Madlib has resurrected his much-praised Beat Konducta project for a “Rock Konducta” album to be released on Stones Throw Records sometime later this year.  In the meantime he is issuing a limited edition 7-inch “Rock Konducta 45″ with two new tracks (and we mean limited – only 300 pressed and to be sold at an upcoming San Francisco show).  One of the new tracks is The Mad March (below) which shows us the direction the new album will be taking.  The Madlib Invazion never sleeps…

Outcome is one of two bonus tracks featured on the deluxe edition of Supastition’s recent “The Blackboard EP” release.  It was produced by German producer Microphono, who is 1/2 of the Phantom Notes production team with Rik Marvel and is up to the standards we expect from the North Carolina emcee.  Buy the deluxe edition CD here or if you are strictly digital you can “name your price” and download the album from Supastition’s Bandcamp page here.

The great jazz bassist Christian McBride and his group Inside Straight have just released “People Music” – their second album together and the follow up to 2009′s amazing “Kind of Brown” (both released on Mack Avenue Records).  Like the previous record, this is straight-ahead acoustic jazz at it’s finest, a set that builds off of the best of the hard-bop tradition, while also throwing in some spiritual and progressive jazz elements.  Many of the tracks are reminiscent of the (criminally overlooked) Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note recordings of the early to mid 1970′s.  The crack band (Steve Wilson on saxophone, Peter Martin on piano, Warren Wolf on vibes and Carl Allen on drums – with drummer Ulysses Owens and pianist Christian Sands sitting in on a couple tracks) are on point the whole time and the interplay between the musicians is as good as it gets.  “People Music” is everything a modern jazz record should be – drawing on the best of jazz’s past while still moving the music forward.  Watch a video on the making of the album below and grab a copy here.

De La Soul showed up to “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to perform their classic Jenifa Taught Me (watch here) and then stuck around to throw down yet another De La classic with A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays as a nice bonus online exclusive.  Check it below, and – yah – the boys (who have a new album coming out this fall) have definitely still got it.

Check out this nice 60 minute mix by Pete Rock made for Boiler Room NYC back on April 25th.  In addition to listening below, you can watch a video of the man performing it live here if you are so inclined.  Nothing groundbreaking here, but a great listen and a nice peak inside the musical mind of a true hip-hop legend.

Here we have the first single off of Mayer Hawthorne’s upcoming new album “Where Does This Door Go” due out July 16th.  Her Favorite Song (featuring UK songstress Jessie Ware) is a bit different than the rigid soul-revival style we have come to expect from Hawthorne, but it still has that sound that only he seems capable of coming up with these days.  Listen below.

Were you thinking that there can’t possibly be more unheard Dilla beats out there?  Well, you would be wrong.   The newest batch comes from Mahogani Music and it is a fantastic collection of twenty (yah, twenty!) rare Jay Dee beats that picks right up where the label’s “Dillatroit” release from last year left off.  “Lost Tapes, Reels & More” is a beat-head’s dream and fan’s of Dilla know what to expect (check the three minute track below featuring bits and pieces from the album).  Not a surprise that this is a super-limited 2LP set, so if you want to cop one you will need to act quick.

Noah Vinson is an up-and-coming emcee out of the Bronx who has released the track Y.G.A., which will appear on his upcoming “Young & Proud” mixtape due out later this year.  The song features a great 1970′s-sounding soul sample which matches up perfectly with Vinson’s smooth flow.  Y.G.A. stands for Young, Gifted & Authentic – and so far he is representing that in full.   Listen and download below.

“Wildcat” is a short film by Kahlil Joseph exploring (in a very meditative way) the little known African-American cowboy and rodeo culture in Grayson, Oklahoma.  It was shot during the annual rodeo in the town, which attracts contestants from all over the Midwest and southern USA.  Joseph (who is part of the What Matters Most collective) has worked in the past with Shabazz Palaces, Seu Jorge and Flying Lotus – and FlyLo also happens to provide the sparse musical score for “Wildcat” (the pair worked together on this short film that accompanied the release of “When The Quiet Comes”, FlyLo’s stellar 2012 album).  Watch the entire film below.

The Child of Lov is a singer/songwriter/producer from Amsterdam who made quite the splash in the blogosphere last year and who has now released his full-length self-titled debut album.  The sound is a unique blend of psychedelia and funk and is definitely unique – not many newcomers can get both Damon Albarn, DOOM and Thundercat to guest on their first record.  As far as the DOOM track goes, it is a weird and wild ride, check it below and head over to Double Six Records to order the album in a couple different formats.