Hive - Working With Sound (1997/2018)

It's easy to like an album like this. Michael Petrie, full of vim and exquisitely positioned West Coast hip-hop vigor, follows the turntablist summersaults of the likes of DJ Shadow and DJ Cam but breaks away wearing boots of considerably less rambunctious collage aesthetics. Deeply chilled jazz breaks'n'bass if you will. Or better, a game of instrumental Russian roulette spinning, aiming, and firing off minced mini-rhythms with the eye on the bungled (but good) jam instead of the much revered sample. Raw but never overpowering.

Tracklist:
01. Hive - Fallout
02. Hive - Mood Swings (Act I)
03. Hive - Steps Into The Light
04. Hive - Sphaira
05. Hive - Mood Swings (Act II)
06. Hive - A Suspended Greeting
07. Hive - Practice In Stillness
08. Hive - Dreaming Belize
09. Hive - Vaya Con Dios (A Suspended Remix)