Artist: Paul White
Album: The Strange Dreams of Paul White (2009)
Track: “Burnt By The Sun”
Buy: iTunes // Amazon

If I were to rank the albums on my Best of 2009 list, this would be firmly in the top five. Maybe top three. Hell, this could be the one.

Rundown: Paul White runs One-Handed Music, based in London and home to a favorite artist of mine, Bullion. These producers are at the top of the first generation A.D. (After Dilla), taking Donuts-style A.D.D. sampling to a different level. But to be honest, I was a bit blind to Paul White at first, mostly because Bullion was that good. There couldn’t be two producers of his caliber on a such a small imprint. Only One Can Win, right?

Wrong. At 38-minutes and 21 tracks long, The Strange Dreams Of Paul White is a non-stop, front-to-end masterpiece. Lord knows how many different sources were used. “Flying Across Tokyo” is has an otherworldy vibe which flows into head-thumping “The Uprising Of The Insane,” a track you wish would go on forever while your favorite MC tore it to shreds. “Time Wars” gets into electro territory. I can just imagine a raucous crowd hearing the alien nature of “City Bright Lights” for the first time going, “OOOOHHHHHH!!!”

“Burnt By The Sun” is another head-bouncer and relatively epic in length, clocking in at over two-minutes. “Sugar Free Airlines” brings the funk. “Surfing Off The Coast Of Mexico” sounds exactly like should. The main single from the album, “The Punch Drummer,” is like a deliberate march with echo-y female vocals in the background, while White channels his inner-Madlib on “Sleeping Clapping.” “Let Your Imagination Go” somehow sounds like G-Funk. The grand finale is exhilerating, led by layers of overdubbed organs. As quirky samples cut in and out and the song fades out, you think, “Did that really just happen?”

It’s not a dream. It’s that good.

Tracklist:

01. Cheese Special And A Draw
02. Flying Across Tokyo
03. The Uprising Of The Insane
04. Time Wars
05. City Bright Lights
06. Alien Nature
07. One Eye Open
08. The Composers’ Comeback
09. Burnt By The Sun
10. Waiting For Time
11. Sugar Free Airlines
12. Floating Free
13. Looking Out To See
14. Surfing Off The Coast Of Mexico
15. The Magic Tunetop
16. Road Rage
17. Sea Life
18. The Punch Drummer
19. Sleeping Clapping
20. Let Your Imagination Go
21. Can’t Sleep Make Music