Time:Line

Nicolay was just an unknown aspiring Dutch producer before Little Brother's Phonte contacted him after hearing one of his beats on an Okayplayer message board. The pair eventually decided to release an album together as the Foreign Exchange, which sent Nicolay's career into high gear, as he produced tracks for other Justus League members and released a handful of solo albums. It was on one of these, 2006's Here, that Nicolay met (over message boards, again) Houston MC Kevin Jackson, or Kay, featuring him on the track "My Story." The duo worked together so well that they, too, decided to make a full-length, which resulted in this, Time:Line. On the album, Nicolay shows himself to be a producer with a far greater range than what he had previously demonstrated, not neglecting the warm, light '70s soul and jazz sounds that he's used in his other work (the five-track stretch of "The Lights" through "Tight Eyes" is in fact quite reminiscent of Connected), but he focuses his beats around thick horns, electric guitars, and thoughtful keys, the melody itself central in his construction, the songs less verse/hook-oriented, more musical pieces that stretch and glide their way into an entirety, even if the individual parts take different tones. It may be only their first full-length, but Time:Line is a strong showing from both musicians, and promises what could be a very fruitful partnership. -allmusic.com