Moor Mother

• DIGIPACK EDITION

Camae Ayewa, better known as Moor Mother, has an uncanny ability to inhabit a variety of genres but always seems like she’s born to create whatever project she takes on. Whether it’s free jazz poetry (Circuit City), noise (Fetish Bones), or a good old-fashioned collaborative album (BRASS, with Billy Woods), her discography is a pure delight for any music fan who can’t sit still with one particular style.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air is Ayewa’s relatively accessible take on hip-hop. Granted, this is a complex, dizzying, and challenging piece of work, but the arrangements are so expertly crafted and so tied into a retro-soul feel that the edges are somewhat easy to take. Ayewa is not so much relaxing with this album as she is letting the vibe take her away – and us along with it. So much of Black Encyclopedia of the Air is draped in smooth grooves, rubbery beats, and processed electric pianos; it almost feels like contemporary hip-hop that’s escaped into a time machine circa 1976.

TRACKS:

01. Temporal Control Of Light Echoes
02. Mangrove (feat. Elucid & Antonia Gabriela)
03. Race Function Limited (feat. Brother May)
04. Shekere (feat. Lojii_
05. Vera Hall (feat. Bfly & Orion Sun)
06. Obsidian (feat. Pink Siifu)
07. Iso Fonk
08. Rogue Waves
09. Made A Circle (feat. Nappy Nina & Maassai & Antonia Gabriela & Orion Sun)
10. Tarot (feat. Yatta & Dudu Kouate)
11. Nighthawk Of Time (feat. Black Quantum Futurism)
12. Zami
13. Clock Fight (feat. Elaine Mitchner & Dudu Kouate)