By virtue of (Charlie) Murphy's law, low-budget Hi-Fi music will always reign supreme over low-budget lo-fi. Somewhere Wavves is absorbing the shots subliminally fired by the title of Madlib's latest Medicine Show: Low-Budget Hi-Fi Music. One of the most overlooked things in Otis Jackson's bizarro record-a-month odyssey has been the artwork, iconography, and distinct worlds conjured by Madlib, Jeff Jank, and their gifted crew of collaborators. Granted, titles like Flight to Brazil or High Jazz are self-explanatory, but a name like Low-budget Hi-Fi music captures the Beat Konducta's raw and anachronistic aesthetic: no frills, deep grooves, tunes intended for old souls and lovers of the esoteric (no 7L). Having surveyed operations at the Loop Digga's hideout, it's as cost-effective as you can find. The only overhead is the rent at a Highland Park Masonic temple and fuel (Lucas Valley haze, coffee, wax). It's part of the reason why he can churn out a dozen records in one year without bankrupting himself. The latest leak from Vol. 11 finds 'Lib in Supreme Team mode with Karriem Riggins. The volume also promises tracks from the never-before-heard second Jaylib album -- news that has caused several heads heads to explode (I write this from the hospital as we speak). Stones Throw also recently unleashed an old Madlib remix of Dilla's "The $" to promote the limited edition Hella International Box Set. I have not heard the set so I cannot recommend it -- although my Angeleno provincialism makes me wary to tout anything with the word, "Hella" in the title. Download: MP3: Supreme Team (Madlib & Karriem Riggins) "Interview #4080" MP3: J Dilla "The $ (Madlib Remix)"

Mixing Up the Medicine