J DILLA - "Bangin' Like A DILLA Instrumental"

OkayPayer premiered this really, really solid mixtape put together by Chocolate Sunday's resident DJ:s Manuvers, Sharpsound and Louie Arson. Titled "Bangin' Like a Dilla Instrumental" this expertly crafted mix blends some of the most legendary Jay Dee instrumentals for other people, to classic solo work and group settings, and rare beats "straight from the fucking cassette". It's amazing how fresh these beats still sound today and one thing that's pretty amazing with DiLLA beats is that they are usually just as interesting with or without vocals on top. Enjoy this shit but be sure to TURN IT UP!!! A LITTLE LOUDER!!

Also released via OkayPlayer is this rare studio footage of The Soulquarians in action (with Dilla on the drum set), jamming out a track that would eventually transform into "Aquarius" on Common's underrated "Electric Circus". Read more about the session @ OKP. Last but not least in this selection of DiLLA news, FatBeats and Ne'Astra Music Group are reissuing both the original Slum Village albums with JayDee on wax and cassette, so if you don't have those gems you better grab them both. Read more over @ FatBeats.com.

[Album] D'ANGELO - "The Black Messiah"

The golden grail of modern soul music has just been unleashed on the sleeping population as D'Angelo has finally released his first new album in 14 years. Following up one of the greatest albums of all tiime, 1999's "Voodoo", is no small task but the twelve songs that D has perfected with The Vanguard on "Black Messiah" will very likely be considered a classic some years from now. Fans of the super talented multi-instrumentalist and singer will welcome this as a return to form I have no doubt and listening to the first few songs I can attest to this being some truly great shit. As of now "Black Messiah" is available via digital retailers sand can also be streamed via Spotify (see below). Guest features include fellow Soulquarians ?uestlove and Q-Tip as well as Parliament's Kendra Foster. Support D's return @ iTunes while we wait for physical copies of this funky monster. Christmas came early!

[Soul] DAYNE JORDAN x JAZZY JEFF - "Abour the Art"

It's been quite some time since I've updated, life got in the way (and just got back from an excellent Mobb Deep concert with my man Big Rob; review coming), so I thought I'd start a little easy with some updates of joints I've missed posting and tomorrow I'll start posting regularily again. First out is three Lost Tapes favorites (DJ Jazzy Jeff - production, ?uestlove - drums, James Poyser - keys) who together form like voltron to deliver one of this year's strongest R&B/soul cuts with quriky singer Dane Jordan (p/k/a Dosage) who delivers a stunning performance on some '70s oozing downbeat blues soul, yet with a definite hip-hop angel with the cuts, the rhymes, the beat and pretty much overall the insttrumental track. The cat is from Philly which explains his close relationship with Jeff, and hopefully we see more from this young singer (and especially with more legendary producers and instrumentalists holding it down behind him) so stay tuned. Until then, press play above, and if you're with a girl you got a great soundtrack for your home date, and if you're alone this is one of them joints that you put on and zoom out on.

BBE's Beat Generation: Larry Gold - "Don Cello & Friends"

As you might have gathered from my last few posts, I've been revisiting British label BBE's and their The Beat Generation series quite a lot recently. Besides some of the finest beat wizards in the game (Jay Dee, DJ Spinna, Pete Rock, Marley Marl, will.i.am, DJ Jazzy Jeff, A Touch of Jazz, and King Britt) they also allowed some legendary musicians make their own installments. The best case in point is "Don Cello & Friends", an album conceived as the alter-ego of orchestrator and string genius Larry Gold,. The 12 track LP is today out of print and is by far the hardest out of the B.G.'s catalouge, but is a beautiful and very eclectic mix of hip-hop beats, R&B and soul, funk, jazz and even some elements mainly associated with classical music. The under title of the cover is "classic Philly Soul" which is a fitting description.

Hip-hop heads who still read credits should be well aware of who Larry Gold is, especially fans of The Roots. But Gold's history in fact go way back; already in the '70s he orchestrated string orchestras for several classic soul records such as . After a brief hiatus, hip-hop and R&B producers got their eyes up for Gold's unique sound which always adds something great to the respective songs. ?uestlove of The Roots was one of the first to hire Gold to orchestrate the string section on almost every single one of their albums - including work on the groups' classic "Can't Stop This", work for Erykah Badu, Common, D'Angelo, Bilal, and many more plus was a part of The Roots' and Jay-Z's MTV Unplugged show a few years back. With such a resumé, it was only right that BBE offered Gold a chance to both executive and produce a solo album by himself, where he took on the alterego of Don Cello; "Larry Gold Presents Don Cello and Friends" which was released in 2003.

The 12 track LP features a wide array of different styles, and was heavily genre-bending, though the hip-hop and R&B aesthetics was prevalent throughout. Just like the majority of the BBE's previous parts in the Beat Generation series, the album features a host of talented emcees and singer that really makes the music justice. Master rhymer Black Thought appears on two stand-out tracks, and so does Dice Raw, the beautiful singstress Jill Scott, Floetry, Bunny Sigler, Jaguar Wright, and many more. It's a real chill out record that should be heard by everyone; unfortunately it's been out of print for quite some time. That doesn't neccesarily mean we can't listen to the project in full, thanks to a streaming over @ NevaHeardUnit. I provided the link below,so stream away and let the mausic sooth you for the next hour because this is a real stellar piece of work. Enjoy!

01. Larry Gold - "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"

02. Carrol Ridick - "Lovin' You"

03. Gerald Levert - "Dance"

04. Floetry & I - "Hope"

05. Kameelah - "Traveling"

06. Nanda - "Traveling"

07. Handa - "Feel So Good"

08. Kindred - "All That You Are"

08. Jaguar Wright - "All I Need"

09. Erro - "Just Dreaming"

10. Cristal - "Everybody"

11. Bunny Sigler - "All I"

Larry Gold - "Don Cello & Friends"

Robert Glasper - "Black Radio Recovered: Remix EP"

Jazz sensation Robert Glasper dropped his highly inspired "Black Radio" project together with his Experiment band earlier this year. The last week has seen the original sessions giving room for new interpretations of some of the stand outs as Glasper been sending out about a joint a day. Featuring remixes by the pianist/composer himself, Pete Rock, ?uestlove, Georgia Anne Muldrow and 9th Wonder, the six track set is now available to experience in full... This one is a great suprise that is warmly welcomed by all of us that enjoyed the album that preceeded it; well done Glasper!

01. "Afro Blue" [9th Wonder's Blue Light Basement Remix] (Ft. Erykah Badu & Phonte)

02. "Black Radio" [Pete Rock Remix] (Ft. Yasiin Bey)

03. "The Consequences of Jealousy" [Georgia Anne Muldrow's Sassy Geemix] (Ft. Meshell Ndegeocello)

04. "Twice" [?uestlove's Twice Baked Remix] (Ft. The Roots & Solange Knowles)

05. "Letter to Hermoine" [Robert Glasper & Jewels Remix] (Ft. Black Milk)

06. "DiLLalude #2"

"BLACK RADIO RECOVERED EP" @ SOUNDCLOUD

"BLACK RADIO RECOVERED EP" @ iTUNES