Artist-Curated Playlists

I:Scintilla guitarist Jim Cooke shares a captivating playlist representing their hometown Chicago. This is Chicago.

Photograph: Misha Vladimirskiy/FilterlessThundercat’s playing is instantly recognizable, and his warm, slap-happy space bass has rounded out the tracks of Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar and Erykah Badu. His 2015 to 2016 run -- including collaborations with Kendrick, Shabazz Palaces, and Kamasi Washington, as well as his own, excellent EP, The Beyond, Where The Giants Roam -- has been monumental. Here, he curates a playlist of his favorite basslines. Joe Henderson’s “A Shade of Jane” is sly and virtuosic modern-day post-bop jam, and you can hear the seedlings of Thundercat’s own bass style in “Spring Yard Zone,” which was originally the music for Sonic the Hedgehog video game. It’s a little hard to accept that the bassline for Spandau Ballet ranks among the all-time greats, but this is a generally enjoyable, sometimes revealing playlist.

Since 1989, Tim Burgess has been the frontman for Manchester rock chameleons The Charlatans UK. But in recent years, he’s enjoyed a second career as a globe-trotting DJ/label impresario/roving musicologist, recounting his adventures in twobooks. His latest album is Same Language, Different World, an electro-soul collaboration with one-time Arthur Russell associate Peter Gordon.“My playlist is made up of songs from the start of the day and the end of the night. Each morning, I post a Breakfast Banger on Twitter and some nights I can be found DJing—this playlist is the pick of those songs. But it might not be obvious which ones are from the day and which are from later. Enjoy!”—Tim Burgess

North Dakota singer-songwriter Tom Brosseau’s latest album, Treasures Untold, features a handful of orginals alongside renditions of classics from the Great American Folksong Book. Here, he takes us deeper into the roots of American music, while spotlighting some more modern interpretations thereof. “Lately I’ve been listening to the Peter Rowan catalogue, who Sara Watkins recommended to me in the early 2000s. ‘Panama Red’ appeared on both Rowans first solo album, Peter Rowan (1978), and before that in 1973 on the New Riders of the Purple Sage album The Adventures of Panama Red. I would say the ‘Panama Red’ here, recorded in 1994 at Telluride, finally found its true pulse. It displays the master musicianship, in both control and tone, of not only Peter Rowan, but also his band of A-list bluegrass players.“I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine, music historian Lou Curtiss. I phoned Lou about the omitted material from the Carter Family On Border Radio series. If there were any unreleased Carter Family recordings out there I wanted to know about it and Lou would be the person to talk to. Lou proceeded to tell me a story concerning the 16" transcription discs that eventually became On Border Radio, and how they were discovered in Baja, California, but so often when talking about music with Lou it’s like swinging from one limb to the next in an endless jungle. You go awhile; there doesnt have to be a real destination. Lou and I derailed from the Carter Family to the Phipps Family, a musical group you might say picked up where the Carter Family left off, in the 1940s. Thanks to Lou, who always gives me such great musical recommendations, I have become a Phipps fan. I hope you will too.“There’s an album of Harry McClintock entitled Haywire Mac. It’s educational and so much fun to listen to, recorded by Sam Eskin in 1953. It features McClintocks story-telling, his biographies on songs and people, and of course his singing. (McClintock composed many songs, most notably “The Big Rock Candy Mountain”, a staple of the Great American Folk Songbook.) One composition on Haywire that I really love is ‘Sweet Violets.’ It’s an example of what’s known as a mind rhyme. You’ll find a more risqué example of a mind rhyme on this playlist. You’ll know it when you get to it.“This playlist is comprised of songs that either I stumbled upon or were recommended to me. It’s perfect for a small gathering, like a dinner party. Or take it on a walk with you. It doesn’t matter how you come across music. All that matters is what touches the heart. Enjoy listening.Photo: Lizzi Brosseau

Veteran Scottish alt-popsters the Trashcan Sinatras recently celebrated their 30th anniversary, and to mark the occasion, theyre embarking on a special acoustic tour of intimate venues (like, house-show-intimate, in some cases) across North America this fall. To get into the mellow mood, theyve made us this playlist of unplugged classics by the likes of The Beatles, Paul Westerberg, Vashti Bunyan, and more.

Tremor have just issued the Ave Reina Mora EP, which finds the veteran trio continuing to fuse Argentian folk traditons and modern electronic production in fascinating new ways. For this playlist they created specially for The Dowsers, they salute the artists who’ve been at the frontlines of Latin American musical revolutions dating back to the 1940s up to today.“LatAm Gamechangers is a playlist of Latin American musicians that are of defining influence in our band’s opinion. Their approach to LatAm folklore music was daring for their time. They took risks and, in some particular cases, they experimented with elements, sounds, and arrangements that sometimes took decades for the audience and even other musicians to catch up with.“Take, for example, the song by Waldo De Los Rios that explores a ‘chacarera’ groove, but with synths and orchestral sounds. Keep in mind this is from Argentina, 1967! It took years for others to try anything similar."One of our favorite tracks of all time is "Juana Azurduy,” sung by Mercedes Sosa and backed by a band of true Argentinian folklore music legends. The mix of a European clavichord and timps playing next to charangos and bombos legueros is a powerful combination. (Check out Tremor’s ‘Huacal,’ which was definitely inspired by this track.) Then we have Los Jaivas and Arco Iris, mixing folklore sounds with rock influences for the first time in the southern part of the continent.“The oldest track on the playlist is from 1940s, by Alberto Ginastera, one of the pioneers in taking an orchestral approach to folkloric rhythms. From there, the playlist moves forward to the ’80s, ’90s, and even the beginning of the 2000s, and it includes different regions like Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, and Chile too!”—Tremor

On Feb. 9, Icelandic experimental composer Jóhann Jóhannsson was found dead in his Berlin apartment. He was 48. Jóhannsson leaves behind a deep catalog of acclaimed solo albums and soundtracks (including his Academy Award-nominated scores for Sicario and The Theory of Everything). to help you navigate his vast musical universe, weve asked Glasgow-based composer Richard Luke to select 10 essential pieces. "These songs are all compelling but diverse in their ability to either sweep you away in a dream or zone you into something specific. Most of all for me, Jóhanns sense of melody had a lush darkness that I’m drawn to, particularly in The Sun’s Gone Dim and the Sky’s Turned Black. Music that can affect a grave sadness with a sense of hope, or give a happy sentiment a sense of melancholy and nostalgia——that, to me, is like life: bittersweet. These qualities came easily to Jóhann and he was comfortable and generous with his powers. This gave his scores the simple ability to make movies better, more effective, more intense, more of whatever it is they were trying to be——and then something of himself). His solo work is even more intriguing——see: ‘Part 1/ IBM 1401 Processing Unit’ and ‘Flight From the City’——in the way he pushed the form with analogue tape, signal processing, effects, noises... he could make the normal sound haunting and weird, and the weird sound perfectly normal. This playlist celebrates some of my favorites from an exceptional back-catalogue. I’m sorry he’s gone——not least because it felt like even more was just around the corner."——Richard Luke

Richard Lukes new album, Voz is out Feb. 23 on 1631 Recordings. To hear more of Richards work, visit richardluke.co.uk.

British folktronica cornerstones Tunng have just released Songs You Make at Night, their sixth record, and first from their original line-up in eleven years. And while the obvious "back to basics" cliche that implicates most likely already crossed your mind, the result really is a genuine return to form, seeing the pioneers of a genre revisit the light touch of electronic that affirmed "folktronica" to begin with. Or as Clash Music so eloquently describes, "Delicate, introspective and experimental, Tunng built a name upon their ability to intertwine vibrant tapestries of folk with warbling touches of electronica" and thats as prevalent as ever on their latest effort. To accompany their album, we asked the band to make us a playlist, and riffing off the theme of night, heres what they came up with.Says Mike Lindsay, "One of the recurring themes of the new record is how our brains create our experience of the world around us. Thats true of our waking life but especially so of our dream worlds. Imagine its the future and the consciousnesses of the six members of Tunng have been combined inside one giant artificial brain that right now is gently nodding off to sleep. Our playlist concept is Mike and I imagining the songs that would be the soundtrack to the weird and wonderful dreams of that giant brain on its night-time adventures. The psychedelic and mesmeric, the beautiful and the gentle, the simple and the melodic, the energetic and the somnambulant. We hope you like them!"Listen above or go right here.

Turning Jewels Into Water embody the ultimate global experience. Indian-born drummer and producer Ravish Momin and Haitian electronic percussionist Val Jeanty don’t only dissolve borders; they transform the way dance music moves us—both physically and emotionally. Making use of chants, polyrhythms, turntables, synths, and innovative percussive tools and techniques, the duo have created a wild, futuristic world of sound on their 2019 full-length album, <<Map of Absences>>. To fit their worldly (and otherworldly) vision, they’ve created a “Beats and Rituals” playlist for us, a mesmerizing mix of unpredictable rhythms and hypnotizing sounds that defy genre—and maybe just gravity, too.Turning Jewels Into Water say this about their picks: “Diggin’ deep into the soul of the drum machine and channeling ancestral spirits."

• The first song you danced to.I can’t remember but it was probably a song by Juan Luis Guerra - Dominican music• A song you wished youd written.Human Nature - Michael Jackson• Your favorite Tom Petty song.Breakdown and American Girl• A song everyone should hear.Welcome to heartbreak - Kanye West• A song for a late-night drive.Tyrant Destroyed - Twin Shadow• The song that reminds you of Brooklyn.Time to pretend - MGMT• A song you want to keep for yourself.Ship building - Robert Wyatt• A song that inspires you to create.The robots - Kraftwerk• A song that inspires you to destroy.The model - Kraftwerk• Song for a loved one.Vincent - Don Mclean (for my dad)• A song for your mother.By your side - Sade