Dean Blunt At Juno Download

Review: As one half of Hype Williams, Dean Blunt has been responsible for some of the most smacked out music of recent times, and this solo effort is no different. Unfurling like one long weed-induced fantasy, The Narcissist II is a combination of unsettling instrumentals and bizarrely serene downtempo lounge-pop. The Narcissist II acts as a kind of companion piece to the Hyperdub released collaboration with Inga Copeland, Black Is Beautiful; where that album was defined by Copeland's feminine vocal presence, this EP acts as its masculine reflection. But where previous records has seen Blunt portrayed as a threatening, voice distorted figure, but here, he almost seems sensitive. Yet another layer of misdirection to add to the mystery of Hype Williams.

Review: Previously known for their pioneering and, at times, outstanding work as Hype Williams, Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland change tack with a suitably eclectic and unusual full-length for Hyperdub. Black Is Beautiful is an odd but endearing collection that leaps between sounds, styles and genres almost at will. Opening with a blast of fuzzy jazz-rock, its 15 tracks variously touches on skewed dream-pop, E'd-up downtempo curiosities, wrongspeed electronica, calming ambience, woozy demo-pop, skittering, smacked-out rave rhythyms, droning madness and impossible-to-define strangeness. It could just be the album of the year.