4. Equiknoxx Music, Bird Sound Power (DDS)
Equiknoxx Music are the production team been behind some of the most progressive dancehall riddims of the last decade, and Spice’s brilliantly sleazy 2010 hit “Jim Screechy.” On their first full-length album, Gavin Blair and Bobby Blackbird took things all of the way left, with an LP full of wacky, off-the-wall instrumentals with track titles like “A Rabbit Spoke To Me When I Woke Up” and “I Really Want To Write On Her Purple Wall.” It’s not for everybody, in fact it’s probably too weird for most, but Bird Sound Power is one of the most stupefyingly original projects to come out of the dancehall sphere in a long time. — Jesse Serwer