Normally during my commute from work I get lost in the endless stream of the 5:00 pm. Tunnel Twerkout and ads for the weekend’s blazin’ Hip Hop and R&B party. Fortunately for me, I had Now, Listen Again! to break the monotony. The hour from my office to my home somehow morphed while I listened to the album. Usually when I look down and realize I’ve zoned my way through ten tracks, I know the album isn’t worth listening to again. Here, that wasn’t the case.

Just on the heels for thanksgiving turkey, I mean, Easter rabbit stew comes “The Next…Now” compilation from the Much Luvv Fam out of Atlanta. If you notice from how they spell love L-U-V-V, they are very much hip-hop. Much Luvv Fam proves to be a very strong and diverse coalition with members that, aside from content, mirror everything from nerdcore backpack to reggae to early 90’s boom-bap. Punchlines? Check. The Art of Storytelling? Affirmative. Thump? Si. Gideon’s New King James’ Version Pocket Bible…? Yes, Please.

To paraphrase Nas, “I heard the album/and didn’t know what to write.” By the time Vocal Spor, the second album by emcee and fellow New Jerseyan Beneficence, came and went, winded down and faded to black, a familiar feeling washed over me. Something like annoyance or a deep, nagging ache inside; had I purchased this album, I would’ve wept. Had I downloaded it illegally, I would’ve asked for my money back. Perhaps I’m being slightly too harsh; maybe I’m some sort of audiophile; possibly, I spend too much time in The Lesson. Nevertheless, though I still shake my head at Noreaga for the word “garbation,” um…it seems applicable here.

Is it too early to mourn consciousness on the radio? Do you remember when popular rappers could still have some sort of meaningful subject matter? It seems that those days are long gone. LB remembers those days. He walks that fine line between acceptability by the underground and radio-friendly music. He’s not a wordsmith with incredibly strong imagery. His delivery is decent and his voice is okay. But coupled with his passion and decent production, he’s poised to be heard.

The political statements that newly reformed trio Erase Errata make on their third album Nightlife can be discussed ad nauseum, and while it’s always great to hear artists expressing their opinion through music I’m not going to pigeon-hole Nightlife because, regardless of whether you believe in what the band preaches, it’s a great record to dance to.

If you’re not especially familiar with Tiësto, the essential thing to know is that he’s one of the big names in trance. If you’ve ever so much as glanced at the dance section of a chain music store, there is a good chance your eyes have flitted across his name; simply making it to Best Buy is rare in a genre where there are few, if any, mainstream superstars. With its synth washes, extreme crescendos, and self-labeled “epic” emotional content, trance has developed a sound noticeably more commercial in its appeal —particularly when contrasted against the faceless, introspective progenitors of techno or the deeper, soulful aspects of traditional house. In Elements of Life, Tiësto moves into subtler territory. The album is clearly the work of someone with a trance background, but by and large rejects over-the-top convention in favor of a more intimate and personal sound.

A few years back I found myself backpacking through Central America trying to find myself. I wound up on the Honduran island of Roatan and what I came upon were black people, lots of them! Until then I’d been unacquainted with the Garifuna population, decedents of shipwrecked or escaped African slaves who interbred with indigenous Caribbean tribes. Throughout centuries of colonization and displacement, the Garifuna language has formed as an amalgamation of Spanish, French, West African, Carib and Arawak. This distinctiveness of language is heavily reflective of a truly unique people who have existed in exile ever since. But despite history’s hardships, the Garifuna spirit continues to thrive.

Everyone gets pumped for super groups. They rarely ever work out, constantly failing to live up to expectation, but the sheer possibility of a Wu-Tang reincarnate is always enough to cause a stir. If it makes sense, Polyrhythm Addicts are the anti-super group. Mr. Complex and Shabaam Shadiq have been making their rounds underground for years, making notable guest appearances on compilations like Rawkus’ Soundbombing, while DJ Spinna remains one of the more under-appreciated producers in recent memory. New member Tiye Phoenix, a vicious femcee, replaces former member Apani B Fly on their sophomore effort Break Glass…

First off: “With the nutrients and minerals of a Nubian queen your loving wakes me up like a taste of caffeine.” To be blunt, B. Blunt underwhelmed me. With lyrics such as these and questionable musical choices, Change is at best a mixed bag of sound. It vacillates between vintage guitar grooves and percussion on songs such as “Things Will” to a cacophony of corny lyrics and barely-there production on others like “Forgive Me”. With a few minor exceptions, Change sounds as if it were recorded in a basement through the purple haze of a Crown Royal bag. The vocals are consistently strained and the production teeters between 1980s synthesizers and Casio keyboards.

According to his MySpace page, (obligatory way to begin a sentence in 2007) Heartbeat Da Producer got his name after his people clowned him for wearing an overly clingy t-shirt one day. After listening to his debut, Phantasmagoric, it’s clear that this NJ based producer is capable of making beats that are tighter than any extra medium t-shirt. Heartbeat’s style is somewhere between Soul Supreme and 9th Wonder, with some definite Just Blaze aspirations mixed in. These aren’t just mere comparisons however, when you consider that Heartbeat’s biggest flaw is his lack of a distinct sound. Then again, when the end result sounds like this, maybe that’s not such a flaw after all. This album/mixtape not only showcases Heartbeat’s production; it’s also the coming out party (pause) for his four man crew, E-Mance Prok. Aside from EMP’s three emcees, Heartbeat enlists a slew of talented up and comers from across the eastern seaboard. In both sound and skill, Phantasmagoric is seriously reminiscent of the old Justus League mixtapes.

It has been nearly a decade since ‘70s soul darling Deniece Williams released an album, but that doesn’t mean her angelic voice has soured a single bit. On this collection of covers produced by Philly Soul session guitarist Bobby Eli, Williams proves that while she may have left the game, the game never left her.