Whats This Playlist All About? As he prepares for the release of his new solo album, The Atlas Underground, the Nightwatchman, former Rage Against the Machine guitarist, and outspoken activist continues to fight for his rights through music. His genre-spanning list hits up all types of subversive anthems and calls to action from punk icons, pop freaks, and folk heroes.What You Get: To start, youll be treated with a good chunk of Morellos new album, including a grungy, hard-rocking cut with K. Flay and a sludgy, bass-y banger with Knife Party. He then gives shout-outs to his friends and collaborators, like Skrillex, Vic Mensa, A Perfect Circle, and System of a Down, before taking many left turns, including a little Jesus Christ Superstar, a club-ready 50 Cent, and a sassy Taylor Swift.Greatest Discovery: The woozy, dreamy, twang-touched "Song for Zula" from the criminally underrated PhosphorescentWhat About Rage? Theres one radical band conspicuously missing from this list: Morellos own Rage Against the Machine. A little "Killing in the Name" would round this out nicely, right?
What Are These Playlists All About? The British electronic artist (and co-songwriter behind Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me”) delivers a trio of playlists for the Day, Night and Slumber—a fitting companion to his latest album, Everyday.What You Get: Starting with Day, featuring “music to live by,” Tourist kicks off the mix with his own ambient, cathartic, Sigur Ros-leaning “Someone Else,” before slipping into airy reveries both classic and fresh, from the Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil to Toro y Moi and Yves Tumor; he also adds in a little extra bite from CAN and Gang of Four. Next comes Night, featuring “music to dance to,” which includes a whole lot of experimental twists and turns from one-named aliases like Objekt and Actress, who delve deep into dark, slippery IDM, and Lone, whose blissed-out jungle rhythms add a touch of euphoria. Lastly, Slumber is “music to fall asleep to,” which, oddly enough, starts with the same song as his Day mix, before diving into the gentle melodies of singer/songwriter greats like Daniel Johnston, Leonard Cohen, Bon Iver, and Sufjan Stevens, plus some lovely piano pieces from Jon Brion and Erik Satie.Best Surprises: Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner’s gentle acoustic turn on “It’s hard to get around the wind”; the hypnotic electro-pop of Molly Nilsson on “Hey Moon!”; and the wonky grooves of DJ Boring’s “Winona” (featuring a sample of Winona Ryder herself).Day, Night, or Slumber? Tourist beautifully captures a certain mood with each playlist, but we’re personally partial to his Day mix—the most fun and vibrant blend of dreamy pop journeys and mind-bending electronic voyages that best capture the producer’s own melodic and experimental tendencies.
Whats This Playlist All About? The NIN mastermind cherry-picks from his own catalog to gift us with a soundtrack for soaking in the beautiful sadness of solitude. His only tip: "Darkness optional but recommended."What Do You Get? Reznors bleakest but most seductive instrumentals, mostly from his film scores with main collaborator Atticus Ross. Theres no shortage of minor keys, moaning drones, and endless black holes of white noise. The mood is not all nihilistic, though; in fact, the way the songs flow—patiently, almost placidly—allows for ample moments of blissful reflection. Darkest Moment: Theres something truly disorienting about the weirdly pitched drones weaving through Reznors soft piano jabs on "Soft Trees Break the Fall" from The Social Network. Its even more terrifying to think about listening to this while scrolling through Facebook.What Did He Forget? While a few tracks from the underrated Still are here, that releases glistening finale "Leaving Hope" would have been a fine addition. But perhaps that ones better with the lights on.Should You Dare Play This in the Presence of Others? We wouldnt. This stuff can take you to dark places you never knew existed.
What’s This Playlist All About?: Tycho’s own productions are the sort of sprawling, epic electronic instrumentals that make every moment feel like you’re watching sunrise at Burning Man, naked and under the influence of some fourth-generation hallucinogenic. He’s probably guilty of making the same song over and over, but it’s a really good song! What You Get: A playlist that captures whatever Tycho is currently listening to. He simply adds songs to the top when the muse strikes. It usually comes in clumps of 30 to 50 tracks and happens every three months of so. If you’re listening to this on Spotify, it’s interesting to see his taste progress through the years. In 2015, he was mainly listening to his own stuff, while 2016 found him branching off into Caribou and Lone, which really isn’t that much of a deviation, to be honest. Confusingly, his early 2018 additions include 2012-era indie darlings Atoms for Peace and Beach House.Greatest Discovery: The Rival Consoles track “Ghosting” initially comes on like minimal darkwave but opens up into a chimey midsection before ducking back down into flanged techno. Will This Make Me Want to Eat Peyote in a Desert and Find Myself?: No, but it might inspire you to buy a sweater at Urban Outfiters.
Whats This Playlist All About? Unknown Mortal Orchestra frontman Ruban Nielson carefully curates a funky, groovy, sometimes paranoia-infused mix that serves as an excellent companion to his bands brand-new fourth album, Sex & Food.What Do You Get? A thoughtful blend of new and old sounds that swings between hypnotic and heavy—kind of like Rubans own music, which seamlessly sneaks into the mix every now and then. The older stuff is equally eclectic and edgy, from worldly disco treasure "Space Talk" by Indian polymath Asha Puthi to the Hendrix-conjuring magic of Funkadelic, and the unrelenting rhythms and riffs of NEU!. The newer stuff offers just as much out-there sounds with a slightly cannier sense of restraint, like Parquet Courts jittery garage rock and Grizzly Bears woozy harmonies.Greatest Discovery: Scottish producer Makeness doomy, dance-y, Matrix-like melodies.How Does This Playlist Match Up with Sex & Food? Exceptionally well—Ruban clearly found influence in every one of these artists. In tracks like "Major League Chemicals" and "American Guilt," you can taste hints of Sabbaths chugging, proto-metal and Fuzzs fuzzier translation of it. In the warped soul-funk of "Ministry of Alienation" and "Now in Love Were Just High," you can hear a touch of Sly & the Family Stone along with the groovy psych-jazz fusion of Toro Y Mois Chaz Bundicks recent collaboration with jazz duo Mattson 2.
What’s This Playlist All About? Just as we were gearing up for Weezer’s long-awaited Black Album, they surprise drop their Teal Album, an unabashed set of covers that tackles such classics as Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” TLC’s “No Scrubs,” and MJ’s “Billie Jean.” This playlist serves as an excellent accompaniment, as it rounds up a bunch of seemingly random, but rather excellent, tracks that are ripe to get their own Weezer treatment. Because “when life isn’t easy, stick to Keeping It Weezy.”What You Get: As with most things Weezer, this playlist is far from predictable. There’s the band’s own slippery foray into funk with “Can’t Knock the Hustle” and their beloved cover of Toto’s “Africa.” But in between is some cacophonous grit from Nine Inch Nails, slick robo-pop from Jamiroquai, piercing ‘70s rock badassery from Neil Merryweather, too-cool French jazz-pop from Michel Legrand, psychedelic gold from The Glass Family, and rainbow-infused glam rock from Jobriath.Greatest Discovery: The mind-altering cosmic chaos of “Dreamt Person v3” from electronic maestro Venetian Snares.Which of These Tracks Should Weezer Cover Next? We’d love to hear a smoothed-out, Weezerfied version of Death Grips’ glitchy growler “Black Paint.”
The editors at Hip-Hop DX honored the legendary producer by compiling some of his greatest beats. Theyre all essential, and theres a few surprising picks, like A Tribe Called Quests "(Weve Got) Jazz," which Pete claims Q-Tip copied from him, and the Notorious B.I.G.s "Juicy (Remix)," which also involves claims of behind-the-scenes nonsense. The list sticks to the Chocolate Boy Wonders 90s heyday, but his latest work is also worth a listen. -- Mosi Reeves
Whats This Playlist All About? This musical companion to the new PBS/Independent Lens documentary Winnie——which follows the life of Winnie Mandela and her heroic fight against apartheid——offers an extensive survey of South Africas most powerful protest anthems and stirring tales of murder and mourning.What You Get: A rich but intense education on one of modern historys darkest hours, and how music can be the most potent fuel in powering a revolution. Curator Sarah Bardeen starts the experience with Miriam Makebas steely yet steady interpretation of Vuyisile Minis "Beware, Verwoerd!," a daring rebuke directed straight at South African prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd. She then spotlights harrowing choir laments (Lalela Cape Town Choir’s "Thina Sizwe"), fiery jazz movements (Hugh Masekela’s "Sharpville"), rousing youth chants (Chicago Children’s Choir’s "Toyi Toyi"), and even a few notable supporters from unlikely places, like Paul Simon and The Specials.Greatest Discovery: The playlists evocative final track, "Senzeni Na," which translates as "What have we done?" Its placement at the end of this mix is telling: This is a struggle and a fight that is far from over.Most Uplifting Song: For such a tragic topic, theres a whole lot of infectious spirit running through this mix, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s "Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika" ("God bless Africa").How Can You Learn More?: See Bardeens full article on the inspiring stories behind her song selections here.
Disco has proven to be one of the more malleable and durable genres, certainly more so than punk or many other genres that sprung up during the 70s. Tim Finney -- who’s written for Pitchfork, Complex and nearly everywhere between those poles -- offers this “woke as fuck” playlist on Spotify. And though there’s no written context for this, and the tracks span decades, they seem to all be from the more proggy and experimental end of the disco spectrum. They’re also consistently jaw-dropping amazing.
Whats This Playlist All About? The saucy singer and fearless acrobat celebrates Womens History Month with a list of her favorite female musicians.What Do You Get? A careful collection that hits on nearly every popular genre, with a wide range of powerhouse belters (Adele, Whitney, Bette), edgy alt-rock darlings (PJ Harvey, The Cranberries), pioneering pop provocateurs (Madonna, Fiona), outspoken country trailblazers (Dolly, Dixie Chicks), and a few hippie heroes (Janis, Jefferson Airplane).Greatest Discovery: The youngest woman here, Bishop Briggs, whose moody, dark-pop anthem "River" takes much of its fierceness from P!nk herself.Does P!nk Deserve Two Tracks Here? We noticed she snuck in two of her own recent songs a few days after the other tracks were added—and we kind of love that audacity.
The ’90s have never sounded better than they do right now—especially for modern-day indie rockers. There’s no shortage of bands banging around these days whose sound suggests formative phases spent soaking up vintage ’90s indie rock. Not that the neo-’90s sound is itself a new thing. As soon as the era was far enough away in the rearview mirror to allow for nostalgia to set in (i.e., the second half of the 2000s), there were already some young artists out there onboarding ’90s alt-rock influences. But more recently, there’s been a bumper crop of bands that betray a soft spot for a time when MTV still played music videos and streaming was just something that happened in a restroom. In this context, the literate, lo-fi approach of Pavement has emerged as a particularly strong strand of the ’90s indie tapestry, and it isn’t hard to hear echoes of their sound in the work of more recent arrivals like Kiwi jr. or Teenage Cool Kids. Cherry Glazerr frontwoman Clementine Creevy seems to have a feeling for the kind of big, dirty guitar riffs that made Pacific Northwestern bands the kings of the alt-rock heap once upon a time. The world-weary, wise-guy angularity of Car Seat Headrest can bring to mind the lurching, loose-limbed attack of Railroad Jerk. And laconic, storytelling types like Nap Eyes stand to prove that there’s still a bright future ahead for those who mourn the passing of Silver Jews main man David Berman. But perhaps the best thing about a face-off between the modern indie bands evoking ’90s forebears and the old-school artists themselves is the fact that in this kind of competition, everybody wins.
It may be that 2019 was the best year for ’90s metal since, well, 1999. Bands from the decade of Judgment Night re-emerged with new creative twists and tweaks: Tool stretched out into polyrhythmic madness, Korn bludgeoned with more extreme and raw despair, Slipknot added a new drummer (Max Weinberg’s kid!) who gave them a new groove, and Rammstein wrote an anti-fascism anthem that caused controversy in Germany (and hit No. 1 there too). Elsewhere, icons of the era returned in unique ways: Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor scored a superhero TV series, Primus’ Les Claypool teamed up with Sean Lennon for some quirky psych rock, and Faith No More’s Mike Patton made an avant-decadent LP with ’70s soundtrack king Jean-Claude Vannier. Finally, the soaring voice of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington returned for a moment thanks to Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton, who released a song they recorded together in 2017.
Taking a look at the playlists for my show on Boston’s WZBC might give the more seasoned college-radio listener a bit of déjà vu: They’re filled with bands like Versus, Team Dresch, and Sleater-Kinney, who were at the top of the CMJ charts back in the ’90s. But the records they released in 2019 turned out to be some of the year’s best rock. Versus, whose Ex Nihilo EP and Ex Voto full-length were part of a creative run for leader Richard Baluyut that also included a tour by his pre-Versus outfit Flower and his 2000s band +/-, put out a lot of beautifully thrashy rock; Team Dresch returned with all cylinders blazing and singers Jody Bleyle and Kaia Wilson wailing their hearts out on “Your Hands My Pockets”; and Sleater-Kinney confronted middle age head-on with their examination of finding one’s footing, The Center Won’t Hold.
Italian guitar heroes Uzeda—who have been putting out proggy, riff-heavy music for three-plus decades—released their first record in 13 years, the blistering Quocumque jerceris stabit; Imperial Teen, led by Faith No More multi-instrumentalist Roddy Bottum, kept the weird hooks coming with Now We Are Timeless; and high-concept Californians That Dog capped off a year of reissues with Old LP, their first album since 1997. Juliana Hatfield continued the creative tear she’s been on this decade with two albums: Weird, a collection of hooky, twisty songs that tackle alienation with searing wit, and Juliana Hatfield Sings the Police, her tribute record to the dubby New Wave chart heroes (in the spirit of the salute to Olivia Newton-John she released in 2018). And our playlist finishes with Mary Timony, formerly of the gnarled rockers Helium and currently part of the power trio Ex Hex, paying tribute to her former Autoclave bandmate Christina Billotte via an Ex Hex take on “What Kind of Monster Are You?,” one of the signature songs by Billotte’s ’90s triple threat Slant 6.
