Onra started his Chinoiseries after taking a trip to Vietnam (land of his grandparents) in 2006. As a hip-hop head and a vinyl junkie, the French beatsmith dug through and discovered "forgotten treasure," which be brought back home and chopped up to create "the perfect soundtrack to any hip-hop head going to South East Asia." The second installment in the series continues where volume 1 left off, with 32 tracks produced on an MPC creating raw, kitsch, romantic, dusty, mysterious, and culturally rich moments. The samples range from obscure vocal snippets to notes and chords created by Asian instruments, and the dusty, crackly grooves the album is built on is unlike any other instrumental hip-hop project. Check out "Ms. Ho," "A New Dynasty," "Gotta Go," "The Arrival," "No Matter What," "Still Broke" and "Where I'm From."

• limit (1) per customer
• black double vinyl pressing
  
• original release year: 2011
• music label: All City Records 2023

reviewed by bar adal 05/2017