A couple of weeks back we interviewed Tropics, the latest signing to Planet Mu.

Tropics’ debut release, the Soft Vision EP, isn’t out until October. But you can watch the beautiful video for the lead track below.

One of our most anticipated records of the year, Madlib’s Medicine Show #8: Advanced Jazz is out today on Stones Throw. An 80-minute journey through some of the more obscure jazz in Madlib’s collection, the latest instalment of the Medicine Show series might well be the best of the bunch so far.

Check out the video below, and order from the Stones Throw site.

American hip-hop has hit a particularly rich seam of late. There are literally thousands of MCs and producers pushing the boundaries of a genre that seems to be chronically overlooked by people who listen mainly to guitar bands.

There is a new wave of American hip-hop emerging; it is socially aware, often furiously political and, to a great extent, returning to the roots of the culture that gave birth to it. We have put together a selection of some of our current favourites; some of these artists are brand new, others have been releasing records for some time but are only just beginning to appear on the radar.

Of course, this is far from an exhaustive list. Think of it as a taster, and let us know your tips in the comments below.

Jay Electronica

Chances are, if you have even a passing interest in contemporary hip-hop, you will already know Jay Electronica.

Think about all the artists who have revolutionised a genre, perhaps by doing something entirely new, or perhaps by simply doing it better than anyone else. Well, Jay Electronica has been sporadically releasing tracks that are so far ahead of his peers it frequently makes this writer wonder what else he should bother listening to.

The Just Blaze-produced ‘Exhibit C’, his only ‘official’ release to date, went to the top of the US iTunes chart from Twitter buzz alone, while the fifteen-minute ‘Eternal Sunshine’ is a truly unique conception. But it is when he is telling simple, vignette-like stories that Jay Electronica is at his best and most heartbreaking – as in ‘Katrina The Levees Broke’, below.

Curren$y

Another New Orleans rapper, Curren$y has just released Pilot Talk, his major-label debut, on Def Jam. You would be hard pushed to find an MC with a more effortless delivery; lyrics about chicken nuggets, weed and NBA Live mingle seamlessly with hilarious bragging about the day-to-day life of a rapper on the up-and-up. Beautifully judged, eclectic production from Ski Beatz, best known for his work with Camp Lo, rounds off the package.

Check out Seat Change below – but ignore the characteristically horrible Snoop guest spot.

Trek Life

The conversational, deceptively simple flow that Trek Life has developed over almost five years of releases really comes into its own on Everything Changed Nothing, his latest LP. There is plenty of self-aggrandisement here, but by and large Trek seems most comfortable when rapping about his native California. In Oddisee he has found the perfect production partner; jazz-heavy, synth-tinged tracks abound – and Hudson Mohawke even makes an appearance halfway through.

Freddie Gibbs

The recent career of Freddie Gibbs is the perfect example of the rank incompetence that seems to have taken over Interscope. Indiana-based Gibbs was signed to the label (a division of Universal) for a matter of months, and was dropped without having released a single track.

Gibbs responded in the best way possible – by releasing two stunning mixtapes, chock full of rhythmic, 2Pac-esque lyricism. Check out the (actually quite embarrassing) video for National Anthem, from the Str8 Killa EP below.

Who are you listening to? Let us know in the comments.

Lupe posted a snippet of a new track, Go To Sleep, on Twitter earlier today – presumably the first single from his long-awaited third album Lasers.

On first listen it sounds like a pretty natural progression from The Cool. Clean version below.

Yes, I know this has been doing the rounds all day, but it is so, so good that it warrants posting here too. Cee-Lo Green has brought the LOL again.

A strong contender for track/video/lyric of the year. Now go back and listen to Cee-Lo Green Is The Soul Machine – and remember that it has the single greatest introduction ever committed to record.

Nils Frahm is a Berlin-based pianist, specialising in the sort of wistful, filmic improvisations that would make Yann Tiersen blush.

Unter / Über is the beautiful new single release from Frahm, out on the almost miraculously reliable Erased Tapes. Check out the Machinefabriek remix of Unter below. It has the feel of a stuck music box; infuriating, yet beautiful.

Frahm plays the Vortex in Dalston on 15 September. Highly recommended.

Some 20 million people have been affected by flooding in Pakistan. This has now become the worst humanitarian crisis facing the world today.

Despite the fact that 6 million people are in need of immediate assistance, aid agencies cannot give the necessary help because they simply do not have enough cash.

In an effort to try and raise some money to help the relief efforts, even in the smallest of ways, we have teamed up with 13 of our favourite bands and artists. The results is Get Set, Go., a compilation that we are proud to release today.

The compilation includes tracks (many of which are unreleased or rare) from Three Trapped Tigers, Tubelord, Shoes And Socks Off, Adebisi Shank, Internet Forever, worriedaboutsatan, Shield Your Eyes and many more.

It will set you back just £5 – and every single penny of the proceeds will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal.

Click here for the full tracklisting, and to buy now. Thank you!

I used to have a recurring dream. In it, I would be running through a series of underwater tunnels. The tunnels were transparent, and outside all I could see was a vast mass of cloudy, stagnant water, the colour of algae. Gradually, as I ran, the perspective would change and I would begin to watch myself from above, the ‘camera’ corkscrewing outwards. As I saw myself receding into the distance the water would start to take on new colours; it would become iridescent, shafts of blue and yellow gradually rising to the surface.

As it turns out, this is a pretty accurate visual description of the lead track from Tropics’ forthcoming EP. A sprawling, bubbling piece, Soft Vision somehow manages to be both light as air, and rooted in ’80s synth-pop bombast. Taking a much more pop-oriented approach than some of his obvious peers, 22-year old Chris Ward will see his first release on Planet Mu in October.

Hi Chris. What are you listening to at the moment?

Eyelid Movies by Phantogram. Reminds me of Portishead and some other older pop influenced electronica.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process?

Recently I’ve been taking different approaches to writing. I used to find using the same approach would lead to very similar sounding songs. I usually start out with some synth backing on Logic and a midi keyboard but most recently I’ve been chopping up some samples to a beat and recording some electric guitar to them. It doesnt matter what ‘plugins’ and drum sounds you’re trying to use at the start – just get the idea down.

Your tracks seem to demonstrate a pretty acute pop sensibility. Do you set out to make ‘accessible’ music, or is that just a by-product of your tastes?

I’ve never really thought about my music like that until recently. I used to create more abstract and darker tracks but I drifted away from that. I guess you could say I started looking into more ‘pop’ oriented music yeah, but I try to keep an abstract vibe running through. I find listening to all the new music out there very influential but I don’t get round to doing that as much these days.

Tropics – Soft Vision by Tropics

Any plans for a live show? Or do you see yourself primarily as a studio-based artist?

I’m working on a live show with a friend at the moment which is pretty exciting. I did see myself as a primarily studio-based artist when I started out but didnt want to get stuck in that category. I thought it would be more interesting to perform a sort of minimalistic band with instruments and programmed drums/backing live. I think I’ll start out this way as I’ve done a few local gigs in my town with this kind of setup and it’s gone well. Most of the Tropics demos and the tracks I’m working on now for my album are sort of ‘live-friendly’ which is something I keep in mind when producing these days. For instance, I try not to have more synths in my tracks than me and my bandmate have hands.

What should we be listening to? Any recommendations?

Well other than the Phantogram album which has just looped back round in my room for the second time, I’d recommend Baths – Cerulean and Tame Impala – Innerspeaker. Enjoy!

Perennially overlooked Washington rapper Wale has just released his latest mixtape – More About Nothing, a collaboration with DJ Omega.

In ‘Strings’ Wale, known to the IRS as Olubowale Victor Folarin (and no, we can’t think of a better name either), was responsible for one of the best tracks of 2009. Demand for the tape has already crashed Rap Radar. We’ll host it here later; in the meantime, check the Sendspace link and tracklisting below.

More About Nothing – Sendspace.

Oddisee is undoubtedly one of the most consistently great ‘underground’ producers working today. The only problem is that he is also very consistent in his poor choice of MCs. I have no idea how, but he has managed to find some of the most embarrassingly bad British rappers you can imagine, and had them guest on his tracks.

No longer. Oddisee has just completed a full-length with California-based Trek Life, and together they have made what might well turn into one of the albums of the year.

Check out ‘As The World Turns’ below. The album, Everything Changed Nothing, is available now on iTunes.