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 »
A collection culled from some of the early releases on Stern’s Africa, while they were still distributing solely to Britain. The aim of this compilation is to present three of the major styles of African music that would appeal to the average newcomer to the music of the continent: Zairean soukous, Nigerian juju, and Ghanaian highlife. With a relatively narrow focus and a relatively small number of albums to take from (Stern’s only had 14 releases as of the compilation of these songs), Rounder does well in its job of displaying the best of the day. It’s somewhat surprising that some of the larger names weren’t present, but that’s not to the discredit of the album. While King Sunny Ade and I.K. Dairo aren’t present to showcase their juju, Ebenezer Obey (who also introduced the electric bass to the genre) steps in to provide a number, as does juju-pop musician Segun Adewale. On the soukous end, the legendary Tabu Ley provides perhaps the best example of basic soukous, though he has some stiff competition in his protégée vocalist M’Bilia Bel. More interesting, though, is Daouda, hailing from the Ivory Coast, with a slightly new take on the genre. In the highlife section, one finds an electronic expedition from the African Brothers, as well as a more jazz-based outing from the U.K.’s Hi Life International. While there are countless compilations of each of these genres available, the slight diversity inherent in showcasing them together provides a much-needed break from the monotony that occasionally breaks out with a single genre alone. For newcomers to the musics of Africa, this doesn’t make for a bad place to start at all. For the more experienced listener, a few more focused albums showing off more acts might be in order. – Adam Greenberg
