Records of Last Week: Lady Sovereign and Filastine

Lady Sovereign – "Jigsaw" [Midget]

Hilarious electro "midget" rap album by a *just slightly* grown up Lady Sov. Plenty of catchy tunes and fuzzy bass on tracks like “I got you dancing” and the Britpop-ish "Student Union". "Food Fight" serves up some Kool Keith/MF Doom -caliber foodie sleaze (kinda yucky but funny). Hear Sov sing on “Jigsaw." She's now on her own label after leaving Jay-Z's Def Jam. Skeptics may say that she's taken on an MIA sound. It's true, maybe, but Lady SOV still raps like no other little person's business, and I'm pretty into it.

Micropop Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5 *s)


Filastine “Dirty Bomb” [Soot/Post World Industries]

Percussionist/producer/mixologist Grey Filastine (Barcelona) loves to sample. Not afraid to experiment, Filistine juxtaposes bits of Bollywood, dubstep, hip hop, Middle Eastern electronica, Balkan Brass, flamenco guitar, old radio broadcasts and more to make a mean polyrhythmic universe. Tracks like “Marxa” and “Bitrate Sneers” call for insurrection from the dancehall. Filastine is politcal, but he doesn't preach to you, and he uses musical appropriation to bring listeners and dancers together like a good commrade.

Micropop Rating: *** (out of 5*s)