#221

& this new Crimeapple too

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#222

Ooof - what a day. I downloaded Haram yesterday (pre-ordered on Bandcamp so didn’t feel bad). I love it already. Last track (Stonefruit) is lovely. This is not an Alchemist Type Beat album at all. He is on fire at the moment.

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#223

Loved it on first listen, sounds like a great melding of minds to me. In fact, my first impression was actually it was a very Alchemisty album – though what exactly is an Alchemist Type Beat is becoming harder and harder to pin down between this and Alfredo. He defs meets AH halfway and delivers beats that sound like tracks they’d pick for their LPs regardless, go off in some left field/abstract directions, while delivering plenty of trademark Alchemist sounds. Falling Out of the Sky and Stonefruit immediately stand out as two of the best things I’ve heard so far this year. Gonna be on repeat all weekend

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#224

I’ve never given CRIMEAPPLE a proper listen. I’ve heard a few tracks here and there, but no full lengths. Worth checking out?

#225

I’ve not listened to the new one yet, but if you’re going to give him a listen I’d start with Aguardiente (produced by Big Ghost) & Wet Dirt (produced by DJ Skizz).

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#226

I really like Jaguar on Palisade from last year. Fifty Six is :cold_face:

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#227

Apparently Alchemist hadn’t heard of Armand Hammer until Earl introduced him to them last year :sweat_smile:

Edit: Interview in GQ (for some reason)

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#228

What an evolution.

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#229

Ha, yeah! If we’re talking about the beats he made his name off, he’s operating on a completely different plane now for sure. Really impressed at the range he’s shown over the past couple of years in particular, but he’s been going from strength to strength since… that first Prodigy collab even

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#230

Ah I presumed the beat was an early production of his too… Still, same holds true for his late 90s/early 00s stuff

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#231

Spot on. have listened through twice now and these were my immediate thoughts.

A mark of how good Alc is as a producer that you can still hear his sound (the chopped layered vocal samples, the deep bass lines), but this still sounds like an Armand Hammer album.

I feel like he hasn’t always been good at that. Back in the early 2010s one of the few issues I had with Alc was that he would make these amazing soundscapes which sometimes overpowered or didn’t suit the MC. Between this, Alfredo and Price of Tea in China I think he’s mastered it now. Guess it’s also a mark of how good woods and Elucid are that they can work on these beats. they’re some of the weirdest Alc has produced imo (the Indian Summer and Chicarrones beats are just crazy)

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#232

GQ is The Source now…

Great interview tbf. Paul Thompson is a really good writer and he’s been hyping Armand Hammer for years

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#233

Which Prodigy collab do you mean? Return of the Mac? Or had they done a whole album before with just his beats?

#234

Yeah, just meant Return of the Mac as opposed to Albert Einstein.

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#235

Ah ok. Thought that’s what you meant. That is such an underrated album. It’s not perfect by any means, but I feel like it set the stage for Marcberg and all that followed it

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#236

Quite amazing that Armand Hammer have gone and released the best hip-hop record of the year, two years in a row.

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#237

It’ll take something special to top it. Probably too soon right now, but we should definitely rank their albums after this has had a while to sink in.

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#238
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#239

Word. (maybe)

Dunno but Paraffin > Shrines

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#240

So very, very hard to rank. Think I might even prefer Rome to both of those. Those August Fanon and Messiah Musics beats, plus a Mach Hommy feature… Confused Larry David.gif

1 Like