It’s a fool’s errand trying to pinpoint who on the current Stones Throw roster is doing the most praiseworthy job of carrying the Madlib torch, but the hyperprolific knxwledge — whose Bandcamp page discography breaks triple digits — definitely belongs in the same league. Released mere months after his co-production credit for “Momma” on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, his first instrumental full-length Hud Dreems shows a Beat Konducta-caliber ear for the wavier, more hauntological side of jazz-break hip-hop, all melodic sketches that take little time to fully sink in and even less to grab your heart.

– Nate Patrin