Black Up Sub Pop*****

Ishmael Butler has been a man for high-flying boho concepts since his time with hip-hop free spirits Digable Planets back in the 1990s. Now as Palaceer Lazaro, he leads Seattle weirdbeard collective Shabazz Palaces on their quest to add space-age, avant-garde, jazzy shizzle and shine to the space between the notes. While Black Upwill remind you in places of the lucid sonic daydreams of Flying Lotus, the difference is the heft of band leader Butler's freestyle poetry. His stream-of-consciousness flow is deep and wide enough to have time for pop cultural motifs, urban activism and Afrocentric mythicism (the former at the core of the brilliant Swerve). As the unconventional, exotic and otherworldy sounds bubble and beguile throughout, it's clear that Shabazz Palaces have set their controls for an entirely other dimension. See shabazzpalaces.com

Download tracks: Swerve, Recollections of the Wraith, Are You… Can You… Were You?