Yasiin Gaye, by Amerigo Gazway
It all begins with an idea.
A Nashville-born DJ re-orchestrates multi-tracks from Marvin Gaye’s 70’s discography and overlays them with vocals from some of Mos Def’s iconic songs from the 2000’s. What emerges is an impressive reimagining of the Motown sound in our modern moment—music, social commentary, dripping cool, and all. Every track here is golden, and that’s as rare as it sounds.
Eternally Even, by Jim James
It all begins with an idea.
The frontman for the critically acclaimed, Kentucky-bred My Morning Jacket breaks out on the second of his solo albums, this being TA’s personal favorite. Described by one reviewer as possessing a “frayed, psychedelic-soul aesthetic”, James pairs haunting synth-heavy backgrounds with muddily-enunciated social commentary and an undeniably soul groove to produce an alt-rock sound that makes you almost want to dance and think in the corner by yourself.
Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann’s film
It all begins with an idea.
Few might guess it, but this was one of the more influential albums this Nigerian man listened to as a young lass. Think new and reimagined classics like “Material Girl” by Madonna, “Nature Boy” by Nat King Cole (yes, not Bowie!), “Lady Marmalade” by Patti LaBelle, “Rhythm of the Night” by Debarge…and the list goes on. This album flips each classic on its head—in genre and feel—in order to deliver a deluge of glorious sound. Extra points if you watch the movie!
Choose your Weapon, by Haitus Kaiyote
It all begins with an idea.
This is the brilliant second album released by the Melbourne-based “future soul” quartet in 2015. You should not only be forgiven but also applauded for claiming to hear flamenco, Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, prog, Highlife music, JRPG soundtracks, Bjork, or other sounds in this record. Its provide the connecting motif and organize the chaos respectively. This “more-is more” musical approach is buoyed by killer bass lines, expert audio mixing, and melodies beautifully sung (chanted?) by Nai Palm, the band’s enigmatic frontwoman and guitarist.
Haitus Kayote is very likely one of your favorite artist’s favorite artists—in fact, samples from this album underpin some of the greatest hip hop/R&B songs of the last decade (Duckworth by Kendrick, anyone?). If I am banished to a desert island before I shuffle off this mortal coil, this will be 1 of the 3 albums I take with me.
Hot Buttered Soul, by Isaac Hayes
It all begins with an idea.
Released in 1969 on the tail end of the life of Stax, the category-defining, Memphis, Tennessee-based record label that shaped the very term “soul” , this album was the legendary singer and actor’s coming out party. Simply put, it crowned him as the successor to Otis Redding—sound and stature—after Redding’s untimely death.
The word orchestral is often [rightly] used to describe both the musical organization and sound of this album. Think 10-minute long ouvres laced with organ and strings-based soul riffs, tense musical accelerandos striving for the oft-reached crescendo, and confident-yet-understated bass vocals cutting across it all. I keep thinking about John Williams and how, in the most fulfilling sense, this album’s sound ebbs and flows like a Southern soul version of a Williams score, as if deliberately written to be paired with some visual masterpiece. Perhaps life is the visual masterpiece for which this album is the score.
1st Born Second, by Bilal
It all begins with an idea.
Released in 2001, this album dropped smack dab in what many people would call the renaissance of the Neo Soul movement. It’s no surprise that many of its tracks feature some of the greats of the early 2000s Neo soul movement – J Dilla, Ledisi, Common, to name a few. Bilal has since become a mainstay in the soul/R&B genre, easily recognizable by his alto/tenor, pitch-defying, lazy-on-the-beat voice reminiscent of a laidback Prince or Debarge. This album and everything about it—the way it moves, the subjects Bilal touches on this, the moment in time it captures—is beautiful and worth a deep listen. Sit back and recharge with this one.
Little Ghost, by Moonchild
It all begins with an idea.
Have I not mentioned this album/group? Well then, I’ve been slacking. Enter Amber, Andris and Max, an LA-based R&B-meets-“twee” group that met as students at Uni of Southern California’s music program (sensing a theme?). This album is, in a way, an antithesis to Choose Your Weapon by Haitus Kaiyote. The underlying music here is similarly a product of explosion of layered instruments and sounds; however, the sounds’ arrangement into airtight harmonies, orthodox time sigs, ethereal vocals, and single-state emotional journeys feels like a grand departure from the dissonant everything about HK. Sonically, Little Ghost is—I guarantee you—the best music you will play on your audio setup anytime soon…by a mile (or km). I’m willing to bet on it. Every sound on the record is so well balanced and present that the album never fails to arrest me the moment I turn it on. “Joy” and “hope” are very grand and yet very apropos feelings I get when I listen to this one, and I hope it does the same for you.
The Listening, by Little Brother
It all begins with an idea.
The story goes that two young [American] football players at North Carolina Central Univerity (NCCU) shed their pads in 2001, picked up mics, and paired with a hermetic student obsessed with stripping soul songs for parts on his computer to create something that made them move.
Little Brother was born, and this, the group’s first album, grabbed the music industry’s attention quickly. With unconventional soul and jazz samples laced throughout (before these became synonymous to Kanye), poetic lyrics about the mundane punctuated by melodic choruses, and a humorous framing device.
Years later, it’s incredible to see that this oddly-named group from Durham, North Carolina gave us one of the most revered MCs (Phonte) and hip hop producers (9th Wonder) to grace the mic and TR-808. Oh, and one of the best hip hop albums not talked about enough.
Body Talk, by Robyn
It all begins with an idea.
It took me years, technically decades, to heed my brother’s counsel and listen to Robyn. And when I finally sat down and listened, I just kept coming back and back and back to Body Talk.
Released in 2010, this album is technically a compilation of two earlier EPs. The music here is dance-pop on a high: the writing is so sharp and catchy, the electro-futuristic sounds are edgy yet still accessible, and Robyn is just dripping of cool on this record when she belts lines like “Stockholm syndrome and misery, there’s a penalty for love crimes.”
I’m not original here - almost everyone points to this album as THE Robyn album. So if you don’t trust me, well, trust everyone else.