One of the best funky compilations ever! The folks at Stones Throw Records – home of some of the most funk-inspired hip hop of the past decade – have dug through the crates to come up with this incredible batch of 22 tunes, all well-researched, nicely remastered, and offered up here on a 100% legit basis! But even more than that, the selection of music is incredible – killer funky tunes of the sort that you'd shell out plenty for on 45, moving way past the standard loud funk mode, into a hip realm of jazz-tinged expression, complicated enough for today's beatheads, yet straightforward enough to keep the groove going! Titles include "Fish Head" by Slim & The Soulful Saints, "The Dump" by Soul Vibrations, "What About You" by Co Real Artists, "The Kick" by The Rhythm Machine, "Kashmere" by Kashmere Stage Band, "Tighten Up Tighter" by Billy Ball & The Upsetters, "Beautiful Day" by Spider Harrison, "Southside Funk" by Soul Seven, "In The Rain" by The Wooden Glass with Billy Wooten, and "Go To Work" by Revolution Compared To What. CD version includes 2 bonus cuts too! CD

If this is reality, lead us onward – as the set is a mindblowing batch of trippy psych-funk from The Heliocentrics – even more offbeat and experimental than before, in ways that make the combo the true heirs to the legacy first begun by Stark Reality! The album's definitely funky at the core, but it's also filled with loads of amazing sounds – instruments tuned weirdly, played weirdly, and produced weirdly – so that over the heavy drums, there's often lots of freaky, fuzzy bits and tripped-out sounds – in ways that make the record feel like some lost acid trip outtakes from the Westbound studios of the early 70s – or like some obscure funk band that dropped acid at Andy Warhol's loft! The packaging offers up a visual example of what your ears will be going through when you tune into the music – and titles include "Mysterious Ways", "Collateral Damage", "Black Sky", "Calabash", "Path Of The Black Sun", "Mr Owusu I Presume", "Eastern Begena", and loads of cool interlude tracks too. CD

The debut full length from Heliocentrics – the cosmic funk project from Malcolm Catto and a tasteful group of players – touching on funky drummer hip hop beatcraft, hazy psychedelia, leftfield jazz and global accented grooves! The Heliocentrics have backed DJ Shadow on occasion, and Catto has drummed in the service of Madlib's material in the past – but Out There does stand out, a modernist instrumental groove in world of its own! Catto is on drums and piano for the set – and the group is well stocked on drums and percussion throughout – plus heavy bass, some Eastern strings, modular synth, flute, clarinet, sax and vibes. It may be out there, but they found a funky atmosphere! Titles include "Distant Star", "Flight 583", "Once Upon A Time", "Beyond Repair", "Sirius B", "Untitled", "They Are Among Us – Part 1", "Zero Hour", "Joyride", "American Empire", "Before I Die", "Age Of The Sun", "They Are Among Us – Part 2", "Winter Song", "World Of Masks", "Falling To Earth" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Not the original Quatermass EP from The Heliocentrics – but material that takes off in an even fuller, heavier direction – and which may well be the funkiest sounds we've heard from these guys so far! The music is stunning right from the very first heavy bassline and sharp drum crackle – more focused, more full-on, and more funky than before – with this mindblowing mix of super-tight rhythms and nicely trippy work on keyboards and guitar – all freaky and fuzzy, but always with a sense of purpose, too – and never just crazy for the sake of crazy! These guys really hit a new high with this set – simply wonderful, and at a level that has us falling in love with them all over again. Titles include "The Pit", "Gas Bottle", "Discovery", "Phenomenon Of Man", "Telekinesis", "Night & Day", "Looking Back", "Mass Psychosis", and "The Final Conclusion". CD

Damn! The MASSIVE collaborative album from the dynamic duo of Madlib and J Dilla re-upped – a deluxe 2CD edition packed with bonus tracks, remixes and the much heralded instrumentals! Essentially, Madlib handles the production on the even numbers in the main set with Dilla on the vocals, and the roles are reversed on the odd numbers. Each producer does his own thing, as only he can do it – Madlib brings the funky sampler genius – and Dilla rocks the thumping Detroit hip hop soul crunch. A number of guest rhymers step to the mic, including Talib Kweli, Percee P, Frank-N-Dank & Guilty Simpson, and the flow is seamless. Not only was this one of the best hip hop albums of '03, it also has a dyed-in-the-wool classic production style, and it sounds just as great a few years later! So very highly recommended! Main album tracks include "L.A. To Detroit", "McNasty Filth" with Frank-n-Dank, "Nowadayz", "Champion Sound", "The Red", "Heavy", "Raw S*!t" with Kweli, "The Official", "The Heist", "The Mission", "React" with Quasimodo, "The Exclusive" with Percee P, "Survival Test", "Starz" and "No Games". The hefty list of bonus material includes "Raw Addict", "Pillz", "Da Rawkus" (Sir Bang version), "Heavy" (Chronic mix), "Survival Test" (Rasta dub version), "The Mission" (Stringed Out mix) and many more, plus the Champion Sound Beats – 15 instrumental tracks!!! CD

The dynamic duo of Talib Kweli & Madlib making jazzy & funky, stripped down, beautiful hip hop together – originally released as a surprise free download on Stones Throw's website – now on LP on Kweli's Blacksmith label! Liberation finds Talib rocking his precise, thoughtful, and often pointedly political rhymes over a Madlib beats that are as raw as any 'Lib beats that come to mind. Titles include "The Show", "Funny Money", "Time Is Right", "Engine Running" feat Consequence, "Over The Counter", "The Function" feat Strong Arm Steady, "Happy Home" feat Candice Anderson, "Soul Music" feat RES and "What Can I Do". LP, Vinyl record album

Throw away all your 70s electric funk records – because the classic sound is back, and fresher than ever! Yesterday's New Quintet is a side project from hip hop producer Madlib – and the group's firmly steeped in a love of the mellow funky sound of 70s labels like Kudu and CTI. Vibes collides with Fender Rhodes collides with sweet drumbeats collides with slight touches of turntablist production – for a sensational full LP debut that's one of the best new funky records we've heard in years! The sound is incredible – and these guys really do a heck of a lot more than just recreate an older style of music. They take all the hip hop/beathead love of 70s mellow jazz funk, and lift it firmly into the 21st Century with a whole new set of hooks and grooves! Titles include "Julani", "Papa", "Daylight", "Hot Water", "Sun Goddess", "Last Day", "Broken Dreams", "Life's Angles", and "Uno Esta". LP, Vinyl record album

Madlib invades Blue Note! He gets free reign of the catalog for this mix of sampler genius and live band interpretations, too, as/with Ahmad Miller, Yesterdays New Quintet, Malcolm Catto, Medaphoar, and others from the Stones Throw camp. This one's truly a conceptual triumph, if there ever was such a thing – one of the greatest hip hop producers alive, given carte blanche with the source beats of the century! Madlib's Blue Note crates are heavily weighed in the mid 60s through mid 70s electric beats that often get the shaft in mainstream jazz round-ups, but floor the beathead world into overdrive. Re-interpretations, remixes, and revisions are spliced seamlessly with the source samples, creating a whole new world where hip hop and late model live funk not only co-exists with classic Blue Note jazz, but it actually draws a linear transition between the 2 genius art forms. Beautiful stuff – if the album isn't the most original idea to come along all of these years into the hip hop & jazz underground, it's certainly one of the most perfectly realized projects of its kind, ever! It's one for the time capsule – easily one of Madlib's masterpieces, and pure funky sample wizardry by any standard! Includes Monk Higgins' "Slim's Return" interpreted by Ahmad Miller and DJ Lord Such on cuts, "Donald Byrd's "Distant Land", "Ronnie Foster's "Mystic Bounce", Yesterday's New Quintet's adaptation of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints", Madlib Invazion's "Funky Blue Note", the Joe McDuphrey Experience take on Horace Silver's/Herbie Hancock's "Peace/Dolphin Dance" and lots more. LP, Vinyl record album