2009: album of the year

Can only be:

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles.

The future of hip-hop, right here. Loose beats, growling bass, gorgeous samples, nods to both Stone’s Throw and Jackson – this was a huge coup d’etat for Warp. Last year I called Steinski the Kurt Vonnegut of hip-hop; Flying Lotus is thusly the genre’s Phillip K. Dick.

Honorable mentions to: Zoe Keating – Natoma, Two Fingers – Two Fingers, Alvin Curran – Inner Cities I, Bullion – Pet Sounds In The Key Of Dee