El Michels Affair
# El Michels Affair

El Michels Affair is an American cinematic soul group led by musician and producer Leon Michels. Based in New York, the group is noted for its wide-ranging influences, analog production approach, and hip hop collaborations. The group released its debut album Sounding Out the City in 2005. After touring behind Raekwon and other Wu-Tang Clan members, the group recorded the popular cover album Enter the 37th Chamber in 2009. After releasing other tribute albums in the following decade, El Michels Affair returned with the original albums Adult Themes in 2020 and Yeti Season in 2021. Since then, the group has released collaborative projects with Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Liam Bailey, and Black Thought, including 2023's Glorious Game.

## History

Michels played with Soul Fire Records house band The Mighty Imperials before forming his own ensemble in 2002. This group released singles for Soul Fire and for Misty, a sublabel of Daptone Records, as well as a full-length album which was released on the Michels-cofounded label Truth & Soul Records in 2005. Titled Sounding Out the City, the album drew from library music and afrobeat influences. After performing with Raekwon at a concert, the group began working with other members of the Wu-Tang Clan and covered several of their songs for vinyl single releases. By 2009, this had yielded an album's worth of material, which was released in 2009 as Enter the 37th Chamber, the name is a play on the album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). El Michels Affair followed this with a second album of arrangements of songs by Wu-Tang Clan and from its members' solo releases, titled Return to the 37th Chamber.

In 2019, they accompanied Freddie Gibbs and Madlib at their popular NPR Tiny Desk performance and later recorded The Diamond Mine Sessions with them.

El Michels Affair began the 2020s with new original material; they released their album Adult Themes in 2020 and followed it less than a year later with the Turkish pop and prog-inspired Yeti Season in March 2021; the album features vocals from Hindi language singer Piya Malik and The Shacks.

## Personnel

* Leon Michels – bandleader and producer, tenor saxophone, flute, keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion, engineering

Other contributors include:

* Homer Steinweiss – drums
* Nick Movshon – bass, drums, guitar
* Thomas Brenneck – guitar, bass
* Michael Leonhart – trumpet, brass
* Toby Pazner – keyboards
* Aaron Johnson – trombone
* Sean Solomon – guitar
* Dave Guy – trumpet
* Marco Benevento – keyboards

## Discography

### Studio albums

| Title | Details |
| - | - |
| Sounding Out the City | Released: August 23, 2005 Label: Truth & Soul Format: LP, CD, digital |
| Adult Themes | Released: May 8, 2020 Label: Big Crown Format: LP, CD, digital |
| Yeti Season | Released: March 26, 2021 Label: Big Crown Format: LP, CD, digital |
| Glorious Game (with Black Thought) | Released: April 14, 2023 Label: Big Crown Format: LP, CD, digital |

### Tribute & remix albums

| Title | Details |
| - | - |
| Enter the 37th Chamber | Released: April 21, 2009 Label: Fat Beats Format: LP, CD, cassette, digital Wu-Tang Clan cover album |
| Walk on By (A Tribute to Isaac Hayes) EP | Released: November 12, 2010 Label: Truth & Soul Format: 12", CD Isaac Hayes cover album |
| Return to the 37th Chamber | Released: April 14, 2017 Label: Big Crown Format: LP, CD, cassette, digital Wu-Tang Clan cover album |
| Ekundayo Inversions (with Liam Bailey) | Released: August 13, 2021 Label: Big Crown Format: LP, CD, digital Collaborative remix album of Ekundayo |

### EPs

| Title | Details |
| - | - |
| PJs... from Afar (with Raekwon) | Released: March 1, 2007 Label: Truth & Soul Format: 12", CD, digital |
| Loose Change | Released: 2014 Label: Truth & Soul Format: 12", CD, digital Outtakes from Sounding Out the City |
| The Diamond Mine Sessions (with Freddie Gibbs & Madlib) | Released: May 7, 2020 Label: Madlib Invazion/ESGN/Keep Cool/RCA Format: digital Reinterpretation of tracks from Bandana |

### Singles

| Title (A-side/B-side) | Year | Album | Label | Format |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| "Detroit Twice" / "Too Late to Turn Back" | 2003 | Sounding Out the City | Misty | 7" |
| "Creation" / "Behind the Blue Curtains" | 2005 | Sounding Out the City | Truth & Soul | 7" |
| "C.R.E.A.M" / "Glaciers of Ice" (Wu-Tang Clan cover) | 2006 | Enter the 37th Chamber | Truth & Soul | 7" |
| "Duel of the Iron Mic" / "Bring da Ruckus" (Wu-Tang cover) | 2006 | Enter the 37th Chamber | Truth & Soul | 7" |
| "Musings to Myself" / "Spread Your Soul" | 2008 | | Truth & Soul | 7" |
| "4th Chamber" / "Snakes" (Wu-Tang cover) | 2016 | Return to the 37th Chamber | Big Crown | 7" |
| "Tearz" / "Verbal Intercourse" | 2016 | Return to the 37th Chamber | Big Crown | 7" |
| "Strange Boy" / "No Surprise" (feat. The Shacks) | 2016 | Non-album single | Big Crown | 7", digital |
| "Shadow Boxin" / "Iron Maiden" (Wu-Tang cover) | 2017 | Return to the 37th Chamber | Big Crown | 7" |
| "Never Be Another You" | 2018 | Non-album single | Big Crown | 7" |
| "Unathi" / "Zaharilia" (feat. Piya Malik) | 2018 | Yeti Season | Big Crown | 7", digital |
| "12345678910" | 2019 | Non-album singles | Big Crown | digital |
| "Reasons" (feat. Bobby Oroza) / "Hipps" | 2020 | Non-album singles | Big Crown | 7", digital |
| "Dhuaa" (feat. Piya Malik) | 2020 | Yeti Season | Big Crown | digital |
| "Sha Na Na" (feat. The Shacks) | 2020 | Yeti Season | Big Crown | digital |
| "Murkit Gem" (feat. Piya Malik) | 2021 | Yeti Season | Big Crown | 7", digital |
| "Ala Vida" | 2021 | Yeti Season | Big Crown | digital |
| "Fazed Out" | 2021 | Yeti Season | Big Crown | digital |
| "Awkward (Take 2)" (with Liam Bailey) | 2021 | Ekundayo Inversions (with Liam Bailey) | Big Crown | digital |
