I’m breaking routine. I’m going all out with tunes that are a bit more dance-worthy, have more electronic beats to them, and plenty of synths. There’s still plenty of variety, and even some (Tame Impala, for example) that don’t quite fit the mold. But what the hell, right? Sometimes you just need to change it up.
A few times over the course of the evening, these songs made me want to take a late night drive through the countryside. With the warmer weather, windows rolled down and tunes cranked up, it would have been quite perfect. Especially in the beast shown in the photo above.
In other news, I picked up three LPs by The Sandells over the weekend, so my June 14 show may include a track or two from those.
Club 8: Stop Taking My Time
From my #3 album from the first half of 2013, it’s Club 8 with “Stop Taking My Time” off their stellar eighth LP, Above the City.
Little Boots: Motorway
Listening to “Motorway”, I feel Little Boots’s Victoria Hesketh was listening to a lot of Roisin Murphy and early Saint Etienne while crafting the songs that would become Nocturne. The result: I love it!
Still Corners: Berlin Lovers
Still flirting with bedroom-pop in “Berlin Lovers”, Still Corners takes the song in a refreshing direction: it’s a louder, more dance-worthy tune with great beats.
Fol Chen: The False Alarms
I see what the hype is about now. The wavery vocals, the chill backing notes; it sums up to a great title track. I’m very much looking forward to exploring The False Alarms more.
Toro y Moi: Studies
My experience this evening discovering Fol Chen reminds me very much of the first time I listened to Toro y Moi. I was intrigued and inspired; while like Fol Chen, my first experience was with the opening track, Toro y Moi’s “Studies” ultimately became my album favorite.
Saskatchewan: Possession
It has taken me a while to get past “Possession”. I’m still a bit obsessed with this song, meaning it finds its way regularly onto my playlist, but many of the other tracks on Saskatchewan’s Occasion I have yet to hear. I seriously need to change that.
Suuns: 2020
Still as sensual as their early stuff from a couple years back, Suuns’ latest with “2020” is a sexy song with thumping beats and darkly cool vocals.
Parenthetical Girls: Careful Who You Dance With
Privilege (Abridged) is the follow up to Parenthetical Girls’ collection of Privilege EPs, the fifth of which made my top 15 EPs of 2012. (Abridged) has a very good chance of making my top LPs of 2013 list come December.
Valleys: Hounds
A little snippet from my track review of Valleys’ “Hounds”: This is a song you want to hear through headphones. Through headphones, “Hounds†seems to swirl around your head, a dreamy escape from reality.
Sin Fang: Look at the Light
Sin Fang is one of the more imaginative artists around, and I mean artist in the true sense. His music is art, the press photos, the cover of his albums, his videos — they all are wonderfully crafted, as I noted in my original feature for the “Look at the Light” video.
Wildlife Control: Ages Places
I love the upbeat nature of so many of the songs on this playlist, and “Ages Places” always surprises me — it’s among the most upbeat you’ll find here.
Daughn Gibson: You Don’t Fade
The music of Daughn Gibson, for some strange reason, makes me think of David Lynch. This is great music to drive off into the darkness in the middle of the night, early summer; windows cranked down, music cranked up, letting the miles slide by. Oddly enough, not Lynch circa Lost Highway though.
The Ruby Suns: Kingfisher Call Me
To this day, I still cannot get over the synth solo just after the three-minute mark. I’ve been raving about this since I covered “Kingfisher Call Me” back in January.
When Saints Go Machine: Mannequin
Each time I explore Infinity Pool a little deeper, it excites me all the more. Case in point: “Mannequin”. The song features When Saints Go Machine’s signature eerie vocals and monumental compositions somewhere between being borderline electronic and experimental pop.
Brøthers: Is This The End
This is my introduction to Brøthers, who sent me a pair of singles a month or so ago. Gave one a listen tonight (finally) and thought it fit well with the theme of the show. I was right: heavy synth notes, dreamy-ish vocals, and perfect percussion.
Poolside: Harvest Moon
I love this song because it’s so upbeat, chill and happy. The handclaps, that bass-line, those vocals; “Harvest Moon” make me feel really good.
Autre Ne Veut: Counting
Autre Ne Veut reminds me a bit Hercules And Love Affair from a few years back. It has that similar vibe, progressed a few years. “Counting” was the song that turned me onto this band, and it easily remains to this day my favorite. However, you’ll find plenty of noteworthy tunes on Anxiety.
Small Black: Free At Dawn
I enjoyed Small Black’s debut EP and LP, but even “Despicable Dogs” is no match for the greatness of “Free At Dawn”. This song finds Small Black growing substantially as a band; though I don’t yet own Limits of Desire, I am thinking that will need to change quickly.
Mitzi: Like It Was
Truly Alive has some great songs on it, and “Like It Was” is among the best.
Trails And Ways: Border Crosser
Trails And Ways is back, this time reissuing their Trilingual series of singles as a proper EP and including an exclusive track with “Como Te Vas”. Included within this five song EP is the stellar track “Border Crosser”.
Lapland: Unwise
“Unwise” is a nice and dreamy track to wind down the evening.
The Knife: A Tooth For An Eye
Thus far, my favorite off The Knife’s new double LP Shaking the Habitual.
Adventure: Nervous
Experimental electronic music can sometimes be a tough one to swallow, but Adventure’s “Nervous” off Weird Work is a pretty solid track. This has been a slow album for me to take in for precisely that reason, but I’m starting to come around.
Tame Impala: Elephant
A favorite from last year’s Lonerism, “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” is right up there with “Elephant”.