Lukid

Lukid's fourth full-length record, out on Werk Discs and Ninja Tune, triumphs with distinctive compositional and rhythmic verve; it's a Technicolor mission statement, an attempt to quantify synaesthesia, slipping into a pool of parts that line up in twisted conjunction. Lonely at the Top touches down halfway between its centerpieces ("Bless My Heart," "USSR" and the title track) and a variety of beat collages and interludes ("Manchester," "Tomorrow" and "Laroche"). Lukid (née Luke Blair) is the most focused he's been, hammering home a borderline schizophrenic eclecticism in this latest distillation of the Lukid sound. Lonely at the Top is career defining, a concerted, highly concentrated and listenable effort. Pivoting well on the angles of an informed, avant-electronic curatorial touch, Lonely's arresting edge is balanced with the recurring viscous haze and hissing fog of tape compression. Oddly accessible and intriguing in its damaged form, Lonely is much bolder than the MOR, left-field beat music one might initially believe it would be.