OUTKAST

“Idlewild”

[****] (Four stars)

LaFace

Dan Aquilante wrote about OutKast’s new album Sunday. Here’s an abridged version of his review.

OutKast’s CD “Idlewild” defies pigeonholing – it’s a soundtrack record where some music is included in the movie, some is inspired by the movie, and other tracks have little to nothing to do with the film of the same name that stars Andre 3000 and Big Boi.

That said, this is one of the most ambitious, far-reaching collections of the year. It pushes the back-to-the-future envelope to the point where the music of the 1930s crashed head-on with contemporary hip-hop.

It isn’t a perfect CD. With 25 tracks, it is uneven, ranging from brilliant to just OK, but on the duo’s first collaborative effort in six years, they display the unusual courage to risk failure.

The risk pays off more often than not. When the guys hit their mark – as they do on songs like “Mighty O,” “Morris Brown,” “The Train” “PJ & Rooster” and “In Your Dreams” – they’re outstanding. It’s as listenable as the best of 2003’s Grammy-winning double disc “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.”

Download: “In Your Dreams.”