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 »
Ceremony: A New Order Tribute is not the first album to pay tribute to the British techno-dance band New Order. Blue Order: A Trance Tribute to New Order appeared in 1997, and a decade later came True Faith: A Tribute to New Order. But this one is more ambitious, spreading across two CDs, and it can claim at least partial authorization from the group. Band member Peter Hook contributes the opening track, “Strangely Enough Impact,” an interview segment in which he reminisces about the late Tony Wilson, who first recorded New Order (as well as its predecessor, Joy Division) for Factory Records. Indeed, the album is in some ways as much a tribute to Wilson as to the group; it’s being released on what would have been his 60th birthday, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Tony Wilson Awards established in his memory by the Salford Foundation. The album isn’t so different from its predecessors, however, in that it consists of performances of New Order songs by a collection of unknown artists, some of whom are better than others. New Order’s bass-and-synthesizer-heavy sound tended to be more prominent than any individual song, and artists who try something different with the material tend to fare better than those who try to re-create it. In particular, Jimmy Oakes, who takes on both “Love Vigilantes” and “Bizarre Love Triangle,” brings something new by coming up with acoustic arrangements that emphasize the songs as songs, not just as dance arrangements. History’s “Sunrise,” with its guitar rock arrangement and the female vocals of Melissa Parker Caron, is another standout, and even Light Yourself on Fire’s “Chosen Time” brings an interesting wrinkle by boasting a vocal that is a heavy metal howl. The least interesting tracks are ones that are similar to New Order’s. – William Ruhlmann
