Armand Hammer

• We Buy Diabetic Test Strips [Fat Possum, 2023] B+
• Mercy [Backwoodz Studioz, 2025] B+

Consumer Guide Reviews:

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips [Fat Possum, 2023]
Elucid and Billy Woods gift their specialized world with virtuosic free-form hip hop, beautiful and brilliant in its unduplicable way yet just about devoid of discernible groove or verbal coherence. Like the free jazz of half a century ago, it brims with intelligence and has its moments of wit. But also like the free jazz of that bygone time, it bespeaks a revolution that's mostly in the head. "Woke Up and Asked Siri How I'm Gonna Die" precedes "The Flexible Unreliability of Time & Memory"; "The Gods Must Be Crazy" precedes "Y'All Can't Stand Right Here." Can we really take exception to someone who reports that his "bedtime stories had the kids crying before they got tucked in"? After all, he did tuck them in. B+

Mercy [Backwoodz Studioz, 2025]
As is only mete, this alt-rap duo comprising Billy Woods and Elucid, whose total IQ I'd estimate in the 300 range, prove it by citing such diverse arcana as "Pinochet," "recidivist," "born again," "Lingala," "swastika," and I could go on. Since they prefer smart to catchy by a wide margin, you may well feel obliged to sit there and try to figure out what they're talking about. Which in its various details will constitute a musical pleasure in its own. B+