Canadian singer-songwriter Jennifer Castle explores loss and comfort in those losses on her new album "Angels of Death," out today. Harkening back to early eras of singer-songwriters, Castles stripped down guitar-and-piano-driven folk-drenched songs offer nostalgia with a modern twist, both twang-y and downright spiritual.Expains Castle, "I grew up upon a blue carpet in the summertime, in a small wooden cabin on an island in Georgian Bay, Ontario (acknowledging the Anishnabeeg here). There, on Saturday nights, quiet by the light of a fire, listening to my dad dream out loud (red, red wine), my sister and I in bunk beds, golden oldies floating through the walls, I became a budding songwriter (RIP and thanks for the memories, Dad). With [new album] Angels of Death, I wanted to represent the type of child who listens through walls, sits in the back seat looking out the window dreaming, tunes radios when left alone, absorbs everything, etc."It’s not nostalgia that motivates me, but memories are like fuel on an already burning fire. One day the child whom is led around by parents seemingly and suddenly becomes an adult herself, making choices like what colour of carpet should I put in? Short answer: BLUE!"Check out her accompanying playlist now.
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.
After collaborating with the likes of Nico Muhly and Ben Frost, and serving as a sound tech for the Philip Glass Ensemble, Canadian soundscape artist Jonathan Kawchuk will give his debut album, North, a wide release on January 26 through Paper Bag Records. But while the record presents a meditative melange of drifting piano melodies, string-scraping drones, and field-recording ambiance, the music that inspires him is decidedly less chill... “I have a Spotify folder that holds all these time-capsule playlists. Whenever my life enters a new feel or vibe, I make a playlist of whatever new music I’m listening to at the time. I have a playlist called ‘i’m learning’ for a stretch of my life when I was sneaking into university classes. I have a playlist called ‘ooo nåni nåni,’ which is when I moved to Toronto. There’s ‘Damn He Woke Me Up Early,’ ‘i miss mutek,’ ‘17 crux,’ ‘This way out!,’ et al. I do this when I’m writing as well; listening and picking apart a ton of music helps me hunt for the language I’m trying to speak. And even though my new record North is coming out soon, I thought it would be fun to share the playlist of what’s informing my music right now.”—Jonathan Kawchuk
Fitting for someone who was born in New Zealand but currently calls London home, Jordan Rakei covers a lot of ground. His recently released sophomore album, Wallflower (Ninja Tune) is a mesmerizing melange of after-hours R&B, experimental indie-pop, and soul-jazz grooves. To help you get in a suitably nocturnal mood, he made us this playlist of his favorite chillout soundtracks. “To me, these are some of the most beautiful songs in the world. Very sparse. Very relaxing. All have such an amazing energy that keeps bringing me back to them.”—Jordan Rakei
JR JRs Playlist
Tracks:
The Kinks- “Lola"
The Allman Brothers- “Melissa”
Dolly Parton- “Jolene”
The Beatles- “Julia”
Starship- “Sara”
Stephen malkmus- “Jenny and the ess-dog”
Weezer- “Buddy Holly”
OutKast- “Rosa parks”
Rolling Stones- “Angie”
JR JR- “Caroline”
The Allman Brothers- “Jessica”
The Beatles- “eleanore Rigby”
Counting Crows- “mr Jones”
Lou bega- “Mambo number 5”
The Police - “Roxanne"
Australian singer Juanita Stein has fronted the acclaimed rock-noir outfit Howling Bells since 2004. She releases her rootsy debut solo album, America, on July 28, 2017. To mark the occasion, shes produced this special playlist for The Dowsers of her favorite acts from Down Under. Here, Juanita explains what unites her selections: "Dirty and desolate: Aussie artists have a knack for beautifully capturing the dust settling, whether it be the psychedelic grit of King Gizzard or the delicate twilight of Julia Jacklin. These songs best capture my love of recent and (some) classic Australian bands."Watch the video for Juanita Steins recent single, "Dark Horse," here:
Kelcey Ayer is best known as the keyboardist and vocalist for L.A. indie-rock institution Local Natives, and on Sept. 22, he released his debut solo effort as Jaws of Love., titled Tasha Sits Close to the Piano. For his Dowsers playlist, he’s taking the opportunity to play catch-up on all the great music that came out last month—this is his “September Past, Present, and Future Friends’ Playlist.”“I was trying to think of an idea for this playlist and it occurred to me how difficult it can be doing what we do, and how it seems that playlists are becoming the go-to for getting music heard. We’re trying to get our music out there to the world, but with all the noise, its pretty fucking tough. I just released my solo project, and with all the feelings its bringing up from baring my insides to everyone, I could use some connection. So I thought fuck it, Im gonna hook it up! I love the idea of more community than less in the music world, so this is a playlist of either friends of mine, artists Ive always held in high regard, or new ones who I hope to have a beer with one day, whove released albums in September of 2017. So happy I did this too—it led me to so many awesome albums I missed. Enjoy!"—Kelcey Ayer
On January 26, Texan trio Khruangbin release their second album, Con Todo El Mundo (on Dead Oceans), a supremely chilled fusion of classic funk grooves, sun-dazed psychedelia, and global influences spanning Mexico to the Middle East to South Asia. For their Dowsers playlist, the band open up their deep crates to recreate the soundtrack to a recent magical moment in India. "After playing our first Indian festival, we were lucky to enough to see the turning of the new year in Goa. These songs were the perfect company on the beach. Were trying to bring the Indian sun and warmth to any wintery grey places through this mix, which includes some of our favorites from all over the globe."—Khruangbin
In October 2017, L.A.-via-Nebraska phenom King Leg released his debut album, Meet King Leg (Sire/Warner), a winsome collection of heartland power-pop and twangy balladry gilded by his Orbison-esque croon. Here, he lets us ride shotgun with a Dowsers playlist of favorite road tunes: “Here are some songs Ive enjoyed listening to while driving around: windows down on many; windows up on some. Some of these songs are perfect for neighborhood driving with plenty of four-way stops, while some are better for speeding under a yellow light. Open-road driving or bumper-to-bumper wallowing, this list has a song for me. Mostly, I just like to start the car and turn it up and let the tunes do the steering.”——King Leg Watch the video for King Leg’s “Great Outdoors” (co-directed by Dwight Yoakam!):
Toronto-based jangle-punk combo Kiwi jr.’s debut album, Football Money, received a U.S. release in January 2020, mere weeks before the world was forced into hibernation by the COVID-19 virus. But if they can’t hit the road this year, the least they can do is relive past gig glories through this playlist of “people we have played with and hung out with and admire.” Their selections double as a pocket history of Canadian indie rock, spanning defunct ’90s icons (Thrush Hermit), dogged veterans (The Sadies, Fucked Up), unsung local heroes (Jim Guthrie, Daniel Romano), like-minded contemporaries (Nap Eyes), and a certain big-deal alt-pop group with whom they share a member (Alvvays). But the playlist is also a testament to Kiwi jr.’s rising cachet in the Toronto scene and their ability to score prime opening slots for visiting buzz bands like Aussie wonders Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Detroit singer/songwriter Stef Chura, and Brooklyn art-punk dynamos BODEGA.
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.
