In Brief

Eerie slices of urban paranoia fill B-Real’s Cypress Hill spinoff. Not only do B and crew skip Cypress’ notorious pot fixation, but in “Confessions of a Drug Addict” they give a vivid, cautionary account of chemical dependency. The sonic sculptures--with samples from such unlikely sources as silly symphonist Leroy Anderson and bandleader Paul Whiteman--craft haunting tones and edgy raps into an at-times gripping hip-hop cycle.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good), four stars (excellent).

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Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: https://www.latimes.com/soundclips