Last night we went down to Sony Studios to hear some tracks from the soundtrack to Idlewild, the debut cinematic opus from Dre & Big (and longtime 'Kast lensman Bryan Barber).

After rolling the trailer (PS: WE ARE AMPED), manager Blue Williams played a handful of cuts off the accompanying LP, taking great care to remind us that the disc will be done "when it's done", and that things are constantly being tweaked and revised at Stankonia. He also kept mentioning how, like the film, this music was meant as a bit of a period piece - taking sonic cues from the '20s and '30s while still being relevant to 2006 radio.

After the backwards loops of an atmospheric intro track, we got to listen to some Big Boi solo songs ("Peaches", "The Train"), some Andre 3000 tracks, and a Sleepy Brown cut which we've already heard on two seperate Sleepy album advances as "Sunday Morning". The Big Boi songs were pretty incredible - extra heavy, with guitars, organs, and unconventional chord progressions. Think major-key takes on "Flip Flop Rock" (or what you secretly hoped the new Bubba Sparxxx record might sound like). Dre's new solo material veered even further away from "Hey Ya" into straight jazz territory that's both awkward and awesome.

The highlights were "Morris Brown" (paying tribute to the college who's marching band is featured on the song), containing an inescapable "My heart is like a marching band..." hook by Purple Ribbon R&B wunderkind Scar, and a woozy, "Whole World"-style banger mixing live drums and loops with juke-joint instrumentation. Both were being considered as lead-off singles to the soundtrack...but then Andre decided he wanted to rap again, and it's back to the lab. ANDRE 3000 IS RAPPING AGAIN. STAY TUNED.