El Michels Affair - Sounding Out The City

In mid-2000s Brooklyn when retro soul was just beginning to flex its nostalgic muscles, a teenage Leon Michels, barely out of high school and already a veteran of the raw funk outfit The Mighty Imperials, holed up in a windowless 10×10 bedroom with a Tascam 388 to craft Sounding Out The City, the debut LP from El Michels Affair, now gloriously remastered for Big Crown Records.

This time capsule of cinematic soul drips with the warm grit of 60s rocksteady, afrobeat’s polyrhythmic pulse, and the reverb-soaked twang of garage rock. Picture a sun-dappled joyride through a sepia-toned cityscape, where tenor sax wails tangle with Homer Steinweiss’s snappy drums and Nick Movshon’s basslines slink like a street cat. Tracks like “Detroit Twice” swagger with a Meters-esque groove, while “Musings to Myself” unfurls a mournful, almost spiritual meditation, its organ hum glowing like embers. 

Recorded over two years with Dap Kings alumni and Michael Leonhart’s trumpet flourishes, this LP’s lo-fi charm feels like a love letter to vinyl’s golden era. It laid the groundwork for Michels’ genre-bending legacy, catching Raekwon’s ear and sparking a Wu-Tang tour that flipped the script on soul’s revival. Michels has since gone on to produce and co-produce numerous records for powerhouse soul artists like Lee Fields. He shares songwriting credits with Adele, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Aloe Blacc, and has played on records by Ray LaMontagne, Lana Del Rey, The Black Keys and Dr. John.

If you're into soul music, Sounding Out The City is a must-own, not just for its buttery grooves but for capturing a moment when a kid with a tape machine dreamed up a sound that still reverberates through the soul underground.

Note: All orders ship from France. VAT not charged (TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI). Worldwide shipping available. Images shown are mock-ups — actual vinyl may differ slightly.