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LA-based production ace ABCDEFG arrives with his debut full length, Dominoes & Dice, and creates a composite sound where instrumental hip-hop and porno music meet. When ABC isn’t being redundant or too weird for his own good, the instrumentals tie together neatly. The son of a Pakistani statesman and an Irish-Portuguese opera singer, ABC understands how dichotomous styles can be blended to make something unique and enjoyable. Incorporating piano and strings on ‘Romance’, he finds the perfect guitar loops, and the record gets off to an excellent start. On the slightly over-sampled (and poorly named) Sinatra tribute ‘Frankly’, he tackles the sizable obstacle of remixing a classic (‘Summer Wind’), and winds up with a track that even Ol’ Blue Eyes couldn’t hate. Things are excessively funky on another poorly named track, ‘Funky Shklips’, and annoyingly simplistic on ‘Nasty Chuck’, but overall, Dominoes and Dice is an overwhelming success from an exciting new artist.
