A beer, a bowl, and a beat is all Paris Zax needs to take you to soundtrackville. But this ain‘t no blockbuster he‘s scoring (though he‘s got skills like Spielberg); we‘re talking a smoke-filled screen and an anamorphic-lensed classic. His noir notions were evident on his early work for Cal Arts student films, but the native Los Angeleno quickly found fans among the indigenous hip-hop scene, providing jazzy soundscapes for the likes of Busdriver, Blackbird, and The Shapeshifters. Paris is ready for his close-up and Unpath‘d Waters is easily one of the best instrumental hip-hop/downtempo albums of the year.