4. BEYONCE Dangerously In Love Columbia

As the driving force behind the mega-successful Destiny's Child it was obvious that Beyonce would produce solo work, especially once the trio were put on "temporary" hiatus. The last of the trio to release a solo album, Beyonce has also (unsurprisingly) released the best of the three, combining her trademark "bootylicious" r'n'b swing with the clipped modern funk visited on her Goldmember contribution Work It Out (featured on this album) and some tasteful hip hop cool. The hip hop edge is what really gives this album it's sting - production credits include Scott Storch and Missy Elliott while vocal contributions come from Jay-Z (the excellent lead single Crazy In Love, That's How You Like It and the New York cool love anthem 03 Bonnie & Clyde, rapidly rising ragga star Sean Paul (the bouncing "Baby Boy", Outkast associate Big Boi (the gritty "Hip Hop Star"). Soul crooner Luther Vandross also appears on the old chestnut Closer I Get To You, while Beyonce herself delivers a number of trademark r'n'b numbers, including the Donna Summer interpolating Naughty Girl and the Shuggie Otis sampling Be With You. The result is a stunning commercial contemporary r'nb album. Unashamedly recommended.

5. ERYKAH BADU Worldwide Underground Motown (This is an enhanced CD)

A nice one from Badu, with a depth of feeling and genuine soulful vibes that live up to its title. It's all about the vibe here. She channels Donald Byrd on the great Think Twice, which is pretty indicative of the vibe as a whole. The groove is sorta mellow, but in a very tripped-out way, with deep organ washes and synth, scratchy soul guitar, and crisp organic beats. There's an appearance by Dead Prez on Steady On The Grind, and a really sweet old school flavored remake of the great Love Of My Life track from the Brown Sugar soundtrack with Queen Latifah and Bahamadia. It's gonna take a little while to sink in, but this may be her best album

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6. JAY-Z Black Album Roc-A-Fella

We may still have to lean towards Blueprint as his late masterpiece, but this is way up there.

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7. JAYLIB Champion Sound Stones Throw

The dynamic duo of Madlib and Jay Dee have finally dropped the debut full length collaboration. And it turned out to be a winner. Essentially, Madlib handled the production on the even numbers in the set with Dilla on the vocals; the roles are traded on the odd numbers in the set. There's also a number of guest rhymers including Talib Kweli, Percee P, Frank-N-Dank, and Guilty Simpson. The album has a dyed-in-the-wool classic production style, the kind we were hoping for from Gang Starr earlier in the year. Each knob twirler does his own thing, as only he can do it; Madlib brings the funky sampler genius, and Dilla rocks the thumping Detroit hip hop soul crunch. The flow is seamless.

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8. SEAN PAUL Dutty Rock VP

Dancehall remains Jamaica's dominant indigenous musical force, and one of the last bastions of the "wild west" ethic of the pop music industry, which gives this form of music (unless we're talking about Shaggy) a real raw primal edge. Sean Paul (ex bank teller and international waterpolo player) is the latest shining light from the scene, and with this his second album (including the already massive international single Gimme The Light looks sure to gain cross-over success.

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9. JODY WATLEY Midnight Lounge Shanachie

Forget everything you've ever known about Jody Watley, because this is a totally different album. Watley's really moved past her roots as a mainstream soul star and grabbing onto some of the better future soul styles that have been bumping around the underground scene, and working them into a really solid set that's given her a whole new approach. The result is stunning, as guest stars like King Britt, Ron Trent, Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, and Dr Bob Jones all help Jody get into a groove that's tremendously well suited for a 21st century audience. Really great stuff

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10. MCKAY McKay GoBeat/Universal

Chunky soul from Stephanie McKay, a Bronx-based soul singer. The set features production by Geoff Barrow of Portishead, and a number of songs co-written with Carl Hancock Rux. McKay are a strong-willed yet sensitive singer who really manages to bridge a space between hip hop and soul without selling either short. Take Me Over is one of the coolest songs. The reggae-tinged groover borrows heavily from the classic track Double Barrel The track's got a 60s-styled rocksteady groove, sitting in nice juxtaposition to McKay's sweet and soulful vocals

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                                                  Compilations
                                                  

1. VARIOUS ARTISTS Work Your Soul Jamaican 60s & Northern 1966-74 Trojan

These Jamaican soul singles sound as if they could have been cut in Memphis, Detroit, Chicago or Philly. Rather than reggae or rock steady covers of stateside soul hits, the two dozen numbers collected here were recorded by reggae acts both well known and recently uncovered, but rather than the heavily syncopated island sound emphasizing the upbeat, these songs have the same vibe and feel of the best of the 60s urban grooves. There's just a couple of covers here, like Derrick Harriott's take on Curtis Mayfield's Mama Didn't Lie and the Marvels excellent version of One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, but for the most part its uncovered original gems like Jackie Edwards' I Feel So Bad Tommy McCook & The Supersonics Work Your Soul

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2. VARIOUS ARTISTS City Of God - Cidade De Deus Original Soundtrack White/Vinyl Junkies

City Of God - Cidade De Deus was a massive cult movie hit from the end of 2002, one of the most memorable aspects of the film was the music - a mix of pure latin songs and then some prize pieces of latin funk (which helped to give it a real 70's feeling) all composed by Antonio Pinto and Ed Cortes.

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3. VARIOUS ARTISTS Disco Unusual Ghetto Disco - Funky Beats White/Dislp01

A set of rare and hard to get gems on one album: 1. Metropolis & Sam Peak - Metropolis 2. Brooklyn People - Peace And Love 3. Spaceark - Do What You Can Do 4. New Getto Express - Standing In The verge Of Getting It On 5. Ross Garnegie & Co - Open Up Yor Mind 6. Norht By Norhtwest - Disco Unusual 7. The Projection - Grooving To The Music We Play 8. J Henry Woods Trope - The Stranger 9. Louise Freeman - I Can Do It 10. The East Coast Connection - Summer In Parks 11. South Side Coalition - Get Off Your Seats And Jam 12. The Endeavors - Who Shaft Were

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4. VARIOUS ARTISTS Funk Soul Sisters BGP

The SuperFunk crew at BGP have gone through the rich array of labels handled by the company and are pulling out a set of massive tunes that really push our understanding of female soul. Taking things way past the obvious hits and girl group numbers, into hard and heavy-stepping territory. Most of the tunes on the set are completely new to my ears, and there's a great mix of northern and southern funk styles that keeps things super-fresh.

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                                                  Retro
                                                  

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1. JEFFREE Love Don't Come No Stronger The Best of Jeffree (aka Jeff Perry) Expansion

Smooth and sweet soul from Jeffree an unsung 70s vocalist with a really great approach. Warmly grooving soul with a fluid, mellow approach served up with great production, bubbling rhythms, and a really solid sound overall. The work is very much in the best tradition of 70s giants like Marvin Gaye or Leroy Hutson,

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                                                  Always - Jazz
                                                  

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1. NINA SIMONE Four Women Philips

Nina Simone's mid 60s recordings for Phlips Records collected in one box. A massive document of some of the most important years in the career of Nina Simone done at a time when she was really breaking out into a new style

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                                                  Best Single
                                                   of the Year

1. ITAL LION Abyssinia Good Vibrations

2. RED ASTAIRE Rollin' Stone (Erykah Badu remixed) G.A.M.M.

3. THE BEATCONDUCTOR Crazy in Kingston (Crazy in Love remixed) G.A.M.M.

4. MATTHIAS MATTY HEILBRONN Riddim Wawe Music

5. JUNIOR JACK Esamba Defected/Play It Again Sam

6. RED ASTAIRE Follow Me (D'Angelo remixed) G.A.M.M.

7. ANTIBALAS AFROBEAT ORCHESTRA Che Che Cole (voc, inst, Makossa, Makossa #3 Daptone Records

8. HIRD I Love You My Friends DNM

9. ANTONIO OCASIO Organic Energy Kenlou

10. AMP FIDDLER Love And War EP Genuine

11. LINDSTOM Thermometer Dropping Feedelity

12. DJ SHADOW GDMFSOB A&M Records

13. NICKODEMUS & OSIRIS feat Mino Cinelu Free Souls Giant Step

14. SLAM MODE Alpha Outtakes Spiritual Life Music

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