Frank Ocean gobbles genres like sunflower seeds, and spits them out in sprawling, boundaryless tracks that serve as a feed for pop’s collective unconsciousness. The playlist that he created for his ‘zine, Boys Don’t Cry, confirms this. The dusky, Cali pop of Mazzy Star is a clear influence on Blonde, while the haunting, tintinnabuli minimalism of modern Austrian classical composer Arvo Pärt informs the high-contrast ambience of Endless. And of course Frank Ocean loves Donna Summer, The Smiths, Al Green and D’Angelo. And, yes, we know he’s going to pick “Anytime,” which is inarguably the best track from Ray J’s album Raydiation. But the interesting stuff on here skirts the border of acceptable taste. David Crosby and Graham Nash would seem a bit out of place at this particular orgy, but their 1975 track “To The Last Whale..." (A. Critical Mass B. Wind on the Water)” not only has an amazing title, but its proggy, string-laden folk and narrative ambition helps answer the question, “What the hell is Frank thinking?” It doesn’t totally work as a playlist outside of its context, but it’s also unnecessary to divorce it from that context. If this piques your interest in the ‘70s Japanese synth music of Isao Tomito, then it achieved its goals. -- Sam Chennault
In March, prolific indie-pop maverick Greta Kline will release her third proper album as Frankie Cosmos, Vesell, via Sub Pop Records. Here, she reveals the songs she has on repeat, ad infinitum. “Here’s a handful of songs that I have listened to many many times, over and over again, and have yet to get sick of them.”—Frankie Cosmos
Described by Guitar Girl Magazine as "a Latin artist who combines hypnotic, electronic funk with alternative and psychedelic styles," DeAnza recently released her concept EP Cosmic Dream on June 29. The collection of tracks and interludes designed to take you on a sonic journey through the various sleep cycles. To continue celebrating that release and her subsequent tour, we asked her to make us a playlist thats as eclectic as her style. Listen here.Says DeAnza: "I went through several playlist ideas in my head before deciding to create a list that’s as eclectic as the music I listen to. Duke Ellington said, there are only two kinds of music – good and bad. I created a list that consists of what I believe to be good music, regardless of the genre or era. All of these artists have inspired me in some form or another."What you’ll get: Some classics, witchy women who I idolize, singers who blow my mind, couple deep cuts and some Latin spice for those who want to hear something that isn’t Despacito."
In 2017, synth-punk pioneer Gary Numan released his 21st album, Savage (Songs From a Broken World), a dystopian concept album that hit No. 2 on the UK album charts. On this playlist he created specially for The Dowsers, Numan reveals the eclectic influences that have kept him on the vanguard of electronic rock for four decades. “The playlist is based on inspiration. All of these songs have inspired me in various ways—some small, as in discovering an interesting sound or lyric; some major, as in encouraging a complete rethink and change in my own musical direction. But they all played a part in shaping the music Ive made over the last 40 years.”—Gary Numan
The genre of jazz has become rigidly perceived and narrowly used by the music industry. What Ive constructed is a playlist that reflects a newer breed of jazz artists, who are too often overlooked as a representation of the music, though their modern use of elements like syncopation, improvisation and rhythm would beg to differ. Each artist draws from the past but also paves their own unique way within the art form.
Tracks we dig! Songs we like by artists we like.
Indie supergroup GØGGS features singer Chris Shaw of Memphis-based punk outfit Ex-Cult, indie psych darling Ty Segall, Bay Area garage noise revivalist Charles Moothart and bassist Michael Anderson. Having started as a conversation between Shaw and Segall when Ex-Cult opened for White Fence back in 2013, the band has just surprise-released their second album Pre Strike Sweep digitally in early September and are currently celebrating the physical release. Built on the more aggressive side of their foundational music influences (namely 80s hardcore), GØGGS is both fierce and thoughtful, exploring each members root in the underground through the totally fitting theme of destruction and rebirth. We recently asked them to make us a playlist, and were stoked to see them explore that theme and their musical influences family tree even further.Says Chris Shaw: "Pre Strike Sweep- the title track from the new GØGGS album- is a song about starting over. New beginnings are a common theme in rock music, so it was easy to make this list of rippers that are all loosely based on some kind of change. This is also probably the only playlist to ever feature Lee Hazelwood and Urban Waste back to back. Medicinal marijuana will do that to you."Listen above or go right here.
Zak Trojano is a "fingerstyle" singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, and one who cant seem to be mentioned without a nod to his erudite guitar skills. Having just released his third album Wolf Trees this summer, Trojano is so honed into his craft that The Alt Revue calls it, "Masterful finger picking guitar, and a baritone vocal style that is smooth as hell. If you havent listened yet, you need to do so ASAP." Clearly garnering some folk guitar worship in his own right, its refreshing to know that when we tapped Zak for a playlist, his go-to was all about his personal guitar-picking heroes. Says Zak: "Some artists can write a good song, and some can pick a good guitar, but very few can do both! Heres a playlist of some of those rare talents that can really write and play. Kick back and enjoy some finger style guitar brilliance and memorable songwriting by some of the very best."Check it out above or go right here.
Half Waif are the rare experimental electronic pop group whose songs are both immediately accessible and deeply emotionally resonant. Though the production is oftentimes multilayered and complex, lead singer Nandi Rose Plunketts voice is clear and her imagery uncluttered. Their most recent album, Lavender, is a must hear. Nandi recently created an exclusive playlist for the Dowsers. Check it out, and then give Lavender a listen here.From the band: This is a playlist I started developing while on tour last summer, during a night drive. It was July and there were fireworks in the distance at the same moment as a summer storm - lightning mixed with purple and green blossoms of fire, a mingling of manmade and natural explosions. The night has always had an element of fear for me, but in this moment it held so much wonder too. Facing the Night is a theme from my band’s new album Lavender. Here are some songs that have helped me embrace the darkness.
Though we’ve still got his 2016 Rostam-assisted stunner, I Had a Dream That You Were Mine, in heavy rotation, raspy indie-rock raconteur Hamilton Leithauser is already back with new music—and another fabulous foil. “Heartstruck (Wild Hunger)” is a string-swept duet with Angel Olsen that serves as the first teaser for Leithauser’s next album, due in early 2018 on Glassnote Records. In the meantime, he’s provided The Dowsers with a playlist portrait of where his head is at these days.
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.
