Sage Francis has had a pretty interesting career so far, with a background that ties him to anticon. and spoken word/slam poetry circles. With the release of the Non-Prophets record, it seemed for a hot minute like he might go a more traditional hip hop route, but that didn’t last at all. It wasn’t that long after that he was collaborating with the likes of Will Oldham to create a unique indie-folk/hip hop hybrid.

B. Dolan has been plugging away for a few years as a spoken word artist and social activist. When I found out he was friends with Sage Francis and would be touring with him in support of their new albums, this made sense. On this album, which Dolan collaborated with anticon. member Alias on as producer, he comes at you with a focused, intense barrage of songs. At times, it feels that Alias is channeling El-P, laying down a sonic background of funky, harsh, urban decay.

I have a long history with Murs, so let me put this album into context for you. I first came across Murs when he released his debut album for Definitive Jux, as did most of us outside of the L.A. area. I liked the album, although it was a little inconsistent, with too many songs and producers. In 2004, Murs got together with producer 9th Wonder, and they dropped 3:16. This album made me sit up and pay attention.

For a lot of people, Lyrics Born’s Later That Day wasn’t just his coming out party, it also brought our attention to the wonderful voice of Joyo Velarde. It seems like it wasn’t much longer after, seeing the two of them on tour together, and at the Quannum World Tour, that they kept telling the audience to be on the lookout for a Joyo Velarde solo album. This was 2003-2004.

This is the third installment in Madlib’s Medicine Show series. Here, he comes back as the Beat Konducta and takes us on a trip to Africa. While this is supposed to be a Beat Konducta joint based on samples from African music from the early ‘70s, this plays out more like a well put together mix-tape. Not that I’m necessarily complaining. It just feels more like a lot of snippets of pan-African records that Madlib occasionally throws a beat under than a complete re-imagining of the music.

Georgia Anne Muldrow is quickly becoming a favorite for me, even though I only discovered her last year. I’ve since filled up a bit of the back catalogue, and I’m certainly impressed by her output this year. The psychedelic funk/hip hop/R&B she has hit upon really resonates with me. I love that her lyrics are smart, emotional, and original. I love that she writes, plays, and sings her own material. Even on a song like “Kings Ballad,” which is a tribute song to Michael Jackson doesn’t seem like a cheesy remembrance ballad, but instead comes across as a strong, urgent, pulsing, jazzy, psychedelic genuine appreciation for a musical artist that broke down barriers and inspired a generation of younger artists.

I mostly know Thavius Beck as a producer, who worked with artists like Busdriver and Saul Williams, along with releasing solo albums of instrumental works. It was with this background that I was pleasantly surprised to find that this album not only features Beck as producer/songwriter, but also as lyricist/emcee. Even more pleasant is discovering is that he’s quite capable on the mic. Production-wise, this features his unique blend of house/glitch/dancehall/hip hop that he’s been making for years.

Declaime (Dudley Perkins) and Georgia Anne Muldrow have worked together before, but I’m not sure if their collaboration has quite come together like this before. Hip hop with the psychedelic funk edge of someone like Sly and the Family Stone or Parliament-Funkadelic, this Bay Area duo really work well together. While Declaime is up front on the mic as an emcee, with his unique smooth, slightly off-kilter sing-song delivery, Muldrow produces much of the album, provides backing vocals, choruses, and even drops a few killer verses.

Sometimes I’m more upset when artists are mediocre than when they’re terrible. Case in point: Grieves. Truth is, I’ve listened to this album and 88 Keys and Counting several times, but I really can’t tell you much more about them. The voice, lyrics, and music are all forgettable. At least when someone is terrible or is frustrating, it’s meant enough to me to get me all worked up. I keep trying to get worked up about Grieves, but I never remember what happened after I finish listening to the album.

I had to pick up this album on concept alone. A hip hop album based on High Fidelity? It’s an interesting enough concept and I’m a big enough fan of both the book and movie that I’m going to give this album a fair chance. I don’t know too much about Donwill’s group Tanya Morgan, so I can’t give you too much insight as to where this fits into their discography.