Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass were one of the pillars of the mighty Philadelphia International label run by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. On their fourth album (and last with Pendergrass) mixed social issues with quiet storm and the results were an album that – despite hitting #1 on the R&B charts in 1975 and producing a ubiquitous disco hit – still seems underappreciated to this day.

After several years working behind the scenes, the legendary Raphael Saadiq returns to the spotlight to deliver his most personal, and compelling album to date. Jerry Lee (named after his brother who was an addict who died of AIDS) takes a profoundly human look at not just the consequences of addiction, but the underlying causes. Oppression comes in many forms in this world, and Saadiq explores that theme with compassion, an understanding of just how deeply all of us are connected, and a belief that it is only love that can save us in the end.

HYPE has always been a part of the music/entertainment industry, but in 2018, have we gone too far? Increasingly, it's not enough anymore that an artist delivers a few great hooks. To succeed they have to be the greatest of all time, the savior of the music industry, or, even worse, the voice of a generation, all often without even having a single album under their belts.

On our latest episode, our friends Philip Basnight (Broke Royals) and Rafa (Rafa's One Man Band, Saduardo's actual brother) are joining us for a frank discussion about how we consume, market, share, and celebrate music in the modern era.

Washington, DC's Flasher made minor waves with their self-titled debut in 2016, and now the trio is back with a new label (Domino) and a fun-as-hell new LP, Constant Image. Recalling the late 80's heyday of gothic synthpop, Constant Image's outta time, place, and, most importantly, outta sight sound is the new hotness arriving just in time to save us all from another dreary Summer in the swamp.

PLUS! Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge's long-gestating project The Midnight Hour is finally out in the wild, and we've got a tasty track for you to turn the lights down lowwww and do whatever comes naturally for ya.

Before they were the mega-hit makers of the 80's, Daryl Hall & John Oates were just a couple of doods in love with soul and R&B on a mission to share it with the world. On their 1973 masterpiece Abandoned Luncheonette, their second album for Atlantic records, the duo were coming of off an underperforming debut (Whole Oates) and were desperately searching for their identity.

SPOILER ALERT: They found it. 

Sarah Godfrey and Marcus K. Dowling join Kevin in the basement to talk about an unmitigated classic that almost got lost in time...like we do. 

It's likely that we'll look back at 2017 as the year almost everything fell apart, downerism ruled the land, and we came very close to being broken as a people. 

But we didn't break. We made it. And on this final installment of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast for 2017, we're discussing the music that lifted us up, dropped us down, and sometimes even showed us the way, but never, ever let us down.

Thanks for tuning in all year. We'll see you soon. Until then be good to your ears, but be better to your people...

Atlanta's Curtis Harding has been steeped in soul music his entire life. From singing in church with his family in Michigan as a child to being one of Cee Lo Green's star backup singers, Harding is a true veteran of the scene. On his second full length Face Your Fear, he's playing with is self-proclaimed "garage soul" formula again, this time enlisting the help of uber-producer Danger Mouse to drag a dying art form screaming into the future.

PLUS! Country is king even in Canada, and Blake Berglund is living proof! We've got a taste of his new album Realms for you to sidle your ears up to.

Washington, DC native, and second-generation Ethiopian American Kelela Mizanekristos spent years honing her musical chops in the underground scene of the nation's capital before moving to Las Angeles, dropping her last name and beginning her ascension to one of the most essential voices in R&B today.

On her acclaimed 2013 mixtape Cut 4 Me and 2015's Hallucinogen, the singer/producer made it clear that she was a force to be reckoned with. Now, on Take Me Apart, her first full length, she's building on some of the themes from her prior work to craft a vital statement about personhood, womanhood, and the perils and pitfalls of love.

Kevin and Marcus (Dowling) are sitting down to discuss one of 2017's most notable albums to find out if Kelela has got the goods, or just if the ideas she's exploring are ultimately more important than the execution.

After a string of EP's and years of anticipation, Washington DC neü-punk provocateurs, Priests, have finally delivered their debut full length, Nothing Feels Natural. On our latest podcast, Kevin, Paul, Eduardo and Marcus Dowling (Pitchfork, Bandcamp) are hanging out in the basement, getting to the bottom of this raucous new album. Is it the right protest album at the right time, or just another "punk" album for the masses? Tune in to find out.

PLUS! R&B jams from the underground! Sonder's new EP Into is laying down the bedroom vibes, and we've got it's lead track for you to sink your teeth into.