Album review: Shabazz Palaces

For anyone despairing of the future of hip hop — a genre that seems profoundly terrified of innovation — the second album from Seattle duo Shabazz Palaces is reason for optimism.

Dense, mysterious, with grooves that slip in and out of earshot, Lese Majesty is like nothing you have heard before — indeed, it arguably challenges accepted concepts as to what does or does not constitute rap music.