Sixtoo

Montreal’s hip-hop treasure Sixtoo seems to be dropping jewels so often that it’s hard to keep up with his fury of mass-production. Antagonist Survival Kit comes at us just after he gave us his best-to-date, Duration, and hit shelves just before he’s due to release his first effort for Ninja Tune. You would think this amount of overwhelming product would weaken the producer over time but upon listening to his blends of subtle guitar-laced beats to electronic flurries, slowing down doesn’t seem to be the case. Though not as amazing as Duration, ASK still has some fantastic moments including the 19-minute musical fury that lies within "The Mile-End Art Bike/Suicide Machine.” This epic number almost acts as a sequel to his previous release as Sixtoo takes you on a similar journey though instrumental hip-hop that touches on gorgeous snare drums accompanied by various pulsating noises, electronic keys, and even crickets chirping. Antagonist Survival Kit also marks the return of Sixtoo picking up the mic to spit lyrical knowledge on the majority of the record, which is something that he’s started straying away from, even though highly skilled at. Though after hearing how advanced his production skills are rapidly increasing in quality on this effort, you can’t help but get very excited for his experimentation and desire to create instrumental hip-hop bliss.