FREDDIE GIBBS Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Freddie Gibbs and Madlib's hard hitting sophomore album Bandana has proven a real hit over the last five months. Now though, many fans get what they have been waiting for; an instrumental version that pairs things back to the essential beats. It makes for a record that covers plenty of grind - from sunny day and feel good instrumentals to much rawer, harder hitting beast that arm with attitude even without the explicit vocal deliveries. Plenty of the soulful samples remain in situ to help colour things and make this such a characterful record.

Review: Five years after their collaborative debut, Madlib and Freddie Gibbs reconvene for a follow up that goes even deeper. Madlib is of course a celebrated producer who has worked with some of the best in the game, and Gibbs is a raw street rapper, so it is the differences as much as the similarities between the two that make this such a compelling listen. At times complex and challenging, at others effortless and charming, it's an album stuffed with a myriad of different sounds, styles and references that is hard to categorise but easy to admire.