Sheila Jordan’s ‘Portrait of Sheila’ at 60
The DNA of jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan’s Portrait of Sheila can be heard in so much popular music of the intimate, dreamlike, and nocturnal kind across genres.
Jeremy McDonagh
Jeremy McDonagh is based in the UK, and enjoys listening to and writing about 1960s jazz, British rock, and 1980s hip hop
Raps From the Golden Age: Jungle Brothers’ Straight Out the Jungle at 35
Jungle Brothers’ 35-year-old Straight Out the Jungle shows cerebral rapping, experimentation, and African rhythms. It was the first Native Tongues hip-hop LP.
Traffic’s Free-Flowing British Soul Masterpiece at 55
No British album better synthesized the warmth, energy, and funkiness of New Orleans R&B, Southern soul, and rock better than Traffic’s 1968 self-titled LP.
Soundgarden’s ‘Ultramega OK’: Now With More Ultramega at 35
The fundamental building blocks of Soundgarden and Nirvana’s sounds could be found in their debut LPs, which foreshadowed alternative rock’s commercial breakthrough.