No tea and biscuits?! Definitely a bummer. But don’t be fooled by the flippant title of this collection. The emotional output of this EP runs far deeper than such superficial disappoints. In fact The Shelltoes might be doing themselves a disservice by saying that their music blends jazz, hip-hop (this part is true) and “that feeling when you open the pantry and there’s no English Breakfast left. Or there is, but there’s no milk. Heartbreaking stuff.” Far from the novelty that verbiage suggests, The Shelltoes – made up of two Aussies, DJ/producer Glen Coates and vocalist Kyla Sexton – are a soulful pair with a distinct sound making this free EP worthy of your hard drive space. My faves are the thick, simmering soul of “Porgy” and the Nightmares on Wax-ish “Requiem.” Listen & download below. Definitely be looking out for more from these guys in the future.

More info: http://www.shelltoesmusic.com/
Download I Was Told There Would Be Refreshments

Thanks to the lovely EMusic I recently grabbed Lisa Shaw’s brand new album “Free” and I’m pretty much in love with it. It’s full of the soulful downtempo-y, housey goodness you would expect. Lisa Shaw does this better than anyone else so grab this album for a wonderful end-to-end listen.

She has just released a video for the track “Tomorrow” which will probably draw Sade-comparisons. I don’t necessarily think it’s the strongest track on the album, but still good.

Here’s a bonus for you while I’m at it.
Download “Can You See Him”

And check out the interview over at Nu-Soul Mag

Download Amanda Diva’s Spandex, Rhymes & Soul EP

Res, one of the most talented artists to be continually overlooked by the label system, and Talib Kweli have formed a group – Idle Warship. Personally I’d like to see Res collabo with someone a little….edgier, maybe, than Talib but maybe this will help get her some well-deserved shine until those Pharrell tracks she’s supposedly working on actually drop. You can check out several tracks on their MySpace. The one being most talked about is Industry Diary which recounts their industry drama over Alicia Keys’ “Diary”. Eskay has the download link over here,
and like him, I have to credit InverseHipHop for bringing it to my attention.

Indie-hop artist Domer has embarked on an innovative ‘open source’ music project. He made 5 acappellas available for download and invited producers to create their own tracks around them. The results are now available for download. All the various versions can be downloaded for free, and you can create your own version of the EP. Our selections are below, but head over to:
www.reverbnation.com/MyFavoriteEp
to create your own.

You can also download a special “My Favorite Mixtape” here.

This comes via SoulTracks.com’s Choice Track feature
The wonderful Conya Doss has a new album (her 4th) coming out and has kindly made a preview track available for free. Right click HERE to download “Let’s Do Something Tonight”. To be honest, it’s not my favorite track she’s ever done, but it’s still Conya, so its definitely worth a listen.