Looking back more than four years later at Haram, it is easier to see the forest for

the trees. At the time, much of the attention fell on how this outsider duo would fare

under the bright lights- which was fair, Armand Hammer had never done a single

producer record before- and here they were working with a living legend. Now,

with a little distance, it's easier to see how Alchemist stepped out of his comfort

zone to meet them where they were, and how all three artists then absconded for

parts unknown. The flashbulb energy of "Bring The Stars Out", asymmetric drone

of "Chicharrones", fugue-bounce of "God's Feet", and good luck finding analogues

for "Peppertree" or "Stonefruit". Haram doesn't sound like anything else in the

ALC discography, nor in Armand Hammer's, for that matter. Haram was a one-

shot kill that somehow contained some of the most accessible work ELUCID and

billy woods had ever done, as well as some of their most experimental, and it all

sounded cohesive.

Needless to say, they didn't do this alone; KAYANA's golden voice upps the

wattage on "Black Sunlight," while Fielded's sultry alto gets chopped and screwed

on "Aubergine". Earl Sweatshirt's cameo on the sun-soaked "Falling Out the Sky"

is already a classic. Curly Castro, Amani, and Quelle Chris all turn up the heat when

called upon.

But since we are talking about retrospect here, the thing about Haram isn't that it

still sounds as good as it did when it came out. The amazing thing is that it actually

sounds even better than it did then. You don't have to take our word for it either, run

it up one time, with the lights low and something on ice, see if it doesn't take you

somewhere new, again.