Lost (Director's Cut)

Any hip-hop album that samples a classic Rolling Stones album track from Between the Buttons within its first five seconds has something going for it, and Cool Calm Pete's debut is a trippy blend of incredibly obscure samples, found dialogue, loosey-goosey beats that never break a sweat, and often-amusing lyrics delivered in an offhand style somewhere between Kanye West's peculiarly off-kilter rhythms and Mike Skinner's conversational casualness. The Korean-born rapper/producer claims to get most of his riffs from all-but-unknown Asian soul and funk records from the '60s and '70s, and indeed, there's a particularly retro quality to these mellow settings, with easy listening piano and fusiony flutes. ("Cloudy" even features interludes of Portishead-style distorted female vocals, perhaps in homage to a band that sounds like a clear influence.) The intelligent lyrics manage to work in obscure references and in-jokes without sounding stilted or exclusionary, and Cool Calm Pete's remarkable ability as a producer puts across even the few tracks that aren't up to lyrical scratch. An impressive solo debut from the former Babbletron member, Lost is one of 2005's best underground hip-hop releases. ~ Stewart Mason