Genius/Gza: "Liquid Swords"

Geffen GED24813 (55 wins)

Dial-a-track: 1201

We begin 1996 with four albums which slipped through the review net in the closing stages of 1995. Genius is the latest Wu Tang clansman to strike a solo chord and raise the industrious Staten Island collective's profile. When the slamming Enter The WuTang opened the batting, few could have predicted that this would set off a new East Coast rap sensation to rival Sugarhill or Def Jam. But as Method Man, Dirty Ol Bastard and Rackwon have showed on their solo outings, there are more than enough ideas and drum loops to go around.

As usual, the other Wu Tang suspects are present and correct on liquid Swords to give the chess obsessed Genius a hand - RZA, in particular producing a fifth killer album in 18 months. With a large catalogue of gangster, kung fu and B movie dialogue in use, Genius' sharp and flowing raps are naturally quite cinematic, creating some vivid sketches on route Tales of kids having their legs cut to hide drugs and drug lords planning drops from planes would belong more to Clockers or Mean Streets than your normal rap by numbers album, but Liquid Swords could never be so discounted. With the Wu Tang shop now open for business in New York and the Clan expected to tour Europe later this year, you will hear much more from this crew in the months to come.

Nightmares on Wax: "Smokers Delight"

Warp WarpCD36 (74 mins)

Dial-a-track: 1311

Hypnotic and slack, George Evelyn's second album as Nightmares On Wax is an exacting, deeply satisfying affair. If the first NOW album, A World OF Science put the funk into electro, Smokers Delight is music for lounging a soundtrack for sofas if you will sit back, light up and unwind as Evelyn builds a thoroughly modern retro album, borrowing from the past to create a fast forward sound. Unlike other instrumental alt.hip.hop affairs this album has soul, spirit and heart aplenty.

That's probably due to his sources. Like the jazzy Wagon Christ, Evelyn is not averse to seeing what obscure 1970s jazz funk albums have to offer in the beats department. He can also work off soundtracks (Mission Venice has a Herbie Hancock in Blow Up feel to it), Motown (the splendid string orchestrations of Nights Introlude) and even Emlio Morricone (Rise). Unlike the work of other abstract ambient smokers, Evelyn realists that extra large albums require chunky beats as well as snazzy effects. We can see what he has to offer as a DJ when he plays the Mean Fiddler on January 19th.

DJ hood: "A Recipe For Disaster"

Ninja Tune ZENCD20 (71 mins)

Dial-a-track: 1421

This particular collaboration between Coldcut's Matt Black and Jonathan More and hip hop DO Patrick Carpenter has reached its sixth instalment. What began as a collection of DJ friendly breaks, loops and sampling for mixing, remixing and producing has now grown up into something of a legend. As jazzy hiphop albums go (and with Latin, dub techno, ambient and even some drum 'n bass also on the menu), DJ hood is now more of a fully fledged album artist than a compiler of mere breakbeats.

As a la carte restaurants go this is one of the better ones in town.

Sufi: "Life's Rising"

Virgin Ambt9 (45 mins)

Dial-a-track: 1531

Chill out music for a long bath, Life's Rising is soothing, calming and extra mild. If you're looking for beats per minute, you'll have to go elsewhere because this one barely flickers on the meter. Consisting of Rudy Tambala (from experimental spacerockers AR Kane), his sister Margaret and onetime Cocteau Twin drummer Benny di Massa, Sufi have been seducing and beguiling listeners for many months with this perfectly pastoral affair.

A sparkling cocktail of delicate songs where Margaret's jazzy purr paints lazy sketches all over the canvas, it's an album to bliss out with. The beats are located well below the surface leaving gentle flamenco guitars, burbling synths and those gooey vocals to leave an impression on immaculate, intimate, crafted songs like Desert Flower and Lover. Ambient with a vision, Life's Rising never falls into the trap of being too smart for its own good. The cover, too, is a work of genius.