| After releasing material on Scott Herren's East Dev label, Hefty, and Money Studies (holler!), the homey Eliot Lipp is back with his latest full length of eclectic electronic beats. To me, "The Outside" is Eliot's most mature and focused and release to date. He skillfully blurs the lines between hip-hop, electro, downtempo and IDM - lacing you with luscious synths (dude has serious skills when it come to that MS-20), tough drums, carefully placed ambience (a lot of which sounds like the streets of NYC), and real heart-felt musicality which can be hard to find on most "beat" albums. The title track(1) pretty much sums up the vibe of the whole album, but take a listen to the sweet electro groove of "Beyond The City(2)," the heavy old school boom bap on "Baby Talk(3)," the airy balearic mood of "7 Mile Tunnel (4)," and the ill, Marvin-sampling "See What It's About(5)." Also peep the all-synth (no beat) closer "It's Time To Leave(6)"... gives me the rare feeling of Phil Collins "Feel It In The Air." Seriously nice work my dude. 12 tracks in all. - Turntable Lab |
