Soul

The debut effort from Lipp and Malakar achieves what masters of the jazz craft have pursued throughout their lifetime: music that moves people emotionally.

Tying together this dizzy tangle of glam-Americana, electronics, and collage-rock are three things: snarly vocals, literate and pointed lyrics, and creative muddling of roots and pop music traditions.

'Whatever' is but one of many moments in En Vogue's canon that show their gift of making music that stretches the limits of listeners' imaginations.

Tethered by her witty, idiosyncratic lyrics and scratchy, sweet vocals, Macy Gray's "Sexual Revolution" may have been too frothy for American radio at the time of its release, but it remains one of the finest singles released from the 2000s.

Her new album matches the blues-rock-soul singer's honeyed voice with a varied batch of songs by top talents ranging from Mississippi John Hurt to The Weepies' Deb Talan to Black Sabbath.

'Automaton' gives voice to the fact that Jamiroquai was, and still is, a prominent fixture in classic and contemporary dance and funk music.

'Love in Beats' (2017) is another solid effort from Omar Lye-Fook, affirming his position as one of the U.K.'s finest exports to espouse the sensuality and heart of R&B music.

Over the past five years, these guys – Chris Robinson and Neal Casal – have managed to build a sound and a feeling in their music that I wasn’t even aware I’d been craving...

Beyond shining elements that defined Summer gems like “Bad Girls,” “Last Dance,” and “I Feel Love" lie many overlooked treasures.

Here are my highlights in popular music from 2016. It includes records by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Bright Light Bright Light, David Bowie, Melanie C, Hikaru Utada, Beyoncé, and many more!