Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu – “Mama’s Gun” (Motown/UMGI, 00602557026931) returns on heavyweight 2xLP, capturing the Soulquarians’ live band glow tracked at Electric Lady and other storied rooms. Laid back drums, Fender Rhodes and saturated bass underpin Badu’s diaristic songwriting—“Bag Lady,” “Didn’t Cha Know,” “Green Eyes”—for an intimate, room mic’d warmth that digital never quite nails. This Back To Black series European pressing uses the expected catalog and barcode data and is the easiest, best sounding way to file the 2000 classic next to D’Angelo and Common. Essential neo soul on a format that does its analog soul justice.