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Endless Planets is the 20-year-old’s first album released stateside, and one that more readily recalls jazz history written by Charles Mingus and Max Roach than records spawned in the alternate reality of Madlib’s Yesterdays New Quintet. More often than not, Endless Planets laces up its desert boots and treads the same territory as McCoy Tyner’s Sahara.

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The strength of Medicine Show No. 3 is the reckless abandon with which it dives deeply into style after style, sometimes in ways that don’t exactly work but nonetheless manage to attach themselves together. For some, this will be an eye-opening redefinition of African music. But it’s not for first-time Madlib listeners.

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While Strong Arm Steady’s attention span is stubby and the deconstruction of classic soul records may appear casual, the convoluted search for focus on this latest release may actually make it one of the most faithful rap representations of Southern California’s sprawl.

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Download: Madlib & Guilty Simpson “The Paper” [Audio clip: view full post to listen] (off Madlib Medicine Show No. 1 out mid December on Stones Throw) Madlib is launching the Madlib Medicine Show, a once-a-month, twelve-CD, six-LP series. The Madlib Medicine Show will be a combination of Madlib’s new hip-hop productions, remixes, beat tapes, and [...]

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Download: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble “War” [Audio clip: view full post to listen] (from the self-titled album out now on Honest Jon’s) The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is the eight sons of Sun Ra trumpeter and songwriter Phil Cohran, who trained them to play together starting at the age of three. As adults they made a name [...]

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Stream: Madvillain “America’s Most Most Blunted” [Audio clip: view full post to listen] (off Madvillainy out now on Stones Throw)

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