R&B and Soul

To get ready for the show, warm up to this year's top contenders in one free and continuous playlist featuring Coldplay, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, The Jonas Brothers, Radiohead, Duffy, Brazilian Girls, and many more.

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will air on Sunday February 8 at 8 p.m. on CBS. In the meantime, listen to this free playlist by clicking on the green button below, then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.

This time of year there's no shortage of lists, everywhere you turn you're hammered with Top Ten and Best of 2008 harangues.

Me, I'm not going to waste your time raving about Portishead, TV on the Radio or Vampire Weekend's CDs. Why bother? I'd rather turn you onto great music that slipped between the cracks.

My favorite album of the year was JD Souther's "If The World Was You." JD was most famous for co-writing a bunch of 1970s era Eagles tunes, but this new CD demonstrates the Detroit-born, Amarillo, Texas-raised musician hasn't dried up in the intervening decades.

The new CD, recorded live in a Nashville studio, has a dark, brooding sound. JD's accompanying musicians are serious players. But it's the writing that kept this disc in heavy rotation in my house. There's a bit of the late, great Warren Zevon influence in there, so if you're a fan of 1970s Southern California rock If the World Was You would definitely be worth a listen. It's at least as good as Randy Newman's excellent "Harps and Angels" CD that was also released this year.

A friend turned me onto Lizz Wright's "The Orchard" CD and I couldn't get over her straight from the heart vocals. This woman can sing, this kind of depth of feeling is rare nowadays, but Wright comes from a different tradition. … Read more

This Berlin-based DJ/jazz collective is know for remixing Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, and a slew of other boppers by reshuffling beats and rediscovering the warmth of ageless tracks. Their latest effort of hip-hip and R&B originals features legendary vocalists such as Phonte and Paul Randolf.

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We have a diverse batch of goodies for you this year. New additions include a duet with Elvis Presley and Martina McBride; a New Kids on the Block reissue; Stephen Colbert's debut Christmas album; and a Hanukkah jam from Erran Baron Cohen. And the great thing about holiday tunes is that you can recycle them every year! So, get acquainted with the new stuff, and then dig into our archive to resurrect the classic favorites.

Holiday Music '08 feature page

If you're looking for pop-happy, corny Auto-Tuned vocals, then The Revelations featuring Tre Williams is not for you. However, if you're a music lover with an appreciation for deep soul, then look no further. Simply put, this is pure, all-natural soul at its finest.

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Authentic early '60s soul and beat music is on the decks when ultra-contemporary English R& B singer Hunter is in the house. He's so cool and smooth you might mistake him for the real deal--and he is: 21st century soul-style!

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Proper R&B vocals never go out of style--and that enables Ashanti's new cross-decade mash-up. Instead of just letting her early arias rot in storage, a fresh production squad modernizes them with '08 beats. The cross of ing?nue singing and bold, even trunk-rattling beats is impressive.

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They were a childlike, bass-obsessed duo called L'Trimm and were responsible for the kitchy Miami bass track still loved today, called "Bass That Goes Boom"--a tribute to subwoofers. If you're thinking, "Girls after my own heart!" then you're in for a treat, because the defunct duo is at least slightly reborn in rapper Lady Tigra coming back on the scene. Her new track with MC Lyte--"Stole My Radio"--is a chilly smooth comeback track, while "Bass On Thee Bottom" will no doubt be bangin' in clubland and … Read more

The P-Funk maestro is best-known for taking funk and soul far out. This latest material does the opposite: it brings those cuts back down to the realist realm. The simplicity of the grooves is actually their strong suit. Clinton's crew puts illegal amounts of swing into even a basic funk lick.

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