North Luna is the latest release from Bad Taste foundation stones Trellion and Sniff. Trellion has been somewhat prolific these last few years with countless releases including three short experimental projects they dubbed “dumb-scapes”, each released with a raw DIY video, not to mention ‘A-Street Cartel’ and a bunch of collaborations with label mates like Third Person Lurkin, Morriarchi & Darkstorm.

Sniff hasn’t been sat around either; 2010′s ‘Die Squirrel Die’, 2012′s ‘A-Street Cartel’ the three ‘Dumb-Scapes’, a solo project in the works with Morriarchi as well as producing the majority of beats on their releases plus outside production collabs.. these guys aren’t fucking around.

“North Luna” is cold, icy almost, and the only warmth comes in the form of a blissful opiate glow that flows through the album. Trellion and Sniff’s music is so familiar, yet at the same time completely unique. It’s like nothing you’ve ever heard before, yet everything you love about classic Hip Hop.

Trellion is a self-proclaimed ‘Wielder of the Realness’ and Sniff is a Trellion-proclaimed ‘Walking Dumb Machine’. I’m inclined to agree. There is something very genuine about these guy’s abilities; they don’t try, they just do, and do well. This isn’t Sheffield music, it’s not UK music… it’s barely earth music. It’s as vivid as a cartoon and more animated… but in slo-mo and grainy monochrome. Close your eyes and you are where they say you are.. you might not want to be there though.

The albums has three producers; Sniff for the most part, Trellion on a few tracks as well as some great contributions from Smoots. But you really wouldn’t know, it all fits together incredibly well. It sounds as though it were made in an arctic substation during some kind of terrible incident. But these guys were inside, oblivious, pushing buttons, turning dials and formulating “Dumb”.

MC collabs are kept at a minimum. Bad Taste resident Figment does his thing on “Switch Nortical” but it’s on track 16′s “Le Chambre” that things get really interesting: grime MC Rawkid features on a 70BMP Sniff loop and the result is something that sounds genuinely new.