Neo Soul -- Recently Added -- CD  

Brilliant work from Adriana Evans -- quite possibly her greatest record so far, and that's saying a lot, given how much we've loved everything she's done! There's a perfect, professional vibe to the whole set that's really amazing -- soul music like soul music's supposed to be done -- tight, yet ...

Damn wonderful music from Eric Roberson -- an artist who never lets us down! Eric's got a style that's unlike anyone else we can think of -- warm, wonderful, and full of joy -- without any posturing modes at all, and a down to earth sensibility that's kept him at the top of our playlists for years ...

There's no escaping the Detroit in the grooves here -- as the album's got a classic sound that stretches back to the city's crossover days at the end of the 60s -- that magical time when soul, rock, and funk acts were playing to the same crowds all over town -- and breaking down a lot of musical ...

The genesis of a modern soul genius -- Eric Roberson's first album, finally back in print, and filled with a wonderful assortment of early work! Eric kind of set this one up as an introduction to his wide range of talents -- including notes in the booklet about each tune and the story of its ...

Brilliant work from America's next great soul singer -- the incredible Eric Roberson, one of the freshest male soul vocalists in years! At one level, Eric's work is steeped in the classic styles of Donnie Hathaway and Marvin Gaye -- but at another, it's completely without cliche or stylistic ...

If this is an appetizer, we can't wait until the full meal! Eric Roberson initially put this set together to whet people's appetite for his next album -- which is still a long way off -- but in doing so, he realized that he had way more tracks than he thought for the original EP, and he decided to ...

There's plenty of soul in smooth jazz, if you know where to look -- and fortunately, the folks at Jazz FM turned to Expansion Records for this collection -- home to a wealth of smooth jazzy grooves over the years! The package features loads of great contemporary tracks -- both jazzy soul and ...

Raw, funky deep soul from Brooklyn based Tre Williams and the Revelations -- with a sound rooted in the classic southern sounds of Hi Records and others, but feels fresh and current -- not so much in the throwback vein of others in the soul and funk underground -- but a timelessly gritty sound! ...

Instant genius from the mighty Eric Roberson -- easily one of the greatest soul singers we've ever heard -- and that's saying a lot, given how many records we've listened to over the years! Eric's one of the few artists who can bring a smile to our face from the very first note of a new album -- ...

A brilliant second set from Jose James -- and that's saying a lot, given that his debut was already a classic in our book! The sound here is a little more full, and a little more confident -- a magical blend of James' raspy vocals with some jazz and funk-inflected rhythms -- never overdone, and ...

A bigger and more uniquely soulful sound for Triple P -- aka cosmic DJ production duo Platinum Pied Pipers, rechristened as PPP with the addition of vocalists Coultrain and Karma to the group on the wonderful Abundance! The vocals, and a tighter focus on great songs than on an overall vibe, makes ...

A stunner of a debut EP from Georgia Anne Muldrow -- the first, and to date the only female singler on Stones Throw! Georgia may be a somewhat familiar name to fans of the SA-RA Creative Partners and Platinum Pied Pipers -- as she's collaborated with both camps. She also shares an affinity with ...

Killer cuts galore -- a tight selection of the kind of Neo Soul groovers you'd find on Ginger Tony's Jump Start show for Solar Radio! The vibe here mixes laidback soul numbers with more upbeat tunes -- and throughout it all, there's a sophisticated, contemporary vibe to the music -- the kind of ...

Way more than just a "songbook" -- as the set's as perfect a batch of contemporary soul as you might ever hope for! Like the previous volume in this series, the collection really stretches out to capture some real gems we might have missed otherwise -- new work by a few artists we've ...

The full length debut of Mayer Hawthorne for Stones Throw -- with both classic Motown and 60s & 70s Detroit indie soul influences, done the right way, and all of it wonderful and true to his heroes -- after some promising early singles, we can now say emphatically that Mayer Hawthorne is indeed ...

A great step forward for the Soul Unsigned series -- a full album of never-issued tracks, and a collection that really shows the label's talents for unearthing great music! As you'd guess by the name, none of these artists have contracts with other labels -- so the set's about as fresh as you can ...

The smooth jazzy stylings of Bob Baldwin are always a treat to our ears -- a lot more soulful than those of most of his contemporaries in the genre, especially on this new Expansion release, handled with all the quiet care of the label's best titles. There's lots of smooth keyboards on the set -- ...

Maysa takes on a host of classic tunes -- yet turns them all into something completely brand new, thanks to the soul-styled vocal charms we've always loved in her music! A fair bit of the tunes are standards, but they're recast here in contemporary soul territory, with a bit of an Incognito twist ...

A sweet new steppers groove from Chicago -- and a cut that may well rival the electric slide in years to come! Yet like most Chicago grooves, the cut's a lot more classy than any slide-type track -- perfect for mature-level stepping, yet with a distinctly urban groove too! The track's presented ...

A fresh take on the wonderful sound of Lizz Fields -- a set that offers up remixes of some of her best cuts from previous albums, plus a few harder to find gems as well! The approach here is a bit different than the straightforward soul of Fields' records -- clubby at times, more abstract at ...

A sweet sophomore set from Chicago's own Trizonna McClendon -- and a record we like even more than her first! The instrumentation's great, with almost a slight jazzy sensibility at times -- and there's a warm glow to the record that shows Trizonna as an even more mature, fully-developed singer ...

Killer work from Ledisi -- one of the best underground soul singers alive! This album has Ledisi opening up her bag a lot from her Soulsinger debut -- moving into some more jazz-based material, sung with a sweet mellow vibe that still retains all the soulfulness of earlier work, yet which also has ...

Peven Everett in all his glory -- stepping forth in one of his best-produced albums in years! As with most of Peven's indie sides, all music and vocals are from the man himself -- but given that the record's on the top-shelf Defected label, the production quality here is a lot better than before -- ...

Angie Stone's second album for Stax -- and some of her most insistently catchy songs ever -- with a sound that bridges a deeply melodic, modern-to-future soul vibe to the grounded, self determined and emotional neo classic groove that she's built her solo repution on! If you've been following ...

An excellent bit of modern soul -- very much in the vein of Jill Scott, Laurnea, N'Dambi, or some of the other current underground divas from the US indie soul scene! Ledisi's got a heck of a voice -- very rich and mellow, in a style that reminds us a bit of classic work by jazzy soul singers like ...

Very fresh work from the Chicago scene -- a beautifully basic blend of beats, keys, and vocals -- put together with a crisply charming sensibility we really love! These guys do such a good job of getting it right, they make it look easy -- taking things way back to basics, but without sounding ...

Mindblowing work from the Soul Unsigned series -- only three volumes old, but already one of the best sources we know for tapping into the Neo Soul underground! As with the previous two sets, the quality level here is very high -- music of the sort that really keeps us digging for hip soul sets ...

Meshell Ndegeocello has been delivering one masterful set of astral soul, funk and avant groove gems after another since her commercial peak in the 90s -- and Devil's Halo is as excellent, if not better than all of the others! If there's one thing we absolutely love more than any other fascinating ...

A definite trip to Pleasureville with Lizz Fields -- an artist who's really grown tremendously since we last heard from her! Lizz has a much more mature look on the cover of the record, and her music definitely shows that change -- a shift into tighter songwriting than before, and a really solid ...

A motherlode of rare tracks from The Brand New Heavies -- a 2CD collection of their club and house remixes over the years, most of which were originally only issued on 12" singles! Although the Heavies' core groove has always been great enough to make their best albums instant classics, the ...

Essential soul from one of the greatest sources of soul music in the past decade -- Philadelphia, now strongly back on top as one of America's most important soul scenes! The Philly sound has really defined the sound of soul in the US in recent years -- and whether from mainstream or underground ...

A contemporary take on the sort of set you'd most likely expect to feature music from the Civil Rights era -- but which here comes from the Neo Soul underground of the past decade or so! The package does a really great job of getting past the hits, and focusing on the more righteous politics of ...

The full length debut of Mayer Hawthorne for Stones Throw -- with both classic Motown and 60s & 70s Detroit indie soul influences, done the right way, and all of it wonderful and true to his heroes -- after some promising early singles, we can now say emphatically that Mayer Hawthorne is indeed ...

Shelly Nicole is back on record, after a long hiatus -- and sounding even more righteous than ever! This time around, the guitars are really upfront in the mix underscoring a very funky sound that almost makes Shelly come across like some 21st Century version of 70s funk diva Betty Davis -- ...

Joseph Malik really knocks us out with this one -- and takes off with a sound that's well deserving of the "directions in music" tag in the title! At its core, the record has a similar feel to the spacey soul of Joseph's first set for Compost -- lots of warm songwriting with slight ...

A crispy little record from Anthony Valadez -- one that's got a really unique take on 21st Century soul -- certainly cosmic, but with some great earthy touches too! Valadez keeps things nice and slow on most tracks -- letting the grit sink down into his grooves, which usually have a bit of crackle ...

Emotional and spiritually minded soul from Chicago's Khari Lemuel -- with some really sweeping symphonic touches -- but still done with a really intimate feel! Lemuel is can play just about any instrument, and there's a depth to the instrumentation here that's quite uncommon -- with both soulful ...

"Destined To Be A Modern Soul Classic" says the sticker on the front -- and for once, they finally got it right! The album's the first-ever full length from Donnie -- a brilliant young soul singer who's been bubbling out of the Atlanta scene over the past few years, and who has only ...

The mighty Tom Moulton takes on the Brand New Heavies -- and the results are completely sublime! We totally loved the BNH album Get Used To It -- as it was a real return to the best funky soul of their roots -- but this Tom Moulton version sounds even better, with an even heavier, more hard-hitting ...

Great work from a series we've really learned to trust for the hippest in underground soul -- a rich assortment of work from some of the best acts in the underground, most of whom you probably don't already have in your CD collection! The cut selection here is fantastic -- really the best of the ...

Great remixes from Monday Michiru's Routes album -- and a set that really continues her strong tradition of collaboration with some of the hippest talents of the underground! As with some of our favorite Michiru remixes from years back, the tracks here are more re-imaginations or re-recordings of ...

There's lots of heart, soul, mind, and strength in this set -- especially the latter, as it feels like Adrianne Archie's coming across with a lot more force than usual! The beats are great -- snapping with a power that really sends home her positive lyrics and subtle spiritual message -- one that's ...

A massive package of tracks -- 3 CDs' of music from the Unwrapped series, plus a great bonus disc too! The core work is a batch of smooth, jazzy instrumental takes on hip hop hits -- from Hidden Beach Records! If you scratch just a little bit below the surface of the Hidden Beach roster, digging ...

Ok so she's got a Grammy -- but that makes us love her even more! Jill Scott is one of the greatest soul artists to emerge in the past decade -- and this second album avoids the usual "sophomore slump" by showing a whole new side of her talents! Disc one is a great live set -- showing ...

A little bit folksy, and plenty darn soulful -- a great little set from singer Courtney Dowe, an artist we're hearing here for the first time! Courtney nicely avoids some of the acoustic soul cliches you might get from other artists -- and although the core instrumentation mostly features Dowe's ...

A wonderful, bossa-inflected jazzy soul surprise from UK-bred/Atlanta-based diva Julie Dexter and ATL-fellow Khari Simmons of Jiva -- an effervescent batch of tunes that meld the best modern soul styles of both artists with a mutual affection for bossa rhythms! The duo pulls off the blend with ...

A wonderful bit of jazzy soul -- kind of in the mode of Monday Michiru, but with a bit of a bay area twist. Female vocalist Rad sings and plays keyboards on the record -- giving the tracks a nice mellow soul feel with some work on Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and other keyboards -- and she's backed ...

Wonderful work from Karen Gibson Roc -- part singer, part poet -- with a style that's as hip as you might expect from such a blend! Karen's approach is a bit like that of Ursula Rucker, although somewhat warmer overall -- deeply personal in its lyrical content, and delivered over soulful backings ...

A blend of modern club soul and sweetly tuneful songcraft from Mahya -- wonderful work from the soulful tier of Japanese scene -- featuring production by Tettory BLK, aka Maysaya Fatasista & Grooveman Spot! Mayha's voice is mellow and inviting as can be -- rolling effortlessly from a breathy ...

Classic styled soul from powerhouse UK soul singer Noel McCoy -- passionate and very well done -- with flashes of 60s Motown, late sophisticated string and brassy 70s sounds, and grittier bits of funk! The production and arrangements are top notch, often with a pretty big sound with strings and ...