{"product_id":"el-michels-affair-sounding-out-the-city-lp","title":"El Michels Affair - Sounding Out The City LP ( VINYL )","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"read-more__content rich-text\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eOver 10 years ago, Leon Michels released his first full length record,\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSounding Out the City\u003c\/em\u003e. It was Michels’ first full length record under the moniker El Michels Affair. At the time, the budding retro soul scene consisted of mostly organ quartets a la The Meters and of course, Sharon Jones \u0026amp; The Dap Kings were in the early days of their ascent to world domination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLeon Michels, who was 18 when recording\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSounding Out the City\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebegan, had just released\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThunder Chicken\u003c\/em\u003e, the first record by his high school band The Mighty Imperials. At the time of\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSOTC\u003c\/em\u003e, Michels was just discovering early rocksteady, afrobeat, and 60s garage rock, which inevitably crept its way into the songwriting. He purchased a Tascam 388, an 80’s 1\/4″ reel to reel 8 track intended for home recordings, and began recording music in a 10×10 box with no windows that also doubled as his childhood bedroom. Along with fellow Mighty Imperials Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and Sean Solomon, and Michael Leonhart, Thomas Brenneck, and some of the musicians from The Dap Kings, Michels recorded the LP over a two year period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eUpon its release, the album received some rave reviews and the small deep funk community ate it up, but due to the lackluster promotion and distribution the rest of the world was slow to catch on to the instrumental gems featured on\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSOTC\u003c\/em\u003e, which Michels appropriately labeled as “cinematic soul.” However, in 2005 it found its way into the hands of the people who were organizing a series of concerts for Scion that paired bands with MCs. El Michels Affair was contacted about playing one show with Raekwon The Chef of Wu Tang Clan fame. The show was such a success it led to a tour, and then to another set of concerts that featured multiple members of the Wu-Tang Clan. This eventually led to the release of El Michels Affair’s second record,\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEnter the 37th Chamber\u003c\/em\u003e, which introduced them to a much larger audience and has been their most successful release to date.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMichels 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"02- Alliance","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56735227445621,"sku":"349223002218","price":3.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0925\/8300\/2485\/files\/elmic.jpg?v=1770943726","url":"https:\/\/warmvibevinyls.com\/products\/el-michels-affair-sounding-out-the-city-lp","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}