Artist: Evil Nine
Album: You Can Be Special Too
Label: Marine Parade
Release: March 29

After a series of high-profile remixes for the likes of Steve Bug, UNKLE, and Ils, Evil Nine have taken their rough 'n tumble approach to breaks and applied it to a cohesive artist album. The duo's music features meaty, overdriven live bass lines and raw, organic drums that stand out as fresh amid a breakbeat sea of recycled sounds. "Crooked," featuring Aesop Rock, is the album's standout — a hip-house/breaks number blending rapid-fire vocal delivery and menacing synth stabs with big room atmospherics, it's a tune that could work in a sweaty hip-hop backroom, or on one of the world's biggest systems. "Pearl Shot" uses the same formula, with a more standard B-boy delivery over taut breaks and distorted guitar. Though a few of their technology-obsessed samples seem overdone, Evil Nine inject a much-needed dose of rock 'n roll swagger into the mix. (CJN)