XL レコード& CD

Review: Since turning his hand to music production midway through the last decade, XL Recordings owner Richard Russell has delivered a couple of predictably hard to pigeonhole, guest-packed albums as Everything is Recorded. Russell, of course, has an admirably bulging contacts book and as deep a knowledge of British music - be it hip-hop, grime, rave, jazz, experimental electronica or otherwise - as anyone. The depth of both is naturally evident on third album Temporary, with Russell and a dizzying list of guests delivering atmospheric, sample-rich fusions of head-nodding, hip-hop leaning grooves, field recordings-heavy sample collages, woozy dream pop, sub-heavy nods to UK bass, slow-motion neo-folk, blunted trip-hop, contemporary UK jazz, hazy Americana and much more besides. That it works as a coherent and sonically adventurous album is testament to Russell's increasing skill as a producer and standalone musical artist.