the album 'undun' by the roots.
this is the sgt.pepper of hip hop,groundbreaking.
the roots are not your run-of-the-mill 'gangsta' hip hop act,they are real musicians,been together many years,14 or 15 albums each one a progressive work of art.
seen them live 5 times(they dont get over here often) the live show is superb.lots of vids on you tube,check them out,you will be surprised.
I know i'm an old bloke but trust me,I bought hip hop before it was even called hip hop!!

Steve wants you to know he's going to dig out his old Odyssey CDs to hear dance/funk at its very best!! Don't anybody get in a tizz about that fest.....there will not be any more 70s line-ups in Steve's career - he has his reasons, and doesn't need to explain them to anybody, not even me...

also check out k'naan somalian/canadian rapper.fela kuti,gil scot heron,odd future wolfgang kill them all(greatname eh! PARENTAL ADVISORY HERE,LOL)
and of course MOTOWN/NORTHERN SOUL!!

Rachel- YESSS. Gotta love me some Funk.
Jimbo- Your eclectic music tastes is one of the many reason I love you dude! (I'm gonna youtube your suggestions when I get home from work tonight!)
Fatfishie- I've recently been thrown into the 90s with both Tragically Hip and Blues Traveler playing along with Steve in the Studio:



and a liberal amount of the wonderfully transporting Tin Hat Trio:

Oooh Ana, I like that Tin Hat Trio track. I'll have to dig out some more to listen later.

Something here that may interest you.

A guy over here has a project going called "The State Of Music". Basically, he is featuring 50 different bands from USA, one from each state, all of who must be unsigned or signed to an independent label. A different state features on each blog.

He is releasing a series of 6 albums from it, the profits of which go to a homeless charity over here "Camden Calling".

Check out the blog here www.choosemymusic.org/the-cloud-mix

Fishy! That's such a cool link, thank you! I actually really like the act they chose for NY! I can wait to check out the rest of them.

I like Tin Hat Trio because while they definitely have their own style and their touch is in everything they do, they have a wide variety of moods and influences. That particular album is quite varied from track to track but still cohesive.