My favorite track, “Heaven Up,” with Johanna Phraze and JNatural, certainly reclaims party rap boogie from its early 80s origins, and the blend here of live instruments and seamless samples/synths is not a goddam thing to fucking sneeze at.

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Perhaps it could be argued that the lack of freneticism here is a sign of maturity, an intentional “contrast” to the youthful bombast of old–but perhaps it could also be argued that we’re all going to grow old and die soon enough, so why rush to squeeze even a week’s worth of youth and energy out of life?

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All the beats aren’t just bass lines and box machines–the song “Skinsuit Circuit” has chopped and screwed beats with some 1950s horns, almost like the Family Guy theme song. No comedy here though.

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“Ascension,” “My Refuge” and “New World” definitely give the vibe that if the end were near, you’d better be playing Napolian when the trumpets of heaven begin to sound.

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Michael Nhat’s debut LP sounds more Angelino than Vietnamese, with humorous non-sequiturs, pent-up hostilities, portraits of hipster chicks, and admonitions about werewolves rapped and sung over tracks that sound like they were sampled right out of the air in Filipinotown or the less gentrified parts of Echo Park.

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shea m gauer

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dan monick

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Dan Monick

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Dan Monick

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