September 2014 SHRN: Lets Get Classic, Lets Get Weird

Lets get classic because yeah, we need to nearly kick off the playlist with “September Gurls.” Is it a little pat? Sure. But the day before my birthday Big Star finally clicked for me—like when your little kid taste buds flip over and suddenly some always loathed foodstuff tastes inexplicably delicious. I am old enough to appreciate Big Star now I guess, a delicious treat on foggy days when Alex Chilton in my ears feels like heaven.

Lets get weird—just imagine this collection of artists at a dinner party. It’s a fun game.

I love Fall. The air feels so fresh and all the holidays are just around the corner, close enough that they’re pure fun without the fretting. And no matter how many years I’m out of school, the start of September always feels like the beginning. The beginning of a new year, the beginning of an adventure, the crisp leafy end to lazy summer days. It doesn’t matter how much that doesn’t cue up with reality—it some ways its been a lazy summer, but hardly the kind where you lie on the beach and snooze. This is Northern California after all, leave your bathing suits and concepts of summer weather at home.

It is the start of something, that’s for sure. In less than two months, I’m getting married to the delightfully tall human who stole my heart long ago. I put this list together after dumplings, in a giant coffee shop where we drank too much caffeine at night and grinned at each other between long stretches of typing.

Quick Hits:

• Don’t stop at “Blah Blah Blah,” the entire Girlpool album is delicious lo-fi gold. I found out about them through this Maria Sherman interview in Wondering Sound. (And of course they’re putting out awesome freshman albums in their late teens, because didn’t you know that Generation Z is taking over the world and putting us all to shame? To shame kids, to shame.)
• More gold? The Chef soundtrack. I’ve had this on repeat since July—see the movie too if you like feel good food-porn.
• Come on Alabama Shakes, you’re the band for all seasons, ESPECIALLY Fall, but you gotta put out a new album. Please?
• Sometimes I think everything I know about music stems from having accidentally read I’m With The Band: Confessions of a Groupie at least five times. A little random, sure, but also a plug for rediscovering The Flying Burrito Brothers a few times a year.
• Every autumn playlist requires a dash of Talking Heads and Pavement.

What are you listening to? Let me know in the comments.

So Hot Right Now: May 2014 (by Claire)

I’ve had mountains of things to say to you kids about music this past month. Like if Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings come to your town, cancel your plans and go see them, unless you’re not a fan of rollicking funk dance parties and uncontrollable glee. And if you see Valerie June maybe tell her a joke, because she seemed pretty glum when she played the Fillmore (and if you don’t see her, go listen to Pushin’ Against A Stone, but that’s not news—I’ve been offering that unsolicited advice since last August.) Also if you want to have a really long talk about Andre 3000, I’m your girl. Drop me a line. And find this five track set on Spotify where he discusses his top 10 songs for going out, which includes:

• Him waxing poetic on the piece of bubblegum he’s chewing
• A shout out to Billy Joel
• A description of Steely Dan parties, where people come together and try to decipher the lyrics (Are these real? I need to know. Leave me a comment if you’ve been to one of these, seriously.)

And the part in “Sixteen” by Rick Ross where Andre 3000 announces that he’s a merman—-look, do you want to get coffee and talk about Andre 3000? I want to get coffee and talk about Andre 3000. I’m very prepared and always undercaffeinated.

But I have been, as Joshua mentioned last month, silly busy. So lets skip to May. (If you’re very very curious about what I listened to in April, go listen to Joshua’s excellent April So Hot Right Now. Or listen to my extremely similar playlist.)

I want everything to sound like Habibi right now. Joyful and retro and ready to pair with long summer nights in small vintage dresses. I want everything to feel exactly like “I’ve Got the Moves” which I wish would play the second I step on to any dance floor for the next month, at least. “High School Lover” sounds nothing like my new favorite Brooklyn girl quartet, but does sound like old school Strokes and nostalgic teen rebellion, which in the throes of this rare San Francisco heat wave, both sound like a very good idea.

Yes, it’s nearly summer. Lets dance and be raucous and play everything too loud. Carefree with a nearly addictive hook—that’s what I’m going for mixtape-wise this month. “Lets Get Drunk And Get It On” fits the bill. It’s a choice gem from the new Old 97’s album, whose origin story I imagine started with Rhett Miller stomping into a room full of bandmates and announcing “Okay…so lets make the most Old 97s sounding Old 97s record possible,” then sticking to a diet of classics like “Barrier Reef” and Wild Turkey.

There’s a triumphant return from bands I forgot I loved: Slow Club, Bleached, and Operator Please. “Complete Surrender” sounds like it’s from a whole new band, but I still can’t stop playing it, while “Back and Forth” has somehow made me love Operator Please even more than before. And speaking of returns, welcome back to the mix Leftover Salmon and Taj Mahal version of “Lovin’ In My Baby’s Eyes,” one of my favorite versions of one of my favorite songs. The 20 charming seconds of Taj Mahal talking in the intro always makes me smile.

You’re up: Tell me absolutely everything you’re listening to right now. Or your favorite Andre 3000 fact. Or your plans for a Steely Dan lyrics party. I want to hear it all—go!

So Hot Right Now, March 2014: The All Hits Scrapbook (by Claire)

One time everyone was at the apartment carving pumpkins and, having exhausted everything new that I had in rotation, I played my Happy Songs mixtape. Every time a new song played Amy looked up, happy and alarmed, and announced “All of the hits!” It was my all time favorite mix tape compliment.

Usually I want to offer this bouquet of musical discoveries. I want you to hear exactly what I’ve been listening to for the past month (or, more often, week). And then I forget, in the rush of so much new, all the old things I love listening to most of all. It’s comfort food, something good and warm for the soul.

I felt kind of overwhelmed by the present and the future these part few weeks, so I bopped around in the past and pulled together something that me at any age would call “All of the hits!” I’ve been time traveling a little with this playlist. Here’s where I’ve been going:

1. The first time I remember hearing “I’m Waiting for the Man,” I was 21 years old and it was the favorite song of the four-year-old girl I was babysitting. I was sitting in that house with the girl’s mom, taking a break from painting in the garage, paint smears on her loose clothes, her charming light eyes and short short hair. The house smelled like baby shampoo and sliced bread gone stale and some sweet arid food smell that lingered no matter what I cooked for dinner. “Sure, you can listen to it one more time,” the mom said, so we listened to it three times in a row and the girl danced around and the grownups grinned. For some reason, everything about this moment was great. Baby’s first Lou Reed jam.

2. It was very dark grey all the time and most mornings my car valiantly tried to start but wasn’t up to it. I was 19, living in Baltimore, and working at the music memorabilia shop a couple days a week. The staff smoked cigarettes in the rain and ate steamy plastic vats of glossy Chinese food from the same awful carry out place every day. I scrawled the names of records and reorganized knick knacks, wrote copy, but mostly I walked around the musty mini warehouse, sifting through the comforting chaos of musical oddities. I played Get Behind Me Satan nonstop for at least two months.

3. It was the middle of the night and I had just tracked down the High Fidelity soundtrack. Like a guardian angel, that movie kept appearing on TV the second I plopped down on that tremendous couch in that tremendous house, two sweet dogs with little old man faces illegally crawling onto the leather to curl up in a ball by my side. Outside was Australia, but I was always inside, sleeping or working or having no money to do much of anything. But it was nice sometimes, those long dark hours in the middle of the night, when I wrote and drank espresso and listened to what I wanted to listen to. Sometimes Joshua and Noura were up and I’d have maybe my second conversation of the day. “Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam” is sitting in the dark, content and caffeinated, finally putting a name and a band to a song I’d been wanting to track down for years.

*************************

“Honey Love” is dazzlingly sweet, from images to title to sound, upbeat and cheerful. “Cussin’ Cryin’ and Carryin’ On” will guarantee that you never forget the awesomeness of Tina Turner again. “Let’s Go” sounds like the start of a big adventure.

And you’ve heard the rest of these, right? It feels a little bizarre to lay out the basics of “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” to you.

What are you listening to this month? Have you been doing any musical time traveling? Let me know in the comments.

Songs About Andreas (by Claire)

 

Well friends, I asked if you wanted name mixtapes, and you delivered! First up: Andrea.

Unlike Josie, my life has been full of a consistent stream of Andreas. Who, like most people who share the same name, have almost nothing in common.

But Andrea songs paint a clear picture about Andreas! According to this playlist:

• Andrea is at a 90’s nightclub somewhere in Europe, listening to techno.
• Andrea is breaking the hearts of pop punk boys.
• Andrea is charming the occasional indie folk type.
• Andrea is friends with a series of European pop stars.
• Andrea just got some bitchin’ clothes.

People have a lot to say about Andrea. People want to scream about Andrea. People sometimes want to combine the two and scream on and off about Andrea for five minutes or more. She seems to be having an excellent time though, except for that run-in at the nail salon.

Based on these songs, I would say Andrea is a fun loving, adventurous sometimes-party girl.

What are the Andreas in your life like? Does this sound right? And how much do you want to bring back “Gag me with a spoon” after listening to “Valley Girl” (So much, guys. Lets bring it back stat.)? Let me know in the comments.

So Hot Right Now, February 2014: Spring Songs for Bright Rebels (by Claire)

I don’t know what it is about February. The month is short, it’s not quite Spring. The pressure of January with its capital letter NEW YEAR IS NOW theme and all the seriousness of resolutions and behaving has passed. The sun isn’t setting quite as early. Everyone has stopped talking about diets and the holidays are way in the rearview window.

This is the second year I’ve noticed the energy that fills me up at the beginning of this month—wide awake creative energy, young and lively, the kind I remember from my teens. I’m writing a lot. I’m reading a lot of Diane Di Prima. I’m seeing friends and walking in the fresh air and drinking too much coffee. And I’m craving a very specific kind of music: Spring music.

My Spring music essentials are simple. If there are cherry blossoms on the trees, I’m probably listening to:

• Clapping and tambourines and surf guitar.
• All-girl bands, specifically DIY 90’s girl groups where the lead singers’ vocals are described as “bratty” and modern bands with an old school Motown girl group sound.
• Indiepop.
• A splash of punk.
• Cover art that charms, that makes you want to give the band a shot (An experience that’s become nearly impossible based on how I consume music now, but I force it for fun a couple times a year because I miss the thrill).
• Lo-fi vocals.
• Bands with teenager in the name.
• Songs about starting a band, waiting for summer to come, and being a redhead.

These are songs that make you feel young and alive, like you might go on a big adventure and the whole thing might take place just down the street. And for dessert, fragile lugubrious songs for a restless mope. My So Hot Right Now for February is a soundtrack for tending to your bright rebellious spirit.

What are you listening to? Is your February mixtape approach completely different from mine? Is it a bad idea to get a tattoo of “We all love you, shifty disco girl”? Let me know in the comments.

Songs About Josies (by Claire)

Uh oh, I forgot about Mixtape Tuesday. Happy Mixtape Wednesday?

Lets talk about names. Specifically, the name Josie.

• I’ve never met anyone named Josie. I’ve been very informally polling people about this name all week. No one I know has ever met a Josie (which is too bad, it’s a pretty name).
• Songwriters agree with me on that last point—Josie reigns supreme when it comes to being featured in song titles. This is a small sample of “Josie” themed songs.
• Everyone and their mother has covered “Josie” by Steely Dan.
•  “Josie and the Pussycats” is the only other Josie I can think of, and that’s in line with the whole musical Josie theme.
• What was that other Hanna Barbera cartoon that was identical to Josie and the Pussycats? The lead singer was identical to Josie and they played music and solved mysteries, but they all wore bell bottoms.

Things we learn about Josie from this mixtape:

• She wants to be in a punk rock band
• She’s feeling mean
• She loves fake fur
• When she comes back to town, people rev up their motor scooters and sleep on the beach
•  She’ll bring you Mexican food, just because
• She is loved by 90’s bands that sound deeply 90’s, and classic country-flecked singer songwriters

Based on these songs, I would sum up Josie as a name for a beloved, delicate rebel.

For years (very specifically when I was waiting tables), I would introduce myself and people would say “You look like a Claire.” They seemed to be saying it as a compliment, though the Breakfast Club would disagree. I still have no idea what this means.

…do you know what it means? Do people associate bizarre stuff with your name?  Would you like a mixtape of songs featuring your name and a summary of your personality based on those songs? Let me know in the comments.

What To Listen To After Haim’s “Days Are Gone” (by Claire)

How great is Days Are Gone? It’s the toast of 2013! And maybe 2014! It’s delicious Fleetwood Mac and 80’s pop in a blender! Haters to the left.

…but what’s next? Not for Haim; that’s clearly world domination (and an upcoming album inspired by Kanye West). What’s next for your listening habits?

Every new band that you like provides you with an opportunity to expand your musical palate. Those moments where your ear is open to new music are magical, and (for me at least), inconsistent. When they happen, capitalize them: Find out why you like what you like, and what else you might want to try out in the process. Add new bands to your music rotation. It’s fun and exciting and adds some verve to your life soundtrack—which, as we all know, adds some verve to your life.

Fellow Haim lovers, try these next steps for your listening life.  And well-connected Haim lovers, I also very genuinely wish all of these bands would join forces and have a festival. Maybe one that doesn’t sell out in two hours? Can anyone out there make this happens? We’ll just call it “Claire’s Dream Festival.”

Heartthrob by Tegan and Sara

Fellow sister act Tegan and Sara produced sleek pop gem Hearthrob last year to similarly buzzy rave reviews. Like the ladies of Haim, they’re sharp songwriters, slipping vivid haunting imagery into infectious pop jams. Pre-Heartthrob, Tegan and Sara made heavenly folk-punk that sometimes showed it’s pop roots; with Heartthrob, it’s pure pop, perfect for breakups and dance parties and falling in love.  The layered, echoey, vaguely electronic sounds, the gleam and gloss, is reminiscent of 80’s pop foremothers like Cyndi Lauper and early Madonna.

Journal of Ardency by Class Actress

Wikipedia points to Fleetwood Mac as the band Haim is most often compared to—it seems like reviews, good or bad, can’t help but throw some Stevie Nicks love in every time. I get it, I want to talk about Stevie Nicks all the time too. But you hear the 80’s pop mixed in with that Fleetwood-Mac-goodness, right? That’s what makes Class Actress’ Journal of Ardency an obvious next step. Class Actress lead singer Elizabeth Harper has the songwriting chops and clear, folky voice from her coffeeshop singer songwriter days. Like Haim, she pairs that with some serious 80’s pop influences. For Class Actress, unlike Haim, the results are less 70’s folk rock and more ethereal synthpop.

The Movement by Betty Who

Betty Who is creating great big glorious modern 80’s music. Who’s songs contain elements of pop anthems in old school teen movies, paired with 80’s mainstays like drum machines and loads of synth.  These are energetic songs: blissful, loud, huge, with Betty’s impressive pipes blaring on each track, framed in delicious pop-happy noise. Who is already huge in her native Australia and is due for some serious fame in the US.

Ride Your Heart by Bleached

Bleached is another sister act producing polished tracks with clear punk and indiepop sensibilities. Bleached’s sound is more guitar forward and aggressive than what you’ll hear on Days Are Gone. But the bands share a similar affinity towards tightly crafted, absurdly catchy songs featuring ear weevil choruses, clear narratives, and clean three to four minute time frames.

Hemiplegia by Haerts

Bring in the fellow indie darlings! Haerts’ features Nini Fabi’s haunting voice, spacious tracks, and absurdly catchy choruses, especially on “Hemiplegia” and “Wings.” You’ll find yourself walking around for days singing “I will never ever let you go/ I melt away into your afterglow.” Both tracks start slow then build into something glorious. That emotional manipulation is a trick that Haim pulls off well too, especially in “The Wire” and “If I Could Change Your Mind.”

Mixtape Tuesday: Modern 80’s Babies (by Claire)

 

We are constantly time traveling. If you, like me, are too often in the throes of some content consumption bender—books, movies, music—you are hurtling through time a million times a day, waking up with a jolt at your desk— intact, inexplicably the same age you woke up as this morning, not seven or nineteen, not a day younger or twenty years older. I was listening to a Laura Dern interview where she talked about anticipatory nostalgia. Her friend Winona Ryder was diagnosed with it when they were eighteen (Time traveling side note: how much fun would it be to hang out with those two in the early 90’s? Or right now? I’ll take either.) Winona calls her, crestfallen, and says “I was lying in bed sobbing because one day my son will leave for college and he’ll never live in this house again.” A son who didn’t exist yet. Laura Dern and I were on the same page—I get it. Me too.

I walk and read and listen and am transported. Sometimes I’m transported into other people’s memories. My mom told me stories about briefly having purple hair, stir frying tofu in her parents house in Minnesota, listening to “Clubland” by Elvis Costello while she got ready to go out. This is how I imagine the 80’s. I’m one of those late 80’s babies with no memories of the decade everyone would go on to idolize as I got older. There was nearly a decade of theme parties; there were several years after college when I would avoid the same Journey tracks at bars that I’m sure my parents had to avoid.

I love the brilliant 80’s pop though. Time traveling, twice over: I’m eighteen and I’m jumping up and down on a bed with friends, all three of us in Halloween costumes, with “Take On Me” on a continuous loop. Screaming the lyrics, falling down a hundred times but it doesn’t matter when there’s nothing but soft mattress under your feet, your friends’ soft limbs collapsing beside you. 80’s soundtrack, 00’s memories.

The big 80’s trends, thankfully, subsided, but the synthy delicious pop keeps growing. This is a mixtape you could pass to a confused time traveler whose landed here and needs to assimilate. The songs are by modern 80’s babies making music that sounds decades old, but still fresh. A little time traveling apology—the first track is fourteen years old, hardly modern, but I couldn’t help it; I fell in love with how it segued into that infectious Voxtrot song. Have a tiny freakout as you do basic math and remember that songs from 2000 are 14 years old.

So Hot Right Now: January 2014 (by Claire)

San Francisco is playing that game where it swirls autumn and spring into something evocative, laced with warm breezes and crisp days. I walk around feeling awake and reminded—of elementary school autumns, of the first Spring on campus, of a million standout memories framed in cold fresh air and ruddy cheeks.

In proper Autumn, I crave the classics. In proper Spring, something sweet and rough around the edges. In January’s SpringAutumn? New songs by bands I just discovered, ones I’m rapidly falling in love with. Big rough 60’s sounding guitar hooks. Rich velvety voices. Dizzying blends of classic and brand new sounds.

Mynabirds fit the bill. So do Those Darlins, who I first listened to based solely on the description of them sounding like a blend of Shonen Knife and The Carter Family. “Let Her Go” by Jagwar Ma is less than a year old, but belongs on a classic alt 90’s soundtrack. King Tuff’s “Sun Medallion” is lo-fi garage heaven with traces of a classic 60’s sound. The fact that “Josie” by Go Violets isn’t by a 90’s all girl indie-pop band is absurd. And, awesome.

Is it okay to have a musical discovery of the year when they year is two days old? I’ve had Lady Lamb the Beekeeper’s Ripely Pine on repeat all day, especially “Aubergine” which took a few listens before it became an obsession. I’ve had Haim’s flawless freshman album Days Are Gone on heavy rotation since it debuted. Every month I fall in love with a new song from them. For January, it’s sweet “Honey and I,” the track where the constant Haim/Fleetwood Mac comparison makes the most sense.

“Wings” by Haert was the runner-up on nearly every #HolidaySurvival list. This song belongs in the cannon of new songs with a bright infectious 80’s pop beat. Throw it on your own January playlist alongside “You’re in Love” by Betty Who and “Is This How You Feel” by The Preatures. Second constant runner-up: soulful worldly “Don’t Wait” by Mapei.

The perfect mix of classic and fresh is the warm, crackling “Well You Better” by Yo La Tengo, one of a million 90’s comeback kids in 2013. Pure classic? Late 60’s folk singer Vashti Bunyan’s Mick Jagger/ Keith Richards’ penned single “Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind.”

Happy new year, to all you crazy kids! And a belated happy birthday to this blog, which recently turned two. If you’re in the market for a birthday present, more music suggestions would be perfect, thanks. Meet me in the comments and let me know what’s on your January playlist.

 **Artwork by Ashley Jones. Check out more of her work at The Vainglory or catch her on Twitter @theRealAshleyJ

#HolidaySurvival: How to Make a New Year’s Eve Playlist

This holiday season, consider me your mixtape therapist. Every week throughout December, I’ll be posting five songs to help you soundtrack various holiday season scenarios. And while you get your mixtapes ready, you can catch up on the insane abundance of quality music from this year, since all featured songs are from 2013.    –Claire

We did it! The holiday season is over, 2013 is over—-lets send them off properly with a big fun party playlist worth toasting.

New Year’s Eve has ample potential to be weird. You’re on the cusp of a new year, expectations are high, and everyone is doing that thing where they make impossible demands of themselves that they’ll abandon in three weeks.

This New Year’s Eve, lets pass on stress and expectations that guarantee letdowns. Lets just throw on something sparkly, dance our feet off, and eat something awesome. And for all of those occasions, extremely fun splashy music is required. Mix these 2013 gems into a batter made of your favorite classic hits, guilty pleasures, and tried-and-true floor fillers.

“Is This How You Feel?” by The Preatures

“Is This How You Feel?” is pure bliss. It’s a bolt of energy with a tight rhythm, the kind of song that makes you feel like you’re in the upbeat sequence in a movie, the part where you dance and sparkle and love. If you take my advice and get ready while blasting “You’re In Love” by Betty Who, this is the ideal playlist chaser for when the party starts. Aussies are the 2013 masters of joyful 80’s inspired pop.

“Summer Skin” by Teen Girl Scientist Monthly

It’s always wise to have a rowdy song on hand. It can set the mood if that’s what you’re going for, or reset the tempo if things have gotten to mellow (i.e. Once you spot, or contract, the dreaded “I might not be that fun anymore” post-midnight yawns). Wake everyone up with “Summer Skin,” the sonic equivalent of a tray of espresso shots. Every New Year’s party could use a jolt of smash ‘em up, jump around, thrash and dance rock delivered at an insane speed.

“My Number” by Foals

What if disco was awesome? What if you stripped out the 70’s cheese and reduced it to it’s potential floor-filling, shimmying, absurdly catchy essence? What if it was released in 2013? You would have “My Number” by Foals, an obscenely fun song that’s easy to love and hard to stop replaying. It’s disco and Britpop in a blender, full of explosive hopeful moments and adrenaline rushes.

“We Were Rock And Roll” by Janelle Monae

It’s a big night made for big songs, and sound-wise it doesn’t get much bigger than Janelle Monae. Layer upon layer of sound builds into something that sounds like a funk orchestra. The results are  exhilarating breathless funk with a sick beat, call and response chorus, and Monae’s luscious vocals.

“Hold On (We’re Going Home)” by Drake

Nothing Was The Same sounds better on second listen but, like most Drake albums, makes you wonder how he so frequently comes out with hits since he’s kind of morose and full of feelings, infrequently in a “lets dance and forget the lyrics!” way. But! In the theme of delicious 80’s sounding tracks, “Hold On (We’re Going Home)” is one of my favorite songs this year. It is an ideal pop song: playful, a little retro, instantly recognizable, and it’s got that twinkle. It seems like everyone has covered “Hold On” in 2013; my favorite is this version by The Arctic Monkeys.

 **Artwork by Ashley Jones. Check out more of her work at The Vainglory or catch her on Twitter @theRealAshleyJ