Heavy soul from the Bay Area scene – a fantastic set of tracks from the enigmatic Goapele! Goapele's an underground singer with a really righteous feel – and she's not afraid to use some heavy beats and funk to send her message home. The set's got a really well integrated instrumental feel – shifting slightly in style from track to track, but always with a positive and progressive approach only serves to push Goapele's lyrics all that much deeper. No softness here – just a mad kicking approach that's made us give the Bay Area another listen these days! Features guest work by Soulive, Pep Love, Zion I, and Casual – and titles include "It Takes More", "Closer", "Ease Your Mind", "Got It", "Romantic", "Too Much The Same", "Catch 22", "Salvation", and "Back To You". (Neo Soul, Hip Hop) CD

The second round from the Run The Jewels supergroup duo of El-P & Killer Mike – bigger, bolder and better than the debut! The production is more densely layered and the rhymes are meaner – especially Killer Mike's limber, charismatic flow, which served so strongly by El-P's progressive, classic boom bap-inspired production – and El-P is no slouch on the mic, either! The guests bring their A games, too – and the titles include "Jeopardy", "Oh My Darling Don't Cry", "Close Your Eyes" with Zach De la Rocha, "Lie, Cheat, Steal", "Early" feat Boots, "Love Again (Akinyele Back)", "Crown" feat Diane Coffee, "Angel Duster" and more. CD