Album Review: Golden Ticket by Golden Rules

Hip-hop has become more of a mainstay in popular music than ever. In a world where even past game-runners are at least occasionally releasing the self-serving, pop synth-shellacked single, it seems like more than just a blessing when an act comes roaring through with a return to the scene’s storytelling roots. Golden Rules is just that, the unlikely brainchild of Paul White, a South London producer, and Eric Biddines, a Floridian rapper who’d first gotten his start on music listening to copious amounts of Motown before becoming influenced by Southern hip-hop in his teens.

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Paul White is a world-class producer of psychedelic hip hop, and someone whose projects are never predictable. Following his amazing jazz-fusion LP on R&S, White now turns his hand to smooth, blues-heavy grooves, with some help from Florida rapper, singer and producer Eric Biddines.It's pretty damned flawless stuff: the mixture of wah-wah and slide guitars, southern-fried horns, lazy grooves full of trippy details and Biddines's treacly vocals all make for a rich, saucy listen with an undercurrent of darkness, but there's enough life-affirming sizzle to just keep on giving. This is a hot, sweaty but very beautiful dream of a record.Check out one of the tracks from this album below.

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You know about the big releases each week, but what about the smaller albums which may have passed underneath your radar? We’ve rounded up five of the best new album releases from this week, from the Titus Andronicus’ five-act epic to the power-pop of EZTV: don’t miss out..

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