The early to mid ’90s was a good time for lovers of smoothed out — but still soulful — female vocal groups. Not exactly a golden age, like the early ’60s were for girl groups, but pretty darn close. Whether it’s the glass shattering vocal skills of a group like En Vogue, the sweet-as-pie harmonies of Zhane, the sassy girl power of TLC, or the kick ass first, ask questions later style of Jade, many viable variations of the girl group were cranking out jam after jam. Call it New Jill Swing if you want, call it whatever you want … we call it awesome. (Mini playlist after the jump!)

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Lee Fields is ready for his closeup. In fact, the old school soul shouter is overdue for his Sharon Jones moment. Just like her, he sweats, screams and bleeds soul. Unlike her, he’s been doing it since the late ’60s, recording singles and albums for small labels and never really hitting but always delivering the 100% greasy goods. In the late ’90s, Fields hooked up with the people who soon started the Daptone label and began to gain some more widespread acclaim among people who were blown away by his dedication and determination (as well as his unhinged vocals, which sound like James Brown in the middle of one of his angel dust-fueled misadventures.) His new album on the Truth & Soul label is called My World and it’s one of his best.

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Involved with so many recordings since the 2006 album Olesi: Fragments of an Earth, avant-R&B/hip-hop queen Georgia Anne Muldrow could be accused of spreading herself thin. There was Pattie Blingh and the Akebulan 5’s Sagala (very nearly a one-woman show) and G&D’s The Message Uni Versa (with Dudley Perkins), smaller-scale collaborations (highlighted by Erykah Badu’s “Master Teacher”) and several productions (most recently showcased on Eagle Nebula’s Cosmic Headphones and the Ms. One compilation). Released the same day as Perkins’ Holy Smokes, an equally lengthy disc for which she also served as producer, Umsindo is a sprawling and somewhat disjointed 74-minute album. Placing an exclamation point — or maybe an interrobang — on Muldrow’s creative energy, it is a prime example of the new school rhythm & blues where progressive soul, experimental jazz, and organic hip-hop are indivisible.

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Maxwell spent part of the eight years between his third and fourth studio albums walking the earth, attempting to experience a life resembling that of a human. One of neo-soul’s most visible faces, along with Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo, he had been on the music industry’s hamster wheel for most of his twenties and needed some tangible inspiration. At some point he got down to scheming and quite a lot of recording; BLACKsummers’night is the first release of a trilogy, with BlackSUMMERS’night (rooted in gospel, with a twist, apparently) and Blacksummers’NIGHT (promised as a disc of slow jams) to follow. Just as he arrived in 1996, offering an alternate option to the exaggerated masculinity that was dominating contemporary R&B, he returns as the airwaves are stuffed with raging hormones expressed through auto-tune. He has made no concessions to them.

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Since Michael Jackson’s passing last week, a great deal of nonsense has hit news programs and the Internet. (Here is a case where Google might not be your friend.) From the disgraceful father of the deceased using every opportunity to promote his whatever, to countless ill-informed speculations, to reductions of Jackson’s life to a mere caricature, there has been enough errant garbage to nauseate the most casual fan. As a supplement to our own tribute from Stephen Thomas Erlewine, here is a modest attempt at shining some light on the more insightful and heartfelt writing that has surfaced during the last few days.

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