A guide to cities, bars, experiences, and places to stay chosen for how they sound. “I started Tracks & Tales to answer a simple question: Where does music actually sound right? Not where it’s loudest. Not where it’s trendiest. But where sound is treated with care — rooms designed to listen, systems tuned with intention, and music given the time it deserves. Think of it as the Michelin Guide to Listening — if such a thing existed. I travel, listen, return, and write. The rest is the map you can now explore.” Every month, The Listening Club gathers around the world. Join here. — Rafi Mercer, Founder of Tracks & Tales
Discover Honolulu through listening culture, from ocean-side vinyl bars and jazz lounges to warm island nights shaped by rhythm, atmosphere and slow listening.
Discover Honolulu through listening culture, from ocean-side vinyl bars and jazz lounges to warm island nights shaped by rhythm, atmosphere and slow listening.
Discover Atlanta through listening culture, from deep southern basslines and vinyl bars to jazz lounges, hi-fi spaces and late-night rooms shaped by rhythm and community.
Discover Atlanta through listening culture, from deep southern basslines and vinyl bars to jazz lounges, hi-fi spaces and late-night rooms shaped by rhythm and community.
Discover Philadelphia through listening culture, from soul records and jazz history to vinyl bars, late-night DJs and neighbourhood spaces where music still matters.
Discover Philadelphia through listening culture, from soul records and jazz history to vinyl bars, late-night DJs and neighbourhood spaces where music still matters.
Discover Denver through listening culture, from mountain light and vinyl bars to spacious late-night sound systems shaped by altitude, calm and western rhythm.
Discover Denver through listening culture, from mountain light and vinyl bars to spacious late-night sound systems shaped by altitude, calm and western rhythm.
Discover Rio de Janeiro through listening culture — from samba streets and bossa nova intimacy to the sea-lit rhythm of a city built between mountain, music and movement.
Discover Rio de Janeiro through listening culture — from samba streets and bossa nova intimacy to the sea-lit rhythm of a city built between mountain, music and movement.
Discover Salvador’s listening culture through Afro-Brazilian rhythm, street percussion, dancing, and communal sound. A Tracks & Tales guide to one of the world’s most alive musical cities.
Discover Salvador’s listening culture through Afro-Brazilian rhythm, street percussion, dancing, and communal sound. A Tracks & Tales guide to one of the world’s most alive musical cities.
Discover Saint-Germain-des-Prés listening bars and Left Bank sound culture — café memory, Paris jazz, literary rooms and the slow rhythm of attentive listening.
Discover Saint-Germain-des-Prés listening bars and Left Bank sound culture — café memory, Paris jazz, literary rooms and the slow rhythm of attentive listening.
Hanoi listens differently. Beneath the scooters and voices, Vietnam's capital moves to a quieter cadence — one shaped by strong coffee, low-volume jazz, and intimate rooms where a record spins...
Hanoi listens differently. Beneath the scooters and voices, Vietnam's capital moves to a quieter cadence — one shaped by strong coffee, low-volume jazz, and intimate rooms where a record spins...
Every month, The Listening Club gathers around the world. Join here.
Discover why Donna Summer’s 1982 self-titled album remains one of the great open-hearted records of its era — Balearic warmth, Quincy Jones production, and the spiritual pull of “State of Independence.”
Discover why Bob Marley & The Wailers' Uprising remains one of the most human and enduring albums ever recorded — a record of rhythm, dignity, memory and spiritual warmth that still feels alive decades later.
Discover why Nortec Collective’s Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3 remains one of the defining albums of border-city electronic music — a record where geography, rhythm and atmosphere collide.
Discover Leon Bridges' Coming Home through the lens of listening culture, Texas atmosphere, and modern soul. A warm, timeless album built on space, melody, and emotional clarity.
Most people know Kool & The Gang for the celebration — the big choruses, the global crossover. But Light of Worlds, released in 1974, belongs to a different band altogether. The exploratory version. Still searching. And Summer Madnes...
Maybe that strange journey from thoughts of Salvador to Paul Desmond was not strange at all in the end. Music does this sometimes. One rhythm opens another door. A samba pulse in Brazil somehow finding its way into a cool New York jazz s...
By Rafi Mercer
Listening is a quiet luxury. A reflection on why sharing music without expectation has become one of the most generous acts we can offer each other—and why attention now matters more than ever.
By Rafi Mercer
Not the loudest records, nor the fastest risers, but the albums readers returned to with intent this May — a chart shaped by curiosity, slow listening, and the quiet pull of lasting sound.
In 1987, CHANEL created its first watch for women: the PREMIÈRE, inspired by the codes of the House. Its octagonal case evokes the stopper of the N°5 perfume bottle. The original bracelet, interlaced with leather—like the chain of the iconic quilted bag—has been reinterpreted in chain, ceramic or velvet-finish ribbon versions. A timeless, feminine timepiece to slip on your wrist day and night.
There are some places that arrive in your imagination long before you arrive in person. Texas has always been one of them — not because I know it well, but...
There are some places that arrive in your imagination long before you arrive in person. Texas has always been one of them — not because I know it well, but...
Discover a calm Sunday morning reflection from Rafi Mercer on internal noise, silence, and why listening has become one of modern life’s rarest luxuries.
Discover a calm Sunday morning reflection from Rafi Mercer on internal noise, silence, and why listening has become one of modern life’s rarest luxuries.
The next Listening Club gathers around one album, played in full. But between its tracks, something else arrives — Sakamoto, Massive Attack, Radiohead, The xx — not as context, but...
The next Listening Club gathers around one album, played in full. But between its tracks, something else arrives — Sakamoto, Massive Attack, Radiohead, The xx — not as context, but...
Every Friday at 4PM GMT, a small group of people around the world stop scrolling long enough to hear themselves think again.
Every Friday at 4PM GMT, a small group of people around the world stop scrolling long enough to hear themselves think again.
Rafi Mercer explains the thinking behind the Tracks & Tales Star — how we listen, choose, and award.
