The retro-styled font on the cover is a tipoff to the sound of this set – as Tre Burt steps back into the past a bit more and channels some strong influences from 70s soul, while still offering up that more contemporary blend of rock and R&B influences you'd know from his previous records! Production is nice and warm – again maybe nodding back to the past, especially early 70s Hi Records, but with more contemporary execution – on titles that include "Play Stevie Wonder", "Win My Heart", "I'm Aight Pops Just Tired", "Santiago", "Wings For A Butterfly", "To Be A River", "2 For Tha Show", and "Told Ya Then". CD

The retro-styled font on the cover is a tipoff to the sound of this set – as Tre Burt steps back into the past a bit more and channels some strong influences from 70s soul, while still offering up that more contemporary blend of rock and R&B influences you'd know from his previous records! Production is nice and warm – again maybe nodding back to the past, especially early 70s Hi Records, but with more contemporary execution – on titles that include "Play Stevie Wonder", "Win My Heart", "I'm Aight Pops Just Tired", "Santiago", "Wings For A Butterfly", "To Be A River", "2 For Tha Show", and "Told Ya Then". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Janelle Monae knocks it out of the park here – sounding every bit as great as before, but also hitting this righteous mode that really takes the singer to incredible new territory! If you loved Janelle's previous records, don't worry – she's still as catchy and playful as ever – but there's also a depth and darkness that's inspired by recent political turns in America – which Monae also uses to address issues that go back much farther in her experience, woven together in songs that are maybe even more politically powerful because of the way that they'll also win over the mainstream! Stevie Wonder gets the very first thanks in the long notes at the end of the book – and the mix of soul and message here definitely hearkens back to Stevie in the 70s – is all Janelle's own. Heck, even guests like Zoe Kravitz, Brian Wilson, and Pharrell Williams can't get in the way – on titles that include "Screwed", "Django Jane", "I Got The Juice", "Stevie's Dream", "Don't Judge Me", "Crazy Classic Life", "Take A Byte", "Do Afraid", "Americans", "I Like That ", "Pynk", "Jane's Dream", and "Make Me Feel". And hey, you've gotta love a record that's inspired both by Vibranium and Stevie Wonder! CD

The electric lady is back again – getting great help on this set from Prince, Erykah Badu, Miguel, and Esperanza Spaulding! The set features further chapters in Janelle's Metropolis story – but apart from that overarching structure, and cool notes that situate the singer as some future cultural criminal, the overall vibe is tight funky soul – at a level that not only lives up to all of Monae's sparkling promise from before, but which also finds a great way to bring out the best elements of all the guests! There's plenty of funky numbers here that stand wonderfully well on their own, but the whole thing works even better as a unified set – with titles that include "Primetime", "Givin Em What They Love", "Queen", "Electric Lady", "Look Into My Eyes", "It's Code", "Ghetto Woman", "Victory", "Dorothy Dandrige Eyes", and "What An Experience". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice, moody hip hop/funk album from one of the deepest talents on the Stones Throw roster! Dudley came to underground hip hop fame as Declaime, but really stepped forward as a durable, innovative artist with the Dudley Perkins singles that have dropped thus far – and A Lil Light soundly delivers on that promise. It's all about mood – this may be the murkiest, most muddily funky thing Madlib has ever produced, with crackly, hissing beats, bass and samples. Dudley's vocals are about as far from the crooning NuSoul sound as you can get. He's grooves along with an improvised feel to the lyrics, loosely scatting in both a rolling deep bass and a soulful, nearly crying falsetto. The sound falls somewhere between the denser parts of D'Angelo's Voodoo and the spacier aspects of 70s soul and funk. Totally unique and satisfying – would you expect any less of Stones Throw? Tracks include "Money", the Sun Ra-inspired "Gotta Go", "You Really Know Me?", "Washedbrainsyndrome", "Flowers", "Just Think", "Yo' Soul", "Momma", "Lil' Black Boy" and more. (Hip Hop, Neo Soul) CD