That Sparkly Hour

Shabazz Palaces “A Treatease Dedicated to the Avian Airess from North East Nubis (1000 Questions, 1 Answer)”

If you want to cut straight to the emotional center of this song, advance to 0:38 for the “oooooo weee” at the start of a new verse. You only hear that digitally processed swoon once in the piece, but it sets the tone for the lovestruck banter through the rest of the track. The song perfectly captures the feeling of trying to balance a desire to come off cool and suave with this geeky, enthusiastic urge to just ask a million questions because you’re so fascinated and enchanted by someone that you just want to know everything, and every little detail is exciting and interesting. Their mystique is alluring, but you still want to get beyond it. I love the way the music floats around in a relaxed haze, but gets grounded by the bass when his language becomes more assertive and decisive. Then there’s the questions, spilling out and fading into infinity: “What’chu reading?” “Did you see City of God?” “Do you fuck with Kobe or LeBron?,” et cetera…

Buy it from Amazon.

See Also: I interviewed Shabazz Palaces for Rolling Stone.