Joe Buhdha Presents Klashnekoff, Lionheart: Tussle With the Beast

Every year dawns with glimmers of new hope for British hip-hop, only for nothing much to happen. Nothing, that is, apart from the occasional dazzling album, which this year came from East Londoner Darren "Klashnekoff" Kandler. After early singles and a cracking mixtape, Kandler's full-length collaboration with Nottingham producer Richard "Joe Buhdha" Douglas marked his coming of age. Every track bristles with musical invention, from Sayonara's Happy Mondays-tinged big beat pugilism to Bun Dem's steel pan samples. And Klash makes sure that whenever he opens his mouth he's not wasting anyone's time, whether skewering the gun-crime monomania that bedevils Britain's urban music on The Revolution (Will Not Be Televised on Channel U) or effortlessly melding UK rap, grime and ragga vocal techniques on Refuse to Die. Exceptional.