The abstract hip-hop duo Armand Hammer / Diena will perform in the forest of sounds

The duo includes rappers ELUCID and Billy Woods (Billy Woods). For their latest record We Buy Diabetic Test Strips edition The Washington Post writes: “Armand Hammer latest album confirms they are true legends of underground rap.” Reviewer Jason Buford (Jayson Buford) comments that the duo’s music is rough and atmospheric, while its main themes are gentrification, commercialization and brutal capitalism. Several tracks in the album were produced by such musicians as JPEGMAFIA, Preservation and groups Run The Jewels member El-P. British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings also participated in the recording (Shabaka Hutchings).

Medium The Guardian calling the same record “an album that deserves your undivided attention” and highlighting rapper Billy Woods’ special status in independent hip-hop. “He’s going through a period of purple royalty right now,” notes journalist Kitty Empire (Kitty Empire). Compliments also go to Steve Chick (Steve Chick) in the publication: “Billy Woods experienced a real culture shock when he returned to the United States from Zimbabwe and spent about twenty years unnoticed by the music world, but has now become the most celebrated underground rapper in the United States.” Woods never reveals his face in press photos and videos.

Woods’ father was an independence fighter in Zimbabwe and served in the first post-independence government, while his mother was a scholar of Jamaican literature. These two streams of influence in the family left a special impression on the rapper and developed a literary talent combined with a sharp, sociopolitically analytical mind. It is not for nothing that Woods found a common language with his colleague ELUCID, whose lyrics range from detailed descriptive to freely associative and dreamy. Medium The New York Times ELUCID described the work as “challenging art rap”.

As ELUCID, Woods regularly releases solo albums: maps, Woods’ collaboration album with producer Kenny Siegal (Kenny Seagal) got into the media last year The Wire Magazine, Pitchfork, Stereogum and Rolling Stone in the lists of the best music records of the year.

Also the duo’s most recent album We Buy Diabetic Test Strips ranked among the best records of the year by media such as Vulture, PopMatters, Crack Magazine and Brooklyn Vegan. Portal The Quietus admits that it “could be a masterpiece” and the medium of music criticism Pitchfork rated it 8.1 out of 10, calling it “moody, restless and shrill” and adding that “intelligence and experience have made ELUCID’s voice raspy”. As always emphasized Armand Hammer struck a balance between ambiguous lyrics and direct social criticism, but keep in mind that these rappers don’t always expect too deep an interpretation of their lyrics. “Sometimes I want to tell people – this song, for example, is about a date I went on, not about the destructive consequences of capitalism and racism,” in an interview The Guardian grins Woods.

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is considered the duo’s most fluid and idiosyncratic album, reinvigorating the term abstract hip-hop. The popular 2021 album can be considered a stark contrast Harammade with the rapper Snoop Dogg and Mobb Deep cooperation partner – producer The Alchemist. It is definitely the most accessible and easy-to-listen album of the duo. Of all six Armand Hammer albums, the album of 2017 can be named as the most successful example of “hard and tough” underground rap Rome.

Armand Hammer have collaborated with artists such as Earl Sweatshirt, Moor Mother, Pink Siifu, Aesop Rock and Quelle Chris.

Armand Hammer will perform on the second evening of the festival – on October 5. It has already been announced that the main guests of the first evening will be the British experimental electronica duo Autechre.

Two-day tickets are available for purchase www.bilesuserviss.lv.

Forest of sounds is a member of the platform dedicated to innovative music SHAPE+ and in the project in tech – both are supported by the European Union.

The festival has also started participating in the network of Northern European experimental music festivals NERD (North European Resonance and Dissonance Society).