indy cd & vinyl

CD: “SOUND DIRECTIONS: THE FUNKY SIDE OF LIFE”—YESTERDAY’S NEW QUINTET

Instrumental Hip-Hop/Funk, $15.98 (list price), Stones Throw

Basic Story: Madlib, maestro of instrumental hip-hop, dons one of his many aliases and serves up a tasty hip-hop, jazz, and funk stew.

Sample: All instrumental

Review: Madlib, one of the most prolific and talented artists on the “underground” hip-hop scene, uses the Yesterday’s New Quintet moniker to dish out his funkiest instrumental hip-hop grooves to date. Madlib uses a live band and then samples their performances and stitches them together to yield both up-tempo and laid-back keyboard-laced grooves of the highest order. Recalling the high points of sixties and seventies instrumental funk groups, with an added dollop of jazz, this album will have you nodding your head (and moving your feet) on cut after cut.