Though the music and image is pretty electro, there's a definite twinge of hip-hop about him which isn't there with his peers. It comes through in his flows more often, sometimes pushing for a rap hook almost ironically, other times calling and responding with his own frantic self. His lyrics, though, are far from typical of the average West-Coast rapper: he prefers cryptic introspection and emotional exploration to bigging himself up and would sooner rap about being given a pair of Canadian gloves than bitches and bling.

His voice has a strange quality to it. It veers dangerously close to the deliberately white-boy, geekcore MC sound a couple of times, but there's something about it that always keeps it from being just that. Maybe he's wary of the dangers of being an MC Chris soundalike; maybe he's too conscious of avoiding inevitable Beastie Boys comparisons; maybe he's just pushing his own sound and not thinking too much about it.

The beats here are pretty typical electro in a way, but are tainted by the West-Coast legacy of Troof's home state, California, at the same time. Analogue synths are everywhere, with drum machine snares and claps and that barely-defined waumping bass drum sound laying the foundations for percussion. But listen to that floating, rising synth at the start of 'Two Hour Bruise'. It's 'Fuck Wit Dre Day' all over, and, once again, everyone's invited. That's really the fault-line this album lies on: it's either doing a weird angularly laid out electro or a weirder still exiled hip-hop without slipping too comfortably into either.

One of the most interesting things about 'Islands of Ayle' are its spots. Guests from Xiu Xiu, High Places, and No Age crop up across the LP, marking out Hawnay Troof's position more in a general American underground scene than in specific electro or hip-hop niches. And that's an important part of his sound too, distanced from rap, and to an extent from electro, his music takes on an outsider quality, perhaps making it sound a little insincere, but at the same time adding a degree of individuality that others lack.

I doubt 'Islands of Ayle' will do much for hip-hoppers and maybe the awkward structures might turn off a few electro-poppers, but they aren't his crowd. It's a summer album released a few months too late. Reveling in relaxation and care-free weeks, it doesn't fit the rainy October vibe. I suppose it's hard for Hawnay Troof to empathise with that, living in Oakland, CA and taking 20 month tours of the world probably affects your perspective on when to chill out.