People shopping for this cd may or may not have heard the other YNQ album or Madlib's Blue Note thing, and they may or may not be acquainted with Lootpack or Quasimoto and the Jaylib and Madvillain compilations. Whatever you know or don't know about Madlib, the smoky, jazzy and barely disconnected vibe of this album is both totally unique and long overdue. People have been trying to catch this vibe for fifteen years, but most producers and musicians don't have enough respect for the genres they try to loot, or get too bogged down in the lofty ambitions of their projects to let the music happen. Angles Without Edges is jazz, and it is hip hop, although it is not too wrapped up in reaching the audiences of both genres to lose touch with its singular identity.
Madlib is the quintet, in case you don't know yet, and his keyboard skills are fairly rudimentary, but this just means that he doesn't plan to give himself tracks to show off on, but just focuses on using what he does know to make great songs. He uses hip hop style drums and bass along with mostly Rhodes and Clavinet parts over that, and not too much else. This nether region between rap and jazz is tricky because it pretty much lacks melody. What passes for a song's defining motive is usually a simple "ensemble" riff or maybe just a groove, but the groove is always there, and this always feels good. Maybe not everybody will appreciate it, but it is the beginning of what could be a very important development in modern music.

Madlib is one of the most innovative musicians or [producers] in today's hip-hop and jazz scene. Going by different aliases and names all with the same sound, Madlib has gathered new and old music alike, to give to listeners of every age. With obvious jazz percussionism and rhythms, the sound of Yesterday's New Quintet, uses arrangements, intermissions, and hidden vocals to stir up a lounge feel. The beginning track, Prelude, starts us off with a serious laid back mood. The bass and drum effect prepares you for a chillout session, though this isn't really labeled as a chillout CD. The 2 tracks, Uno Esta and Hot Water, with the harmony and creativity of the Fender Rhodes reminds of the hip hop feel. Almost every track places you in either a mood to move with the three stripes of Adidas or write a hook of your own. The last track is an excellent way to seal the album shut; Broken Dreams is a bland yet haunting ballad with a repeating harmony. Angels Without Edges may have to grow on you, but eventually you'll be able to curl up and chill, write, vibe, open up, and converse to rhythms of the creative and innovative, MADLIB.

Although seemingly an obscure musical quartet, this is actually another alias for one of Hip-Hop's busiest (and consistently Excellent) producers "Madlib". By taking a decidedly jazz approach to the composition of songs (with all the instruments played by Mablib himself), and then carefully overlaying, or in some cases very subtly layering fragments of Hip-Hop alongside the prominent jazz improvisation. This rough cut N Paste approach to the development of tracks, allows Madlib to wildly vary the degree to which the tracks are imbued with beats & grooves. With some tracks sounding more in line with contemporary jazz (albeit with a decidedly abstract feel), and several running along similar lines on his other jazz/Hip-Hop Fusion album "Shades of Blue" with the layering of instrumental downbeat Hip-Hop grooves clearly audible, and creating a far more fusionist sound...and its probably these tracks that are the most accessible tracks on the album, creating a largely carefree & freewheeling sound. The later segment of the album touches on the more experimental end of Jazz with creative arrangements and doubled up sampling, and a refined element of Avant garde instrumentation quickly finding it's feet. Jazz Purists may bemoan the lack of coherence throughout the album (skipping from style to style in a decidedly carefree manner), but the rest of us that welcome the idea of a predominantly instrumental album, will find much to enjoy....highly recommend.

Simply put, I really like how this record grooves.
A lot of instrumental hip-hop-ish records tend to just run a beat
for two or three minutes, but not Madlib (performing here as YNQ though he plays everything himself). He plays on top of the grooves on various instruments and gives the tracks a lot of life and breath.

Not that this is a hip-hop record, instrumental or otherwise;
this belongs in the jazz section, just not next to the Coltrane or even the George Howard. It's different and funky. Unlike the album title, the music has MAD edge. Definitely for fans of DJ Shadow and his ilk.

I've been searching for jazz with hip hop influence for a while and I stumbled upon Yesterday's New Quintet. The first listen didn't grab me, but by the third I realized this musiq was genius. The sound is unique - it's soothing yet bumpin'. If you are a hip-hop/r&b fan looking to try some jazz this is the CD fo' ya.