Playlist Reviews

What’s This Playlist All About? Grateful Dead OG Bob Weir is reportedly quite the workout warrior. (Just check out the man’s Instagram for proof.) To help inspire the rest of us to peel ourselves off the couch and get active, too, he’s shared his “ultimate gymming playlist,” a one-hour mix made “with a little help from my daughters, Monet and Chloe!”

What You Get: We’re going to assume that the inclusion of current trendsetters like Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Halsey, and Post Malone had at least some influence from Weir’s daughters, while classic-rock powerhouses like Jimi Hendrix (with “Foxey Lady”), The Doors (“Love Me Two Times”), and Creedence Clearwater Revival (“Fortunate Son”) have long been on Weir’s workout mixes. In between, you get slices of iconic country with Johnny Cash (“Folsom Prison Blues”) and Dolly Parton, who makes the list twice, first as romantic foil to Kenny Rogers in the timeless “Islands In the Stream” and second as scorned lover in the also-timeless “Jolene.” Meanwhile, Queen’s “We Are The Champions” makes an appearance midway through—just at the time in your workout that you’ll probably need that kind of arena-size motivation.

Weirdest Pick: This ain’t your average jock-jams compilation, but Memphis Jug Band’s “Cocaine Habit Blues” seems an especially odd choice to get those endorphins pumping (naturally, of course). Then again, maybe that’s just weird for anyone who isn’t a Deadhead.

Best Workout for This Playlist: Given its mostly midtempo grooves, we’d say this is probably best played when hitting the free weights or doing some old-school body-weight moves—you can never do enough push-ups, squats, and crunches, after all.

What’s This Playlist All About? In its 18th iteration, Manchester, Tennessee’s grandest music extravaganza will return to the farm on June 13-16 with perhaps its strangest lineup yet—which could also make it its best year yet.What You Get: Bonnaroo continues to keep things weird. Just have a look at 2019’s headliners: While Phish playing twice makes all kinds of sense given the jam-rock legacy of the festival, throwing in Post Malone, Odesza, The Lumineers, and a few Grand Ole Opry “special guests,” is sure to bring in every stripe of music fan. And perhaps nowhere else will you see living country-folk legend John Prine rubbing shoulders with trap hero Gucci Mane, or prolific dream-pop purveyors Beach House cozying up alongside the funky fresh GRiZ, who will be leading this year’s collaborative “SuperJam,” one of Bonnaroo’s coolest events. Unfortunately, the playlist itself is in alphabetical order, so any calculated curation is lost completely. Then again, it just as well represents the vast inclusiveness of the festival itself.Greatest Discoveries: As we all know by now, the best finds are almost always buried in the fine print. We’ll be elbowing our way to the front row for some fresh retro vibes from quirky baroque-popsters The Lemon Twigs and good-old-fashioned rock ‘n’ rollers The Nude Party. We’ll also be hopping over to catch Two Feet’s bluesy electro soul and Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers’ fiery spoken-word hip-hop.Is this the Worst (or Best!) Lineup Yet? While we’re not ones to get into such existential arguments, we will say that, while the headliners may not excite too much, we’re all in for the smaller-font artists.

For 20 years, Kevin Martin has explored the sonics of urban decay as The Bug. Most recently, that’s arrived in the form of his ground-shaking collaboration with Dylan Carlson of drone metal outfit Earth.Martin’s music is most often rooted in the deep bass and reverb-heavy drum sound of dub reggae, giving the style a cavernous, concrete makeover better suited to city streets. So, stylistically, hip hop isn’t necessarily the first sonic palette that comes to mind when one thinks of Martin’s work. But when tasked with making a playlist for Crack magazine, that’s exactly where he went.The playlist offers insight into Martin’s work as The Bug as a kind of production roadmap. Featuring cuts from Public Enemy to Cannibal Ox, and newcomers like Vince Staples, Hip Hop Narcotic Vol. 1 is a throughline in dense production styles. After you hear Jahlil Beats’ air-raid sirens follow Bobby Shmurda, or the thick hallucinatory cloud of El-P’s dank influence hovering over Cannibal Ox America, hip-hop will no longer seem like a complete world away from what The Bug is doing. If anything, these artists see the same darkness down their own city streets.

Whats This Playlist All About? The "Havana” singer and former Fifth Harmony star reveals the tracks that leave her swooning.What Do You Get? A fun (though somewhat predictable) mix of mushy modern pop hits and timeless romantic classics. The playlist leans mostly on recent stuff (well give her a pass since shes only 20 years old), including Taylor Swift at her sweetest ("Love Story"), Ed Sheeran at his schmaltziest ("Perfect"), and Selena Gomez at her sultriest ("Hands to Myself")—oh, and Camila herself at her slinkiest ("Never Be the Same"). A little Stevie Wonder and Prince are thrown in for good measure, while The Weeknd slips in not once, but twice.Most Romantic: No one can top Etta James. No one.Will Playing This Win Over Your Crush? Only if youre 15 to 25 years old.

In 2015, Caribou famously posted a 1,000-track mixtape that served as a journal of his musical discovery over the past few years. It’s a lot to digest, to say the least. The Canadian electronic artist has omnivorous taste, for one. New Wave freakout king Gary Wilson bumps up against a particularly eerie track from jazz icon Nina Simone. There’s disco legend Cerrone on the groovy “Got to Have Loving” and also lots and lots of Velvet Underground (of course). You don’t have to make sense of any of it, of course, but, if you squint just so, you can piece together Caribou’s own aesthetic roots.The squiggling synth lines, and bouncy beat of “E.V.A” from Moog pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey reflects Caribou’s own tendency to reconcile more experimental strains of electronic music with an overarching pop sensibility, while the hanging-off-the-bone, mandela hip-hop of Madlib is a natural fit for an artist who started his career focused on lo-fi psych sounds. The delicate, understated intensity of Caribou’s most recent album, 2015’s Our Love, is captured in tracks from Radiohead, Koushik, and Shuggie Otis, and house and disco-derived sounds figure in heavily—in addition to Cerrone, the playlist also contains Sylvester, Derrick May, Moodymann, Larry Heard, and Chez Damier—which tracks nicely with Caribou’s own pivot towards more dance-friendly beats for his Daphni project.The original YouTube playlist was nearly one hundred hours of unsequenced music (in the note that came with the mix, Caribou suggests that it be listened to on shuffle), and it’s obviously sprawling. Even in this slightly abridged Spotify version—presumably, the 204 tracks not included here weren’t cleared for digital music services, sadly—it’s easy to get lost. Ultimately, this feels more like a radio station than a “mixtape” or a playlist. The listener lets it spin passively in the background, occasionally swooping in to figure out who exactly is doing what. The contextual editorial information that Spotify offers comes in handy—YouTube provides no similar key, and you’re constantly flitting between Google and YouTube to discover who the hell is Asa-Chang (a Japanese percussionist and leader of the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra) or Hal Blaine (Phil Spector’s go-to drummer). But this isn’t really an academic course as much as it is a party, or a celebration of the scattershot, sublime aesthetic of one of indie music’s most vital and unpredictable artists.

Whats This Playlist All About? Given the rather random artists and ordering, we can only presume the Canadian electro-pop experimentalist is having as good a time as the rest of us discovering the pure satisfaction that Shazam can bring.What Do You Get? When a plucky Brazilian septuagenarian (Dona Onete) opens the mix with an infectious, sax-inflected dance groove, you know its going to be an interesting ride. Lana Del Rey shows up (twice), so does The Weeknd, and their sultriness is balanced by the nasally laments of Bob Dylan and the woozy drones of Wooden Shjips. The rest jumps frantically around the map, from tango (Carlos Gardel) and Afrobeat (Manu Dibango) to Ethiopian jazz (Mulatu Astatke) and Slayer.Greatest Discovery: Sophie Hungers dark, dreamy, jazz-laced "Citylights Forever," which sounds slightly like Lana doing Radiohead (and were not talking "Creep").Guiltiest Pleasure: Kottonmouth Kings languid, feel-good ode to weed, "Rest of My Life."What Does This Playlist Say About Caribou? This guys unabashedly omnivorous, a musical globe-trotter, and forever curious. Its probably why he’s so good at molding weird, wild sounds into such enchanting melodies.

Whats This Playlist All About? Named after "Woman," the lead single from Cat Powers new album Wanderer (her first in six years), this mix shows a little of Chan Marshalls indie rock roots as well as her respect for GOAT singer-songwriters and the women who have consistently challenged the music industrys status quo.What You Get: A selection of classic odes dedicated to the power and struggles of women, alongside modern-day classics devoted to the baddest bitches around (see: Trina and Rihanna). The Woman Playlist aptly starts with her own "Woman," the smoky duet with Lana Del Rey, before kicking into "The Other Woman," the sad mistress tale perfected by Nina Simone. Its then sprinkled with tragic indie anthems (Husker Dus "Diane"), poignant folk secrets (Joni Mitchells "Little Green"), and, of course, John Lennons own "Woman."Biggest Surprise: On the surface, 2Pacs "Keep Ya Head Up" may seems a strange addition, but the rap icons 1993 hit single is a powerful critique of misogyny and the incredible strength of women through it all.What Does This Playlist Say About Women? This is no fluffy statement about girl power. Many of these songs are heartbreaking and tragic as they show the many complexities of being a woman—through all of her trauma, toughness, sadness, and open-heartedness.

Whats This Playlist All About? The bratty, British pop provocateur honors Womens History Month with a mix of fellow fierce females shes inspired by, many of whom shes worked, written, or collaborated with.What Do You Get? A mix of modern pop mavens who beautifully balance their soft femininity with an admirable dont-f*ck-with-me attitude. Precocious teen electro-pop (Billie Eilishs "Ocean Eyes") sits alongside sassy kiss-offs (Dua Lipas "IDGAF"), funky seductions (Janelle Monaes "Make Me Feel"), empowering ballads (Kelly Clarksons "I Don Think About You"), and a few saucy moments from Charli XCX herself.Greatest DiscoverySoulful Swedish singer Miriam Bryant, who blends Adeles explosive pipes with Lordes moody alt-pop.Who Did She Forget? Her new touring bud, Taylor Swift, of course.Does Charli XCX Deserve Three Tracks Here? We gave P!nk some leeway on this with her own Womens History Month playlist, so we can happily do the same here. Either way, we dont expect the rule-breaking Charli XCX to give a damn what we think.

What’s This Playlist All About? In its 20th year, the great harbinger of the year’s festival season has announced its 2019 lineup, which has triggered every possible emotion among a wide range of music fans. Depending on who you talk to, this is either the end of music as we know it or just another awesome excuse to sing, sweat, dance, and fully unleash in the heat and heart of the Sonoran Desert.What You Get: Come April, the hallowed three-day, two-weekend extravaganza will bring in over 150 artists from around the globe. After plenty of years on the festival circuit, Aussie psych-pop darlings Tame Impala have made it to the biggest font, alongside multi-talent wonder Childish Gambino, and sassy pop princess Ariana Grande. But, per usual, the headliners are only a side note. True Coachella connoisseurs know that it’s all about looking at the fine print. Going deeper into the lineup, you’ll find eternal guitar-pop geeks Weezer alongside K-pop (and rap) phenoms BLACKPINK, electronic polymath Jon Hopkins, Russian techno goddess Nina Kraviz, fun/freaky Minneapolis rap queen Lizzo, French alt-pop provocateur Charlotte Gainsbourg, British hunk/actor/DJ Idris Elba, dreamy experimental enigma Yves Tumor, cutesy/quirky art-pop collective Superorganism, and funky DIY one-man-band Still Woozy.Best Surprise: Aphex Twin. No contest.Is this the Worst (or Best!) Lineup Yet? Probably neither. The headliners don’t quite have the iconic cachet of past performers (I mean, how can you beat Prince and Roger Waters?! Then again, how can we all forget Jack Johnson headlined the same year?!). But as Coachella increasingly moves away from nostalgic reunions and classic acts and embraces more global stars and underground artists rooted in various styles, it remains just as relevant—maybe even more so—in defining the musical zeitgeist of the year.

Whats This Playlist All About? One of indie rocks rawest and realest wordsmiths updates her mix of new and old faves with a breezy, brand-new song of her own, "Need a Little Time."

What You Get: A mostly woman-powered show of badass babes whove mastered sultry funk (Janelle Monae); crunchy, cathartic grunge (The Breeders); angelic, irreverent folk (Neko Case); and enchanting futuristic pop that no one could ever possibly replicate (Bjork). She does give a nod to a few notable men as well, sprinkling in a Bowie classic, heady jazz from Kamasi Washington, and an assist from Roger Waters on a cuddly, old-timey blues standard with the frontwomen of Lucius.

Greatest Discovery: Lots of goodies to discover here, but if you like Barnett, check out TT, the new solo project from Warpaint singer and guitarist Theresa Wayman. First single "Love Leaks" is a syrupy slice of trip-hop-infused hypnotic pop.

Is This the Best Indie Mix Youll Hear This Year? So far, no competition. As much as were looking forward to CBs new album, Tell Me How You Really Feel, out May 18, we kind of wish shed start her own radio show—her tastes are impeccable.