Billboard — Jacksonville, Fla., is Skynyrd country first and foremost, but it’s also produced Astronautalis, easily the city’s best Chris Martin-resembling avant-garde white battle MC who has rhymed about visiting doughnut shops with Tupac and his aspirations to be “the Van Morrison of this rap shit.” Astronautalis dribbles out syrupy, folky monologues over dreamily melodic beats that couldn’t be further from traditional hip-hop if he was actually a Van Zant. His third record, “Pomegranate,” is full of minimalist epics like “Secrets of the Undersea Bell” that would be way closer to indie rock if it wasn’t for the splashy sounds being uncorked behind Astronautalis’ often hypnotic drone (augmented by producer Congleton, late of Modest Mouse and Polyphonic Spree). A surprisingly strong, melodic curio from one of the last places you might look for it.
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