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 »
If ever there was a mixed bag, this is it. Billy Joe Shaver’s well-deserved, substantial reputation as a songwriter has been established by his straightforward, heartfelt narratives whose melodic craft is elegant and deceptively simple: In other words, he makes what he does look easy. And while many have covered his songs, no one performs them like him. This well-meaning tribute album to an American cultural giant is no doubt well-meaning. There are a three generations of songwriters and musicians on this concert, form Billy Joe’s own time are Guy Clark, as raggedly graceful a Texas bard as there is, with Verlon Thompson; Texas-cum-Nashville stalwart; Sonny Throckmorton; cowboy-roots rock songwriter Joe Ely and his Lubbock compatriot, the original cosmic cowboy Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Coming up immediately after are hardcore honky tonk man, Dale Watson; Texas frat boy and poet-hero Robert Earl Keen, and the enduring Geezinslaws. The younger generation is represented by Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, Jack Ingram, Todd Snider, and Cory Morrow. The performances are wildly uneven. Shaver is in great form here except when backed by Texas barroom country rockers Diamondback Texas on “Georgia on a Fast Train” which feels forced. But his mini set of “You Wouldn’t Know Love” (done in blues a cappella), “Try And Try Again,” ad his latter day classic “Tramp on Your Street,” are just fantastic. Guy Clark’s “Randall Knife” is, as usual, powerful. Willis and Robison score big on Shaver’s “Ride Me Down Easy.” Ely’s “Honky Tonk Masquerade” is resolutely fine, as is Gilmore’s version of Billy Joe’s “Hearts-A Burnin’. The rest falls short of the mark, not for lack of trying, not for any reason except that the gap between the first and third generations is by and large unbridgeable in terms of literacy, the mechanics of the craft, and the heroic times the elders lived through. Enough said. – Thom Jurek
