Low in the Sky

'Akron, Ohio's Low in the Sky succeed in the electronic/instrumental hip-hop realm because they aren't trying to be groundbreaking, and they have no inclination to do so. Dear Birds boasts no thematic threads, maverick home studio fuckery, big name guests or cinematic intros, outros or segues. There's not a gimmick to be found here -- it's just a collection of twelve four minute songs that exist as ends unto themselves, and though its premise is none too exhilarating, its results are -- and then some.