Beyond Words, Beyond Luck: Travelin’ Music Vol 3

I guarantee you’re not going to hear an album like this anywhere else. Not possible. Chicago’s Beyond Luck (a core group of Radius, DJ Moppy and Kenny Keys though with many more friends, family and frequent flyers) take a journey through Hip Hop, Trip Hop, Ambient and several genres that haven’t been adequately delineated yet in Travelin’ Music Volume 3, a record that I played until Bandcamp warned me to shell out or shut up.

There are so many moving parts to this record that any thorough review will be as comprehensible as circuit board schematics, so let’s paint in broad brushes. Lailah Reich is a huge revelation to me here – she appears on at least four of the tracks, though “appears” makes it sound a bit lighter than I mean it. Her voice is an instrument and it rises above, sinks below and rises again in harmony with the others. There’s the faded Hip Hop of “Classics” featuring Pugs Atomz and the tantalizing glimpse of an experiment in pure ambient bliss with “Space Journey/Crown Chakra,” which at 2:04 leaves you wanting – even demanding more. And it’s a promise delivered with “B-Boy Traveler’s Guide” featuring Leo 123, which is not nearly as spacey (that bass though…) but gives you some idea of what a pleasant nervous breakdown might sound like, if there could be such a thing.

Though a collection, all of these tracks with all of their moving parts fit together and make this an incredibly delicious listening experience. It’s currently being sold for “$name your price” on Bandcamp and worth twice the price.