Kabanjak – Tree of Mystery

As one half of German production duo Ancient Astronauts, Kabanjak's credentials are well established; that Tree Of Mystery deals in soulful hip-hop should come as no major revelation. Sticking to a rustic instrumental diet of Rhodes keys, live drums, kalimba, melodica and crate dug sounds, the album acts as a How To for deftly blending samples with live instrumentation.

A slew of guests find Kabanjak's organic soundscapes a suitable venue for their various crafts: Azeem adds his conscious, backpacker lyrics to the flute-heavy Rhythm, and Sitali and Rykarda Parasol combine vocal skills on the robust R&B cut Don't Worry, while Canadian DMC champ DJ Brace keeps the scratches coming throughout. Overall Tree Of Mystery fits somewhere between the laidback vibes found on Bonobo's Days To Come and the jazz-hop of Edinburgh's sadly defunct Livesciences. Not entirely original, perhaps, but executed with a panache that many imitators can only dream of. [Martin Skivington]