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Killer Mike reveals the young Michael
New album: One half of Run The Jewels, the Atlanta rapper and social activist Michael Santiago Render releases a powerful, articulate, and frank autobiographical solo LP, candidly exploring his childhood and more of the other side to his Killer Mike persona
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Hak Baker: Worlds End FM
New album: Vibrant, witty, energetic debut by the east London rapper and musician, presented like a pirate radio station the mixes hip hop and storytelling with echoes of The Streets’ Mike Skinner and Ian Dury, as well more conventional, yet pointed indie about troubled Britain
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McKinley Dixon: Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
New album: A short but poetically vivid and emotionally stirring fourth album by the articulate, flowing Richmond, Virginia rapper and musician, a title inspired by Toni Morrison’s book trilogy, and filled with city-inspired jazz soundscapes and great guest vocalists
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Comfort: What's Bad Enough?
New album: Truly original and arresting cross-genre electronica-postpunk-hip-hop by the Glasgow sibling duo of vocalist and transwoman Natalie and instrumentalist brother Sean McGhee who challenge gender norms and ideas of beauty
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Skinny Pelembe: Hardly The Same Snake
New album: The eclectic experimentalist from Doncaster, aka Doya Beardmore, with roots also in Birmingham and Mozambique, comes up with a powerful, visceral new LP, spanning indie, avant-pop, hip-hop, rock, electronica, gospel and soaring soul
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JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown: Scaring The Hoes
New album: A frenetic, eclectic, mischievously ironic and culture-bashing collaboration between iconoclastic Brooklyn rapper Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, and his Detroit counterpart Daniel Dewan Sewell in a crazed mish-mash of samples, voices and rhythmic restlessness
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Sleaford Mods - UK Grim
New album: Nottingham’s Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn return with another set of, angry, catchy, darkly humorous belters, pulling no punches when it comes to the shambolic state of Tory-led Brexit Britain
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Santigold: Spirituals
New album: Inspired by African-American folk and gospel, this powerful, feverishly intense, emotional fourth LP released in September by the singer-songwriter brings an electric mix of punk, hip-hop, funk, afrobeat, electro-pop, and reggae wrapped in rage, anxiety and reflection
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Little Simz: No Thank You
New album: Released without fanfare like those of the collective Sault’s recent five (with producer also Inflo involved here), a fierce, sharp, set songs, particularly about mental health issues, race and music industry evils by the brilliant London rapper
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AHudson Mohawke: Cry Sugar
New album: A vibrantly energised otherworld, an innovative concoction of experimental electronica, trash-pop to classical, gospel, 70s soul, house and more by the prolific LA-based Glaswegian DJ and producer Ross Birchard in his fourth LP and first for seven years
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Moor Mother’s Jazz Codes
New album: A mesmeric new album that began as poetry book by the American artist Camae Ayewa mixing jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop and spoken word in her own form of Black Quantum Futurism group, her multi-artform fusion of black history ontology
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Nova Twins second album, Supernova
New album: After their pre-lockdown debut, Who Are the Girls?, the London duo of lead vocalist and guitarist Amy Love and bassist Georgia South return with a blisteringly exciting hybrid of punk, heavy rock/metal, hip hop, pop and R&B
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New album: Entrancing third LP by the 29-year-old Catalonian star singer with a voice of huge range, mixing flamenco with reggaeton, hip hop, R&B and lush pop, feminism and food, heartbreak, the staccato with the smooth, and influences from MIA to Niña Pastori and José Mercé
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Dawn FM
New album: Canada’s hugely successful R&B and darkwave artist Abel Makkonen Tesfaye’s new LP is a form of concept - light-themed afterlife through the prism of a fictional radio station that generates inventive smooth and clever 80s-style synth pop and disco
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Dave’s second LP We're All Alone In This Together
New album: Second LP by the much lauded Mercury-winning David Omoregie for his first, Psychodrama, shows his talent for diversity of rap styles through social commentary and relationship themes, comprising R&B, Afrobeat, gospel, electronica and piano-led melancholy
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The American Negro by Adrian Younge
Album review: Weighty but vital, the composer’s spoken-word and soulful album of 26 tracks about the history of racism in America is profound, passionate, powerful and current, as well as harking back to the spirit of Gil Scott-Heron and Marvin Gaye
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The Strokes
Strong new LPs from The Strokes and Laura Marling reflect signs of the times, while eclectic records from Jackie Lynn and Pokey LaFarge, and excellent postpunk from Flat Worms and Irma Vep are also among this week’s 10 picks
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Yves Tumor: mysterious, inventive androgyny
An opulent selection of funk and electronica innovation comes from Yves Tumor and Thundercat, along with Korean artist Yaeji and Berlin’s Minor Science, plus massive metal of Pigs x 7 and beautiful indie and pop by Anna Burch and Ren Harvieu
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Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover
Among this week’s selection is new experimental hip hop by the artist also known as Donald Glover, singer-songwriter Lapsley, Brian Eno collaborating with brother Roger and another duo of two African jazz greats
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Halsey
A mixture of dark and light, hope and hopelessness decorate this week’s huge roundup of releases across many genres, including oddities and eccentricities, passions and playfulness from Emimen to Ivor Cutler, Halsey to Keeley Forsyth
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