Radio AM/FM

by Exile

I thought that Exile's Radio album was one of the best to come out in 2009.  He built the entire album out of  snippets of radio that he sampled, and managed to create an album that was beautiful and haunting.

Now, with Radio AM/FM, we get what is basically a remix project, as a number of different producers and rappers play around with Exile's original work, to put together a nice long (73 minutes) collection of 21 tracks that add to, interpolate from, or build on Exile's original work.

There are no album credits provided beyond what is on the back cover, which names remixes without really crediting the producers in most cases.  The only two producer's names that I clearly recognize on this project are Safiq Husayin (from Sa-Ra) and Clutchy Hopkins.  Some of the other tracks may have been remixed by Exile himself - it's kind of hard to tell. 

In terms of the emcee's who show up, it's a different story.  There are a ton of talented underground artists here, including Exile's old partner Aloe Blacc, and his more recent partners Blu and Fashawn.  We also get verses from Evidence, Krondon, Grouch, Eligh, Alchemist, and Blame One, alongside a few other artists I'm not familiar with.

This is a solid body of work, which, while lacking the vision and coherence of the original album, contains a great deal of diversity and enthusiasm.