Maya Beiser’s new album, the day, features two works by David Lang written for Maya. The day was composed as prequel to world to come from 2003. Where world to come chronicles the journey of the soul after life, the day chronicles our time on earth preceding that journey. Lang’s world to come was written for Maya in response to the events of September 11 at the World Trade Center (which shares the initials of the title piece, WTC). The two works are meditations on two journeys: the day on the mortal journey, and world to come on the eternal, post-mortal journey of the soul that follows.Maya says, “My new album, the day, is a meditation about life, death, and the afterlife. It’s not a lighthearted theme, but ours is not a lighthearted period. So I chose songs about the end and named my playlist ‘the day after.’ It sounded really gloomy, if appropriate. But then I thought that any time when people get together to make music is a good time. And music is innocent. To quote the great Neil Young: Don’t let it bring you down. There are still things we can do to make it better.”Follow Maya on Twitter and Instagram.
(From DJ JonnyGo Figure, of NYC’s Deadly Dragon Sound and Megative):“These songs embody what Megative represents, to me.We’re a hodgepodge of different cultures, of different nations…but we’re a symbol of unity.Megative is just a beautiful confusion…that’s how i like to think of it, and this playlist is like that. It’s kind of all over the place, but it’s basically a mixture of what we do: it’s got the dub influence, the Two-Tone influence, it’s got the punk influence, the hip hop influence…. a hodge lodge of the sounds we love and that make up our musical DNA.”
The Melvins and the Butthole Surfers were two of the most influential rock acts to emerge from the shadows of the genre’s underground in the ‘80s. While they were separated by a half a continent -- the Melvins were from the Pacific Northwest, while the Butthole Surfers hailed from Texas -- they both trafficked in absurdist, pedal-to-the-floor psych. And in 2018, the Melvins added Butthole Surfers’ bassist Jeff Pinkus in addition to their ongoing bass player Steven McDonald (see: TWO bassists) to write a record. To celebrate this (unholy?) union, we recently asked Buzz Osborne for his favorite Butthole Surfers tracks. Check out his picks and commentary below, subscribe to the playlist here, and listen to the new Melvins release, Pinkus Abortion Technician, here.“Bar-B-Q Pope,” Brown Reason to Live. First recorded song I ever heard of theirs and I never tire of it.“Something,” Brown Reason to Live. Paul’s vocals and guitar make this song feel like you’re having a heart attack.“Moving to Florida,” The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt. The live version of this was always better. This happens. Songs get better as time passes and you’ve played them live 1,000 times. Sometimes though, you just wish songs were dead.“Graveyard,” The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt. This is one of their best. REALLY great guitar part. Jeff told me Paul wrote it while trying to figure out what Gibby was playing in the other room. THAT’S Paul’s genius.“Cherub,” Psychic... Powerless... Another Mans Sac. Possibly the best song ever recorded. Why hasn’t this been used on the soundtrack of a movie? If only Hollywood wasn’t so fucking stupid.“Negro Observer,” Psychic... Powerless... Another Mans Sac. Beautiful song with really hypnotic vocals. I think this should be used as the theme for a sitcom. If only Hollywood wasn’t so fucking stupid.“Mexican Caravan,” Psychic... Powerless... Another Mans Sac. I love the guitar solo in this song and I’ve used it for years as a model for a lot of my own guitar solos. This fucker is nice and uptempo too.“Sweat Loaf,” Locust Abortion Technician. In concert, Paul and Jeff would have high-kicking contests during this song. What a great idea! I should try to get Jeff to do those kicks in one of our songs...“Shame of Life,” Weird Revolution. There were girls in the front, there were girls in the back, there were girls petting squirrels, there were squirrels smoking crack.
He’s best known as the singer and fleet-fingered acoustic strummer for Bay Area indie-folk favorites The Dodos, but with his new project FAN, Meric Long ventures into the realm of experimental synth-pop. FAN recently released its first single (“Fire” b/w “Disappear”), with a full-length on the way via Polyvinyl; to whet your appetite, he’s compiled this Dowsers playlist of the post-punk icons, jazz legends, and videogame themes that inspired it.
When Brooklyn-based label Mexican Summer launched a decade ago, it was a side-project. Founded by Keith Abrahamssom and parent label Kemado Records, Mexican Summer began as an outlet for limited-edition vinyl-only releases with unique physical packaging and design, but it quickly grew into something much bigger, spinning off to become its own label and expand beyond vinyl. Over 10 years, with releases from breakout artists such as Best Coast, Ariel Pink, and Real Estate, along with more cultish fan favorites like Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Black Moth Super Rainbow, Mexican Summer has established itself as an endlessly adventurous yet consistently quality label, and one that it doesnt feel boastful to call a genuine tastemaker.This playlist, curated by the label, scans the Mexican Summer catalogue for some of their all-time favorites, from Swedish prog-psych jammers Dungen (the labels first ever release) to experimental electronic maestro Oneohtrix Point Never (whose Daniel Lopatin also runs the Mexican Summer imprint Software Recording Co.) to more recent finds such as Allah-Las spin-off PAINT.Mexican Summer co-founder Abrahamssom says: "Mexican Summer: a decade deeper, play listing our way into your heart. This selection represents a brief sonic history of our adventures since founding the label in 2008. Not everything is here, but everything would be too much. Some choice selects."
Montreal synth-soul duo Milk & Bone recently released their dreamy debut album, Deception Bay, on Bonsound Records. In advance of their upcoming North American tour, they’re letting us road-test their road mix. “When we’re out on tour, it gets difficult to find artists to listen to that we all love, but that we haven’t listened to the day before. There’s a lot of driving involved, and we need for the designated driver to stay focused and for the rest of the crew to be able to relax. Here’s a selection of music that keeps us both awake, but soothes us at the same time. Songs that’ll energize you and make you ready to get things going when you get to your destination.”—Milk and Bone
Electronic-pop polymath Moby returns with his 15th album, Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt on March 2 (via Mute Records). He recently teased the record with the nocturnal soul groover "Like a Motherless Child," but he provides a more panoramic view of what to expect through his playlist of the albums key influences. Judging from the tracklist, brace yourself for a record that slides along the continuum spanning African proto-disco (Manu Dibangos "Soul Makossa"), cinematic 70s funk (Gil Scott-Heron, Baby Huey), rhythmic post-punk (ESG, Liquid Liquid, Talking Heads), brooding New Wave (Simple Minds), and Ethio-jazz (Mulatu Astatke), with the ghost of the Thin White Duke wafting through the proceedings. But independent of its source album, the playlist also doubles as Mobys fantasy setlist had he been old enough to DJ at Danceteria circa 1981.
The music of Mouse on Mars feels both pastoral and otherworldly. Their odd ambient textures are interspersed with sonic trapdoors -- a jittery rhythm here, a squirming bleep there. It’s meditative music in the best possible way. We’re honored that these electronic music tricksters/pioneers recently created a playlist for us. Check out their description of the playlist below and be sure to check out their album Dimensional People.
In the past couple of months, we experimented with spatial mixing in various forms. Our involvement in multiperspectivity and spatial diffusion made us compile a playlist of pieces which could possibly be played back as simultaneous multi tracks in an imaginative space to overlap, coincide, oppose or complete each other. There is also an intentional slowed down time scale to this playlist which opposes the hasty listening habits of online music consumption.
It’s a sign that Riot Grrrl’s musical—as opposed to just socio-political or feminist—legacy has begun to take root in the wider consciousness when icons of the movement besides Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna are being plumbed for their take on feminist punk’s sonic legacy. Here, Bratmobile vocalist, queen zinester, and punk activist Allison Wolfe charts the nine songs that have meant the most in her life, with tracks ranging from bluegrass duo Alice Dickens and Hazel Gerrard to ‘90s Seattle pioneers The Gits. It’s no surprise that ex-NME editor Laura Snapes is behind this piece: Her features work helped change the music weekly from old-boys rag to a once-more intelligent read (before its recent nosedive, that is). Divided into five-year segments, this deeply personal mix reflects key moments in Wolfe’s life, and largely reads as a beautifully pitched homage to her activist mother, a pioneering feminist Playful in places (Bow Wow Wow) and heart-wrenching in others (Dolly Parton), it’s a refreshingly candid exploration of the importance individual songs play in our musical—and socio-political—development.
Astral folk collective Mutual Benefit is the brainchild of main member Jordan Lee, who has released 9 albums under the moniker, interchanging its members every time. On his latest effort, Thunder Follows the Light (out Sept. 21st, 2018), Brooklyn-based Lee (and co.) have captured big, sweeping orchestral sounds overtop quiet, strumming standards, making for a contemplative and emotionally charged take on a traditional genre, and one that takes its listener out of their immediate surroundings. We asked Jordan to make us a playlist, and its no surprise his focus was on a similar feeling. Check out his playlist above or right here, and see what he had to say about it below.Mutual Benefit frontman Jordan Lee explains: "Me and the Wine and the City Lights is named after a Lee Hazelwood outtake. It reminded me of a long running favorite activity which is to take long walks in the late night hours occasionally with the help of some wine poured into an opaque and inconspicuous container. I love feeling the pulse of the city and letting all the little stresses of the day gradually melt away as I become a tiny part of something bigger. I tried to give this playlist the same feeling."
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.
