This Seattle duo’s second LP finds its home on the indie rock mecca, Sub Pop, where hip-hop releases are particularly rare. You may recognize the voice of Palaceer Lazaro aka “Butterfly” from the earlier hip-hop ensemble, Digable Planets––which proves to be a more coherent project than Palaces’ veritable black hole of syrupy production and minimalist, industrial beats. Lazaro’s verses blend heady musings of unexpected three-syllables (“resplendent,” “oligarch,” “sepulcher”) with an overly overdubbed vocal. The LP is peppered with arbitrary but welcomed vocal interjections from R&B project, THEESatisfaction. Not easy to listen to, but you’ll be glad you did. – Ted Jamison
Score: 7 out of 10
