The archives
Every feature and listening list on the site, grouped by what you’re in the mood for. We’d rather publish a few guides worth rereading than a steady stream of filler.
Listening lists
Ordered lists with a reason for every record and a next step from each.
Listening guideStart Here: old school soul, funk and R&BA beginner's route into classic soul, funk, R&B and early hip-hop: how the eras connect, ten albums to start with, and how to keep exploring.
Listening guideEssential 1970s funk albums: where to startEight albums that each open a different strand of 70s funk, with what to listen for and what to play next.
Listening guideThe sound of 1980s R&B: a listening guideEight albums across the decade, from live-band grooves to drum machines, and what to listen for in each.
Listening guideQuiet storm: the sound, the era and albums to exploreThe late-night radio format that named a style of slow, adult R&B, and ten albums that define it.
Scene histories
How a label, a city or a radio format shaped the sound.
Listening guideMotownHow Motown's Detroit hit factory worked, what gives its records their sound, and which Motown albums to explore beyond the greatest-hits sets.
Listening guidePhilly soulWhat made Philadelphia soul sound so lush, who built it (Gamble & Huff, Thom Bell, MFSB), and the Philly soul albums to hear first.
Listening guideNew jack swingNew jack swing explained: how Teddy Riley fused R&B singing with hip-hop drums in the late 1980s, what it sounds like, and the key albums.
Listening guideEarly hip-hopHow early hip-hop grew out of Bronx block parties and funk breakbeats, the first rap records worth hearing, and the soul and funk originals behind them.
Decade guides
Listening guide1960s soulHow 1960s soul sounded in Detroit, Memphis, Chicago and Muscle Shoals, the albums that capture each, and where to go next in the story.
Listening guide1970s funkHow funk grew from James Brown's late-60s rhythm into P-Funk, the big funk bands, New Orleans grooves and disco, with the records that map the decade.
Listening guide1980s R&BThe three big currents of 1980s R&B (the Minneapolis sound, quiet storm balladry and new jack swing) and the producers and albums behind each.
Album guides
Album guideMarvin Gaye, What’s Going OnHow a Motown star took control and made a continuous, socially aware song cycle, and how to listen to it.
Album guideD’Angelo, Brown SugarA 1995 debut that reaches back to 70s soul through hip-hop production, and a good bridge to the classics.
Play
For the listening room
Once you’ve found the records, these guides help you hear them well.
Buying guideBeginner’s vinyl setupWhat a first record setup needs, how the parts connect, and three compatible combinations with their trade-offs.
Buying guideVinyl vs. CD vs. streaming for classic albumsThe honest trade-offs in sound, cost, editions and convenience, and which format suits which era.