags up six flights of stairs.

Goddess, if you listen to it enough (and I have) begins to refashion the people you meet and the places you go into rapid rushes of blood here and there. The record is undoubtedly one of the strongest debuts in recent years. Powerfully balanced between attitude and vulnerability, Banks stretches her legs comfortably in the realm between R&B, downtempo, and trip-hop, and she does so with the poise of someone who has been making music for decades. –The Academy

11. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Pinata

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Stream: “Thuggin'” (3:46)

Just over a month ago Freddie Gibbs got shot at, possibly by Dipset adherents who caught feelings when Freddie questioned Jim Jones’ gangsta a couple days before the shooting on social media. Two of his crew caught slugs and were transported to ebola hotbed Bellevue Hospital in New York, but Gibbs walked away unscathed. And when questioned about it, Freddie Gibbs unflinchingly did as Freddie Gibbs does: he steeled his mug and compared himself to Tupac.

Stylistically, Gibbs is every bit a disciple of the school of Pac, sometimes invoking the poetic candor (“Deeper”) that his idol mastered, and oftentimes detailing, through a frigid, deadened sneer the evils that have toughened his streetwise psyche. His flows are immaculate and charismatic, his vicious honesty remarkable, and his gruff voice is right at home atop the Beat Konducta’s lush and jazzy backdrops. “Uno” sees Gibbs at his most acrobatic atop Madlib’s haunting, desolate back alley atmosphere. “Real” finds Freddie, fangs bared, spitting noxious slurs at former boss Young Jeezy (he ends the fuckin’ song by calling himself ‘Snowman Killer’), and “Thuggin'”, a bona fide heater, ranks among the many apotheoses of gangsta rap. Cocaine Piñata was never going to be Madvillainy Pt. II, and in time it may prove to be a modern day classic in its own right, but for now it’s merely an electrifying achievement in rap, a paragon of hip hop among the languor of MadGibbs’ peers. –Aziz

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