A masterful later album by the Beastie Boys – who always preferred to put out a great record every five or six years, than a sub par album every 2 or 3! All these years after Paul's Boutique, when the world of difficult, expensive sample clearance could've kill the layers of pop pastiche sound bites that made P's B such a brilliant statement, the soul and funk samples are still piled on in abundance on this one (albeit with a more electro studio built backdrop), as are the block rockin' party rhymes – even if the tone is serious and strident in spots. There are no attempts at live funky jazz or punk rock this time – this may be the Beasties' most classifiable hip hop album in decades. Add it to that ever growing list of good-to-great albums by aging artists who were coaxed back into the game in part by their feelings about post 9/11 politics. Tracks include the great throwback single "Ch-Check It Out", "Right Right Now Now", "3 The Hard Way", "It Takes Time To Build", "Rhyme The Rhyme Well", "Hey F**k You", "Triple Trouble", "Oh Word?", "That's It That's All", "All Lifestyles", "Shazam!", "An Open Letter To NYC" and more. CD

A massive batch of instrumentals from J Dilla – one that strongly transcends the wordless hip hop genre – and perhaps his rawest, and most adventurous listening experience yet! The loopy soul samples, rich synth/electronic shine, and thumping bass and soul beats that Dilla largely made his name on are laced throughout, but he also takes things a step into stranger territory – with spacey elements that buzz as much as they groove! The cuts never less than soulful and funky, and never steps into Madlib's brand of the weeded out style, either. We love how raw this all feels, too! It's easily identifiable as the work of Jay Dee, but at the same time wholly unpredictable! One of the better Stone's Throw hip hop efforts in a while – instrumental or vocal! 31 pieces in all: "Donuts (Intro & Outro)", "Workinonit", "Waves", "Light My Fire", "People", "Mash", "Airworks", "Lightworks", "Stepson Of The Clapper", "One Eleven", "Don't Cry", "Geek Down", "Thunder", "Gobstopper", "Walkinonit", "U-Love", "Last Donut Of The Night" and more. CD

Pick any 10 words out of any Outkast album description on our pages at random, and you'll see how dearly we've loved these boys throughout the years – but truth be told, deep down we didn't think that they would be able to pull off the double album/solo album project(s). We were seriously wrong – Speakerboxxx/Love Below is HUGE in every way, and both halves are great all the way through! If you were worried Big Boi's Speakerboxxx half would be lazy southern hip hop without Andre's freaky presence throughout, you can put those fears to rest right now. Speakerboxxx is a deeply soulful electro hopping pounder from front to back – every bit as innovative as Andre's half! Tracks include "Ghettomusick" (which features one of just two appearances by A3000 on the whole disc), "Bowtie" with Sleepy Brown, "Bust" with Killer Mike, "Church", "Tomb Of The Boom" with Konkrete, Big Gipp and Ludacris, "Flip Flop" with Jay-Z, "The Way You Move" and more. A lot of press has been given to the assumption that Andre 3000 has largely forsaken hip hop on his half (The Love Below) and has instead dived head first into cosmic future funk. Well, the rumors are true. There's lots of straight up jazz piano and horn bits on the Love Below, with Andre's half serious, half tongue-in-cheek romantic soul cabaret croon way over the top. It's steeped in the classic Outkast party vibe, but with lots of Sign Of The Times-era Prince (complete with androgynous distorted vocals), Parliament and Cameo thrown into the mix. Sick, energetic genius! Tracks include the deliriously great "Hey Ya!" single, "She Lives In My Lap", "Love Hater", "Happy Valentine's Day", "Roses", "Good Day, Good Sir", "Behold A Lady", "Pink And Blue", "Spread", "Dracula's Lady" with Kelis, and more. Who the hell knows what they can possibly do to surprise us after this – but wherever Andre 3000 and Big Boi go from here, they each have yet another classic in the discography! CD

Mike Ladd, wearer of many brands of hats, drops some high concept hip hop on the broad minded Big Dada imprint, more or less a follow up to the Infesticons project started a few years back. You know the drill, post electro beats that refuse to admit they're jiggy, that'll appeal to fans of Anti Pop and fellow travellers in the left field world of the new school. Underground heroes like Vast Aire, Murs and El Producto saddle up next to Ladd and others whose names are even less household like Cheeta Chinchilla, Premadon-a etc. 15 party tracks, including "Piranha Party", "Platinum Blaque Party", "Helicopter Party", "Dwarf Star Party" and "San Trope Party". Be there or be square. CD

The Stones may be old, but they ain't dumb! Mick & co. must have noticed the huge shot of artistic credibility Justin Timberlake received after the Neptunes hopped aboard, which is something the Stones haven't had in a couple of decades. The 'Tunes do a pretty great re-imagined take on the classic rock staple – adding some sitar and Eastern string touches on top of their patented minimal claps, snaps, and thumps. On top of the full length Neptunes mix and an edit you get Fatboy Slim's mix, also in epic form plus radio edit. Cook's is a fine, bubble gum club mix with a Happy Mondays kind of vibe. The Full Phat mix strays the most from the original, keeping Mick's vocal and the whoo-whoos, but completely strips the band and adds all electronic beats. The original version is here for you kids who didn't realize there was one! (Rock, Hip Hop) CD