Genres

Jay Jenkins burst into national consciousness in 2005 as Young Jeezy, but a few years later the Atlanta rapper shortened his official handle to simply Jeezy. And he’s certainly not “young” anymore, as he turns 40 on September 28. For over a decade, Jeezy has stood with his friend T.I. and his collaborator-turned-foe Gucci Mane as one of the titans of trap music, the street-hustler variation on southern rap that has become one of modern Atlanta’s biggest cultural exports.With a hoarse but gregarious voice, Jeezy was at first more known for his ad libs than his rhymes, cackling “ha haaaa” and “yeahhhh” on his multiplatinum Def Jam debut Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, and his group Boyz N Da Hood’s self-titled album, both in 2005. But there was also an unflinching darkness to his music that he retained even in crossover hits like the Akon collaboration “Soul Survivor.” And an unlikely political bent emerged in his music with the 2008 album The Recession, which contained hip-hop’s biggest unofficial Barack Obama anthem, “My President.”Jeezy The Snowman’s career has cooled off in the years since his rapid ascent to stardom, but he’s remained one of Atlanta trap’s most consistent hitmakers. He was early to adapt to new sounds like DJ Mustard’s west coast groove on “R.I.P.” and traded introspective bars with JAY Z on “Seen It All.” More recently, in 2016 he returned to the top of the charts with Trap Or Die 3 (a sequel to his 2005 breakthrough mixtape), which featured “All There,” a posthumous hit for the late Bankroll Fresh. And it’s hard to imagine Jeezy retiring anytime soon even as he marks another decade of life.

Long Island indie-rock hero Jeff Rosenstock kicked off 2018 in the most awesome way possible: With a surprise album, POST-, released on January 1 to Bandcamp through his own Quote Unquote label. (Polyvinyl Records followed the next day with a widespread digital release before issuing it on vinyl in March.) The new record sees Rosenstock pushing his patented shout-along underdog-punk anthems to thrilling new levels of emotional intensity and instrumental extravagance. (Seriously, "USA" should be Americas new national anthem.) And after dropping the first great album of 2018, he gives us the first great playlist!

"Hey you over there! Its Jeff Rosenstock over here! I didnt go super high-concept with my playlist like 10 Songs To Break Up With Your Lover Over Lunch To or make, like, a playlist with songs from animated movies that would be great to listen to on a long drive and call it Car Tunes. I tried to just make a playlist like I would have made a mix tape or CD when I was a kid——just as many songs I like that could fit onto a CD-R."—Jeff Rosenstock

1. PARQUET COURTS, "SUNBATHING ANIMAL": Parquet Courts are one of my favorite bands, and this song is SO FUCKIN SICK! Just listen to it!

2. CYNDI LAUPER, "MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING": Not that long ago, I found out that Cyndi Laupers Shes So Unusual was a record stacked with great pop jams. It plays like a greatest hits record, not a debut album.

3. BLACK SABBATH, "SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE (REMASTERED VERSION)": Wow! Remastered for my listening pleasure! Thanks, someone! I like playing this riff at soundcheck cause its so thiiiiick and I can think of Beavis and Butthead singing it. Also the shift in the middle of this song is a good example of later-Ozzy-era Black Sabbath taking weird risks! The four records they did after Paranoid are epic and amazing, check em out.

4. ALVVAYS, "THE AGENCY GROUP": You know that guy at the party who is drunk and talking too loud about some band that youve heard of and havent heard and you just want him to go away? Well, that is me any time anyone brings up Alvvays, cause I cannot stop listening to their records. I picked this song because its fun to sing at soundcheck, and a love song titled after a booking agency is good bit.

5. LIL MAMA, "LIP GLOSS": This song is the banger to end all bangers, and I think we can all get behind the universal truth that Lil Mamas lip gloss is poppin.

6. CAKE, "ROCK N ROLL LIFESTYLE": Haaaaaaaa... I heard this song on the radio the other day and thought it was funny. Cake is a cool band, but I dont know much about em.

7. CHAI, "SOUND & STOMACH": Heard this band at a listening station in the Shibuya Tower Records. I really like J-Pop, J-Rock, whatever this is. I kinda thought, "Whoa, I discovered a new hip underground band!" and then I saw ads for their new album lining the streets later on. Im down with any song that has speak-sing rapping a la "There Was a Door" by Crying.

8. LABRADORS, "ALL I HAVE IS MY HEART": We played with the Labradors when we were on tour in Italy and they were so good. I had this song stuck in my head for months after we returned and it always makes me think of good times in Italy.

9. ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, "ACROSS THE BORDER": Okay, so if you like ELO, but you only know the hits, Im here to give you a HARD 10/10 RECOMMENDATION to check out their albums from Eldorado up until Discovery. They are great! Maybe start with A New World Record or Discovery. Anyway, this songs not on either of those two records.

10. SCARED OF CHAKA, "WHY ARE YOU WEIRD?": I have woken up with this song stuck in my head for the last 15 years.

11. P.O.S, "PUREXED": Ive known Stef for a while and its been really fun to watch him turn into such a great creative rapper. This song is next level and totally caught me off guard the first time I heard it.

12. SONIC YOUTH, "BULL IN THE HEATHER": I just basically always want to listen to this song. Theres also a sick Go! Team cover of this

13. KENDRICK LAMAR, "FEAR.": I really liked this record, every song is a jam, and it was hard to choose. I picked this one because I love the verses which, from what I read somewhere, are from the perspective of him as at ages seven, 17, and 27. Kendrick Lamar makes cool shit, have you heard of him?

14. THE VANDALS, "I HAVE A DATE": I heard this song late at night on the radio when I was like 13 or 14 and scrambled to find a blank tape and record as much of it as possible to listen to over and over. Warren Fitzgerald has been a guitar hero of mine forever. He doesnt do any wild n crazy shit on this one, but he does sing on it and its a lot of fun.

15. SCATMAN JOHN, "SCATMANS WORLD": Oh man, have you heard this song? Have you seen this video? Have you looked into the history of Scatman John, who started scatting to embrace a stutter that he was always self-conscious about? BA BO BAYY BO BOPPITY.

16. THE THERMALS, "HEY YOU": Im guessing you like The Thermals, but maybe you forgot that they put out a great record in 2016 that had this perfect pop-punk song on it.

17. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE, "SURVIVAL CAR": I never really liked the song "Stacys Mom" and assumed this band would be annoying until my wife played me this perfect power-pop record. It was hard to pick a song on it, but this song is just such a feel-good classic. Roll the windows down! Do the thingy with your hand and the wind! Oh no, roll the window back up, its freezing!

18. KIM MITCHELL, "GO FOR A SODA": This past summer, we had the pleasure of having Zack Mykula of PUP play drums for us in Canada, and his partner Julia rode with us for a few days as well. We made a playlist of Canadian songs we knew and they were like, "yo, you dont know shit about Canada" and we were like "fair enough." They introduced us to a LOT of pub-rock anthems, but this one just takes the cake. "Might as well go for a soda/ Nobody hurts/ And nobody cries" over arena-rock drums? Its so fun to me finding out about a big hit song in another country that just never made it over to me. Anyway, thats what I have to say about Kim Mitchell. Also, if you wanna listen to more, I suggest checking out "I Am A Wild Party"——theres only a live version and its an insane song.

19. SHIT PRESENT, "SHIT TALK": I love Ionas songs and I love Shit Present. I saw her play this on her own the last time we were in the UK and it made me very happy. Its no "My Fruit Bowl" but I cant find that one on Spotify.

20. SQUEEZE, "ANOTHER NAIL IN MY HEART": Squeeze is another band, like ELO, that I think people have heard are good, but might only know "Tempted" and been like, "Yeah, I guess theyre okay." Well, guess what: Squeeze rocks! Fast, wordy power-pop. I listen to Squeeze all the damn time. Also, "Tempted" is sick too, back off!

21. THE SIDEKICKS, "DAISY": If listening to The Sidekicks is not part of your life, NOW IS THE TIME TO GET IN. This record is a great place to start, and then youll get stoked cause their next record is going to be amazing, and then youre gonna go back to Runners and Weight of Air and be like, "Wow, these are great too, how is this band so good?" And then youll be like me every time I see The Sidekicks. BE LIKE ME only this one time.

Around the 2007 release of Wilco’s sixth studio album, Sky Blue Sky, Jeff Tweedy talked a lot about classic rock. Sky Blue Sky eschewed much of the experimentation that had characterized the album’s immediate predecessors (2001’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and 2004’s A Ghost Is Born), favoring a more straightforward musical and lyrical style. In several interviews, Tweedy insisted that he preferred not to give too much credence to the “alternative country” and “experimental” labels that had followed him since his earliest days as a founding member of Uncle Tupelo. Instead, Tweedy insisted, Wilco should be known as a rock ‘n’ roll band.For a piece in the Wall Street Journal, Tweedy acknowledged the influence that 1970s rock had on Sky Blue Sky, listing his five favorite albums from that era. The first five songs on this playlist are sourced from that article, wherein Tweedy confesses he “often tries to emulate” Nick Drake’s picking style and claims The Clash’s “Train In Vain” “was huge” for him growing up. Considering Wilco’s sound, those choices—as well as the inclusion of Dylan and Wings—make sense. The outlier in his list is Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” which Tweedy calls “a great pop record.” However, despite all the talk of experimentation surrounding Wilco, Tweedy has always known how to make catchy music.The remaining tracks on the playlist were added based on covers Tweedy has done, both live and on record, with Wilco and Uncle Tupelo. A version of Doug Sahm’s “Give Back the Key to My Heart” appears on Uncle Tupelo’s swan song Anodyne*, and a cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” appears on the 2003 reissue of that album. Wilco has frequently covered Bill Fay** and Big Star, including the latter’s “In The Street” (a.k.a. The theme song to That ‘70s Show). During an all-covers set at 2013’s Solid Sound Festival, Wilco played the classic songs by The Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground, and Television that are featured here.Sticklers may note that The Band’s “The Weight” was technically released in 1968. However, this version with The Staples Singers was recorded at the group’s 1976 farewell concert and released two years later as part of the Scorsese documentary The Last Waltz. Tweedy, who has collaborated with Mavis Staples throughout the years, joined an ensemble of musical greats—including Nick Lowe, whose “Peace, Love, and Understanding” Wilco covered for Spotify’s Singles Series—to perform a rendition of “The Weight” in 2014 in honor of Staples’ 75th birthday.Tweedy is gearing up for the June 2017 release of Together at Last, which features acoustic versions of songs by various bands throughout his illustrious career. By playing in a stripped down form, devoid of any attempts at musical experimentation, Tweedy will likely reinforce just how influential this decade of classic rock was on the formation of his own, unique sound.*This song isn’t on Spotify, and was replaced with Sahm’s “Don’t Turn Around,” from his 1973 album Doug Sahm and His Band.**Tweedy typically covers Bill Fay’s “Be Not So Fearful,” which isn’t on Spotify, so I’ve replaced it with Fay’s cover of Wilco’s “Jesus, etc.,” which, of course, was not released in the ‘70s.

In August 2017, indie rocker Jen Cloher released her self-titled record, which cracked the Top 5 on the album charts in her native Australia; she also received a great deal of exposure in North America when her song “Fear Is Like a Forest” was covered on Lotta Sea Lice, the collaborative album from Kurt Vile and Cloher’s better half, Courtney Barnett. Before she heads out on her U.S. and European tours in early 2018, Jen shares the songs that defined 2017 for her. “2017 was a year where we heard more diverse voices break through, in Australia particularly. While global politics became more regressive, divisive, and fear-mongering, music did the opposite.”—Jen Cloher

Avant-folk-rock explorers Xylouris White——a.k.a. Greek singer/lute player George Xylouris and drummer Jim White of Australian trio The Dirty Three—released their third album, Mother, on Bella Union. Here, White gives us a peek into his eclectic music collection with a set that spans psychedelic jazz to post-punk to modern pop.Xylouris White are currently touring across the U.S. before hitting Europe in the spring; check here for upcoming dates.

Prince may have owned the 80s, but his former collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis owned R&B in the 80s (and early 90s). They first rose to prominence as members of The Time, but theyre probably best known as the go-to producers for Janet Jackson. Though, really, diminishing their contributions to one band or one singer does them a disservice. Check out Soulbounces succinct retrospective of their best hits.

From the warped breakbeats of drum n bass to the frenetic 808 attack of footwork, the last two decades of electronic music history have been marked by a fetishization of the drums, as technological advances have allowed producers to go ever deeper into rhythmic design.Black Origami, the remarkable second album from Gary, Indiana, producer Jlin is one of the most important recent developments in the history of electronic percussion, a brilliantly overblown yet mind-glowingly complex album of rhythmic possibility.Jlin emerged from the world of footwork in the early 2010s with the track “Erotic Heat,” which appeared on volume two of the iconic Bangs & Works compilation series on UK dance label Planet Mu. But if that track was an outlier in the footwork world of dance battles and frenetic DJ cuts, her 2015 debut album Dark Energy would see Jlin gravitate further into her own darkly elegant orbit, incorporating operatic arias (on “Black Ballet”) and Chinese erhu violin (on “Unknown Tongues”).Black Origami sees Jlin blow open the definition of what footwork can be. You can still feel the influence of footwork producers like DJ Rashad on a track like “1%” (featuring Holly Herndon), with its skittering hi-hats and coal-black synth lines, but elsewhere Jlin widens her global percussive net to take in everything from tabla drums (notably used in electronic music by London producer Talvin Singh) on “Kyanite” to the djembe on “Nyakinyua Rise,” all of which battles against Jlin’s drum-machine finesse in a global-percussion street fight. Jlin also takes on sounds that are closer to home: “Challenge (To Be Continued)” is a brilliant rhythmic tussle between US marching band and footwork hi-hats, while “Hatshepsut” throws a Joey Beltram hoover sound into the mix.Black Origami is also notable for its eye-opening array of collaborations, which veer several steps into the left field of electronic music. “Holy Child” sees Jlin work with minimalist composer William Basinski, the haunting “Calcination” features the gothic vocals of Fawkes, while the hip hop-ish “Never Created, Never Destroyed” includes vocal work from Cape Town rapper Dope Saint Jude that Jlin chops and splits to her own devices.Black Origami bears the influence of each of these collaborators and yet it sounds like none of them. It’s a footwork album but only in the very widest sense of what footwork can be. As such, Black Origami resembles—in spirit more than in sound—the work of 90s electronic-music producers like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Photek, and Remarc, who took the chopped up breakbeats of drum n bass and pushed them to ridiculous new levels of subatomic complexity, creating something quite revolutionary in its pointillist intensity. Black Origami is a worthy successor to these names, a jaw-dropping work of percussive complexity that marks out Jlin as a singularly brilliant talent.Click here to follow this playlist on Spotify.

Joe Gibbs was one of reggae’s great businessmen and ambassadors, and also one of the genre’s great producers. He was responsible for the highly influential African Dub series, introduced Dennis Brown to America, and worked extensively with the great Lee “Scratch” Perry. The write-up to this playlist on FACT provides an excellent detail to all of this, and the playlist itself is a monster. Though one wonders why they limited themselves to so few songs, the chronological order works to its advantage, as you can hear Gibbs’ sound (and, by extension, the sound of reggae in general) evolve from the late-60s throughout the 70s. As a note, some of these songs were not available on Spotify, but we did our best to recreate it.

John Coltrane went insane sometime around 1960. Once he hit that perfect balance of drugs, free jazz, and ingenious sidemen, it was game over for vintage hard bop. The Village Vanguard concerts of November 1961 saw the beginnings of the classic quartet—Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones—and their search for visionary new sounds and modes. In many ways, Coltrane revolutionized the concert experience through his visceral and spiritual engagement with his music of that period. Through these live performances, ranging from Coltrane Live in Paris to his essential contributions to Miles Davis’ 1960 tour, Coltrane delivered, through both his saxophone and his leadership, some of the most potent expressions of the post-war existential crisis that would ever be heard.

A tip of the hat goes to Open Culture for turning up this sprawling, 16-hour collection of John Peel Sessions. From 1967 until his death in 2004, the iconic BBC radio DJ invited an enormous array of bands to record special sessions in the studio, from original punks like Killing Joke and Siouxsie and the Banshees to prog rockers like Jethro Tull, and on up to electronic musicians like Mira Calix and The Orb. Scanning the list of artists boggles the mind: Buzzcocks, The Smiths, Nick Drake, Nirvana, David Bowie—many different scenes, generations, and levels of fame, with the only common denominator being that theyre all acts that mattered, even if only for a few devout listeners as passionate as Peel himself. Currently 255 songs long, this playlist doesnt contain all the Peel Sessions, by any stretch of the imagination, but presumably itll be updated as more titles come online. And while the range of artists represented doesnt necessarily lend itself to a stylistically coherent listen, that hardly matters: Peels entire M.O., after all, was introducing listeners to brilliant music, no matter the style.