Back in stock: Hip Hop/R&B

Review: Bran Van 3000's The Garden is their fourth studio album and another subtle evolution of their signature genre-blending sound. Rooted in prog-rock grooves and boogie flair, the album explores romantic and reflective territory without losing the collective's playful spirit. On the album, which arrives as a special for this year's Record Store Day, James Di Salvio is joined by longtime collaborators and fresh talent alike to create a lush collaborative soundscape that's rich in emotion and rhythm. The tracks all exude soulful vocals, brass-laced arrangements and global sonic textures, which help to make The Garden is a mature yet adventurous chapter in BV3's musical journey.

Review: Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, Contour brings a fresh flow to black soul music which finds a natural home on leading London label Touching Bass. Khari Lucas, to use his given name, uses the 12 tracks on Onwards! To reflect on the nature of black art past, present and future. His tools of expression are a mesmerising voice, smoky beat production and compelling lyricism, folded up into an album which ranks alongside some of the best of recent times. We're in a prime era for progressive soul, whether it's Liv.e or Sudan Archives we're tuning into and Contour is helping push things forwards in his own deeply felt way.

Review: Cruising the slipstream of Black Messiah, D'Angelo's debut album gets a timely reissue 20 years after its release. The neo-soul foundations dig deep with every nuance and subtlety D'Angelo has become known for; the Gaye-level harmonies of "Crusin'", the jazz meanders of "Sh*t Damn Motherf*ker" and the unstoppably sexual drive of "Lady"... If this isn't in your collection already, now is most definitely the time.

Review: The Loneliest Punk was Fatlip's debut solo album and was originally released in 2005. It now returns on vinyl as it has remained a cult classic that captures the Pharcyde MC at his most raw and introspective. Produced by J-Swift of Bizarre Ride II and Squeak E. Clean, the album fuses quirky hip-hop drum patterns with sharp lyricism and features standout collaborations with Chali 2na from Jurassic 5 and the late Shock G aka Humpty Hump. Long out of print, this latest reissue revives a hidden gem of underground hip-hop that deserves as much spotlight as it gets.

Review: Free Nationals released their debut album back in 2018. The LA-formed R&B collective comprised of Jose Rios, Ron "T.Nava" Avant, Kelsey Gonzales and Callum Connor are best known as being the backing band for Anderson .Paak but also make grooves just as tight on their own. This debut was packed with top guests such as .Paak himself as well as Mac Miller and Kali Uchis and it was nominated for Best Progressive R&B Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. It mixes up classic R&B with twists of funk and soul greats like Stevie Wonder.

Review: Alex "Landy" Hill was the producer for and founding member of the 80s r&b and disco group Timex Social Club. This gem is the result of a deep dive into his archives and is an unreleased 1990s Bay Area demo project. The collection features nine original tracks created in collaboration with vocalist Jordana and songwriter John Pruitt all written and recorded in Hill's modest apartment studio. As you would expect of him, the tunes capture the raw, soulful energy of the era's underground r&b and funk scene with a nice lo-fi edge and plenty of analogue sounds from the time. Long tucked away on ageing cassette tapes, the recordings have now been carefully restored by PPU to offer a great look at Hill's post-Timex era.

Review: Secretly Canadian comes through agin with a superb new album of emotive hip-hop from Wesley Joseph. This is a record of love, loss, joy, anxiety and coming-of-age struggles that arrive on lovely and lively translucent green vinyl. Joseph shows off his wordplay, lyrical intricacy and songwriting skills as he sings in his unique falsetto about a time of change. It follows his well-recorded latest single 'Sugar Dive' and is paired with plenty of low-slung bass, snappy rhythms and percussive drums. As he moves from rapping to singing with real raw honesty and some fine character studies along the way, Joseph really announces himself here.

Review: Joe Mount of lovable scuzz pop outfit Metronomy mans the latest volume in the long running Late Night Tales, a series who always seem to get the best results out of an unexpected cast of participants (Belle & Sebastien, MGMT, Trentemoeller and Midlake being recent inductees). It's hard not to get sucked in from the sugar sweet opening of Outkast's "Prototype", which is the first of several tracks that demonstrates Mount has a penchant for slow bumping R&B and outsider hip-hop with Tweet, Sa Ra and a Dr Octagon classic also appearing. A typically far reaching approach to genres applies here with the cosmic jazz of Chic Corea happily mingling with Autechre and Two Lone Swordsmen, and American synth oddities Geneva Jacuzzi and Appaloosa mingling for attention with The Alan Parsons Project and Herman Dune. The de-rigueur cover version arrives with a Metronomy rendition of Jean-Michel Jarre's "Hypnose" while Paul Morley ends the selection with a spoken word piece. This vinyl edition has 18 of the tracks spread separately across two plates as well as the mixed CD and a booklet!

Review: The late great MF Doom is still sorely missed a few years on from his passing. Fortunately, there is a wealth of musical legacy to enjoy and continue exploring whether for the first time or as a reminder of his mad skills. To that end, this is a reissue of his NAStradoomus Vol 1 album. It comes as part of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop celebrations on special gold vinyl and includes the evergreen MF Doom remix of 'If I Ruled The World'. This special edition comes with a stickered sleeve.