De La Soul, photo by Robert Adam Mayer

Every Friday, Relix surveys the wealth of new music released over the past seven days and selects dozens of standouts for the Relix Staff Picks playlist. Read on for the highlights from this week’s batch.

It’s been nearly three years since the world lost Dave Jude Jolicoeur, a.k.a Trugoy the Dove, one of the three founding members of De La Soul. Dave was a pioneer, whose playfully experimental approach to New York’s boom-bap sound, in collaboration with Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer and Vincent “Maseo” Mason, turned the high-school friends into essential, immortal influences on hip-hop’s emergence as a personal and iconoclastic art form. Today, his legacy roars again across Cabin in the Sky, De La Soul’s 10th studio album.

Released via Mass Appeal as part of the ongoing Legend Has It… campaign, Cabin in the Sky is De La Soul’s first release since 2016’s And the Anonymous Nobody… and a full-length record of Posdnous and Maseo’s reckoning with the loss of their lifelong friend. Across 20 tracks, the duo look back on their legacy and forward to their future with a warm, soulful and matured version of their classic off-kilter sound, featuring horns, strings and, as always, an eclectic palette of samples. Plug 2’s presence resounds throughout by way of vocals and production recorded before his passing, and guests like Killer Mike, Pete Rock, Little Dragon’s Yukimi, Common, Nas and Black Thought join in to pay their respects.

“Cabin in the Sky lives in that space between loss and light,” Posdnuos said in a statement. “It’s about the pain we carry and the joy that somehow still finds us. This album is therapy and celebration at the same time. There’s a vulnerability in these songs, because everything we’ve been through has brought us to this moment, to this album, honoring what we’ve lost and lifting up what still remains. That duality. That’s life, and that’s De La.”

On the other end of the Relix spectrum is Goose, who commemorated a breakthrough year of musical achievement this morning with the surprise release of Live at Madison Square Garden. Recorded during their debut staging at The World’s Most Famous Arena on June 28, the indie-jam quartet’s latest sprawling live collection captures that exhilarating sold-out show with the full 19-track setlist – enough to fill a seven-LP box set. Among many unmissable moments is the grand finale of “Arcadia,” featuring the Everything Must Go horn section of Stuart Bogie, Dave Nelson and Andrew McGovern.

For the young at heart, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman’s Not for Kids Only saw its first-ever vinyl release today as an extended deluxe edition of the cult favorite 1993 album. The folk-fusion icons’ take on children’s music is every bit as rewarding and unpredictable as the rest of their acclaimed collaborations. Hana Gustafson, Relix’s deadicated expert on all things Garcia/Grisman, spoke to the project’s significance:

“A previously unissued rendition of “When First Unto this Country” captures a flawlessly mixed amalgamation of mandolin excellence and the tale of a stranger in a new land’s quest for the “fair maiden Nancy” [his own heart’s true delight]. Filling out the four-part addition to the timeless set are unheard versions of the color-calling classic “Jenny Jenkins,” the lullaby-like “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” and the elegant “Shenandoah.” Not For Kids Only is a must for the children of deadheads and bluegrass consumers, as they set off on their own parental journey. May the next generation grow up claimin’ “There Ain’t No Bugs On Me,” “No I won’t wear yellow/ For I’d never get a fellow,” and more. Nostalgia awaits!”

This week’s batch of Relix Staff Picks also includes new music from Sharp Pins, John Scofield & Dave Holland, Wendy Eisenberg, Aimee Mann, Robert Lester Folsom, Thee Headcoats (and Thee Headcoatees), The Gnomes, The Westerlies, The Far Sound, The Bros. Landreth, Tiberius, cosmic collective, Smirk and Dina Ögon, among many other gems. Tune in here.