Araabmuzik

The “MVP of the MPC” drum machine is back with another album of hard-hitting, if not slightly uncharacteristic hip-hop beats. Having proved that he can pull a beat out of everything from metal licks to traditional Turkish music to White Stripes songs, Araabmuzik (aka Abraham Orellana) takes on perhaps his loftiest challenge yet: piecing an entire album together out of otherwise cheesy trance and Euro-house samples. Those already familiar with the Tao of Araabmuzik should not shy away: the Providence, RI, native still goes hard with the same kick-heavy percussion and sleight-of-hand skills on the drum machine that caught the attention of YouTube users, and subsequently Diplomatic Records, in the first place. But casual listeners be warned, as this album deftly and defiantly crosses genres that have been at odds practically since the advent of sampling — certainly an anomaly considering “Electronic Dream” is the first commercially available album by Araabmuzik. Despite some flaws with abrupt, inharmonic transitions between tracks, it’s not hard to perceive the underlying “dream” aspect of the album: that all forms of electronic music may some day live in peace and accord. Thanks to the uncanny ear of this young hip-hop producer, the miscegenation of electronic music may not be such a distant dream anymore.