Various  
Land of Baboon Vol. 2: The Return of the Illclectic ( Baraka Foundation  

A remarkable achievement on two fronts: finally a collection of electronic-based music incorporating the sounds and instruments of world music without sounding like lame New Age pap; and finally a collection of wax from Brooklyn's illbient scene that transcends a lot of the half-hearted jungle/hip hop/freakout stuff one hears from that genre.  Professor Shehab is the driving force behind the collection and appears on five of the fourteen tracks.  Such self-promotion usually turns me off, but it works here because Shehab turns out quality shit: "Longwalk," a beautiful mix of ambient swirl and hypnotic drumming, and "Nectar," with Captain Kowatchi and J. P. Sluys, which I used on my recent DJ tape.  A little bit trancey, a little bit trippy, some dub here, a nice Arabic jungle there.  This is the perfect tonic for those left ill by DJ Spooky's histrionics.  The label is based on N. 8th Avenue in Williamsburg, so it's always nice to see locals getting props.  The first volume, "Land of Baboon: An Illbient Compilation," also rocks.  Both highly recommended.  

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