Everybody knows Motown was great, but few realize what an incubator the entire City of Detroit was for soul music in its heyday. For each artist on Berry Gordy’s label there were several more just as good who went with another major, or with a smaller, local indie. Some made their names in r&b, vocal groups or gospel before evolving into soul; others started in soul but had their greatest impact in funk. But even… more »
At eMusic, we take pride in being the place you hear about artists first. Whether it's through our eMusic Selects program - which brought you the first releases by Best Coast, Crystal Stilts, Strand of Oaks and more - or our Breaking Artist features, our editorial team is always on the grind to bring you the best new artists first. Our eMerging Artists station is your chance to be first on the Next Big Thing. more »
The office folks at Righteous Babe Records put this playlist together for eMusic. It has some choice songs from the Righteous Babe catalog but also some friends, openers and influencers we either work with or just plain like to play. Hope you enjoy! more »
Whether your tastes skew toward classics by The Smiths and Wilco or current cutting edge tastemakers like Sleigh Bells and Neon Indian, you're sure to discover something you love on Indie Hits, Past & Present. more »
While the legendary voices of such jazz icons as Billie, Ella and Sarah still ring true, subsequent generations of female jazz vocalists have taken the music in new directions, especially in the '90s, ranging from Cassandra Wilson's new-standard caress to Diana Krall's classics with a twist. Taking their lead, young singers over the last decade have been swinging the vocal tradition onto a new plateau with a pop sensibility. In the mix are tunes by… more »
This mix is not for the faint of heart, so all you groovy geezers take it easy with this one, and let the Daptone crew guide you through a soulful journey of some of our favorite party starters, and late night movers.
Get ready, cause we're gonna swing folks. There's a Happening going down in Bushwick, and we here at Daptone Records would like to share it with you. You don't have to be hip, but… more »
Nirvana and Pearl Jam. This is who you'll hear about when the topic of Seattle's music scene is brought up in a historical context. It makes sense. Alternative music has always been the face of the Seattle scene. But before Kurt and Eddie, there was Ray and Quincy and Jimi. Seattle has soul, and the hip-hop community in the 206 is the living proof. They love their hometown and the music reflects that. "Townfolk Hip-Hop"… more »
Turn your subwoofer into an impact crater. The best new and classic Drum & Bass, Dubstep and Jungle with smatterings of IDM and downtempo. Leaning towards the dark end of the spectrum, the only hard rule is it must have massive amounts of low end. You will be guaranteed to drive your neighbors insane with Mortar Bass Bomb. more »
After Elvis went into the Army and before the British Invasion, the years 1958-63 were rock's forgotten years. But they were the years that shaped the musical tastes of baby boomers and of acts from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to Bruce Springsteen and the Ramones. Hear the dance sensations, the one-hit-wonders, the girl groups and doo-wop singers, surfers and rockabilly twangers, the birth of Motown, the evolution of R&B into soul and so much… more »
Serving as a simultaneous soundtrack and compilation, Auf der Anderen Seite matches its topicality — the German-Turkish co-production has its partial roots in the Turkish minority community that thrives in modern-day Germany — with music that reflects the combination of past and the future at play. Coordinated by Shantel, who creates a number of shorter instrumentals throughout the disc (highlights including the spacy techno rampage of “Six Bars Later,” all the more effective for being so brief), its wide range can be a bit herky-jerky as a listen, but with numerous highlights nonetheless. It begins and ends with two interpretations of an excellent song, “Ben Seni Sevdugumi,” balancing out a modern-sounding, lower-key interpretation by Kazim Kayuncu and Sevval Sam with a older-sounding concluding take by Mackali Hasan Tunc, and with this as a model the disc explores from there. The contrasts avoid what has almost been a cliché of “traditional sounds/modern beats” around the world in favor of a variety of fusions, some taking on fresher takes of older styles straight up, such as Selim Sesler’s energetic “Kasap Havasi,” which a band such as Gogol Bordello could regard as a kindred effort. Meantime the Top 40-ready beats and slink of “I’ll Smash Glasses” show that this is a 21st century collection, not a re-created 19th century one. Elsewhere there’s reggae-tinged lopes via the Rootsman’s “Ta Travudia,” female chorales on “Heyamo,” and Shantel’s own superior take on the Afro Celt Sound System’s styles with “Pietons — Bucovina Dub.” – Ned Raggett
