Shabazz Palaces

Quickly following last year’s hypnotic collaborative EP ‘Robed in Rareness’, ‘Exotic Birds of Prey’ follows a similar path, with Ishmael Butler extending the invitation to THEESatisfaction’s Stas THEE Boss, Seattle’s OCnotes, Lavarr the Starr, Cobra Coil, Purple Tape Nate and Irene Barber.

More downcast than its predecessor, ‘Exotic Birds of Prey’ continues Butler’s timeline-melting rap inquisition. He dissolves Moog-y, Clinton-esque funk squelches in ethereal wails on the plodding lead single ‘Angela’, cutting urgent documentary samples with Irene Barber’s sugary vocals, before Stas THEE Boss takes over in the final third. ‘Goat Me’ is even more convincing, a slow, spacy answer to Timbaland’s ‘Supa Dupa Fly’ beatwork, that’s dotted with Cobra Coil’s icy assertions. And on ‘Well Known Nobody’, Butler pivots completely, jamming jagged punk-ish guitars over nippy, Outkast-style clatters and OCnotes’ mic-blasted words.

‘Synth Dirt’ gives us a moment to breathe, riffing on NPR broadcasts, before ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ retreats back to rap’s early years, a ‘Planet Rock’-style electro melter that’s disrupted by metallic clanks and technoid thuds.