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I’m a bit late to the party here—-although, in this case, it’s probably more of a weird-ass, retro-futuristic, haute-cautureish, all-night fête. D.C. producer Judah‘s latest mixtape, The Amber Rose Instrumentals, is dedicated to the eponymous model with the shaved head, who is best-known as the girlfriend of Kanye West. The mixtape, a quick and cool 14 minutes, is weird, digressive, and occasionally erudite—-a dreamy haze of swooping strings, gentle beats, and sunshiney tra-la-la harmonies. At one point, Judah and his collaborator, the U.K producer Dub MD, weave in a sample from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. At other moments, they come off a little creepy, like in the opening cut, in which a woman named Amber leaves a voice message for Judah. As long as you can get past that hump, you’ll have trouble finding a better musical valentine in 2010.
You can download the mixtape here.