Akrobatik — “Put Ya Stamp on It” (from Absolute Value)
Boston’s Akrobatik has been in hip-hop long enough to know how to make a hot underground track: spit some decent verses over a Dilla beat and get another high-profiled MC to do the same. On “Put Ya Stamp on It,” Akro’s rhymes about his and his guest’s skills seem a bit empty until Talib Kweli comes in with some (surprisingly?) great bars. “…Should be authentic like the Gucci with the cereal/Number, this rap is fruity like the pebbles in your cereal/Wonder why…/You’re way off if you think I’ll take a day off, this ain’t Ferris Bueller, I’m not Cameron Frye,” which brings the whole song together, and proves Ak’s boasts to be true.
www.myspace.com/therealakrobatik

Kap Bambino — “New Breath” (from Zero Life, Night Vision)
Re-issued material from Europe’s best electro-punk duo. The album actually came out on CD way back in 2006, but it was re-pressed on vinyl by the British label Alt Delete this past month. On “New Breath,” which was also released as a B-side, Caroline Martial yelps and sings forcefully enough to distort her English into something that can’t always be distinguished from a pile of syllables, while keyboardist Orion Bouvier plays bouncing, squeaky lines over the drums and bass. Vive la France!
www.myspace.com/kapbambino

Chessie — “Long Bridge” (from Manifest)
The long-awaited follow-up to 2001’s Overnight, Manifest is a lovely missive that explores ideas of both transience and industry. One of the most striking tracks on the album is “Long Bridge,” a guitar-centered piece that combines indie rock and ambient pop phrases into something simultaneously melodic and abstract. Words are absent (as they are on the entire record), but the instruments themselves have strong enough voices that the meaning is still effortlessly conveyed.
www.myspace.com/chessie