Long-awaited full-length from new york super producer nick hook! The longtime Lab friendo and former East Village Jesus is known for his infamously kitted-out Greenpoint studio that will make any gearhead salivate. For his debut album, he turns to his most prized possessions: his relationships. Who else can get Prefuse 73 on a strip club bubbler, or ILoveMakonnen crooning over a LinnDrum? With a guest list hotter than a bag of Red Hot Riplets, Nick flexes his versatility with Hudson Mohawke, Bulletproof Dolphin, DJ Paypal and more showing up for co-production duties, and fresh-faced MCs Junglepussy, 24Hrs, 21 Savage (who ever thought he’d end up on a piece of vinyl?) and more on vocals. The highlights, for us, are a pair of DJ Rashad features bookending the album. “+3” is very much in the same vein as Rashad’s opus Double Cup, and album closer “The Infinite Loop” (also featuring Deftones frontman Chino Moreno) is a perfectly smoked-out nightcap to the record with some dreamy, White Pony-esque guitar and a few well placed vintage drum & bass samples (we won’t snitch). O.G. Lab homies Spank Rock and Prefuse 73, grime prodigy Novelist and uptown R&B songstress Rahel also turn in excellent contributions. Trap, footwork, mumble rap; love it or hate it, this is what New York sounds like in 2017. Nick peppers the tracks with field recordings of NYC streets for enhanced city vibes. 16 tracks spread over two white colored vinyl LPs, housed in a gatefold sleeve featuring photos and Nick’s handwritten liner notes.

• white colored vinyl
• deluxe double vinyl pressing
• gatefold sleeve
• limited edition
• music label: Fool's Gold Records 2017

reviewed by Ted Drewes 04/2017