'Tis the season for rolling down the windows and letting people know what you're listening to. Pull up beside me and this is some of what you'll hear:
10 - "Rich (feat. Anndreyah Vargas)", Cosmo Sheldrake
I'm pretty happy with how eclectic the list is this month. For starters, this song doesn't really seem to fit into any sort of category. Seriously, is that an oboe? Cosmo Sheldrake is pretty quirky and seems to play every instrument under the sun. There are some interesting factoids about him on his website. Plus, if you wanted to see him lay this track down in a barn, just click here.
9 - "The Night", Honne
I have no idea how to pronounce Honne, but it apparently comes from the Japanese for "a person's true inner feelings"? This U.K. duo (music teachers!) has a few tracks circulating online and they appear to be recording an album at the moment (if I believe their Facebook feed). This is my favourite track at the moment, though "Top to Toe" isn't too far behind.
8 - "That's Love", Oddisee
Well, it took three tries, but I finally found someone on this list with some wiki presence. Oddisee is Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, from DC. Since 2008, it looks like he's been pumping out albums and mixtapes and has earned some minor fanfare recently. "That's Love" is his most recent release, coming out earlier this year.
7 - "Sparta", Ten Walls
A seemingly very basic instrumental song that has been stuck in my head repeatedly. Hopefully you don't suffer the vicious combo of hating it AND getting it stuck in your head.
6 - "Entropy", Grimes + Bleachers
Oddly enough, pop stations in Canada don't seem to be touching this song and instead it's being promoted to alternative radio. Really? I get the alternative/Bleachers angle, but this song doesn't sound like anything successful in that format. The song was apparently featured on an episode of Girls earlier this year. The best thing on Grimes's wiki page is the quote from Tastemakers Magazine describing her as an "alien love-child of Apex Twin and ABBA". Wow.
5 - "Peanut Butter Jelly", Galantis
Last summer, my family was all about putting "Budapest" on repeat. This summer, it's "Peanut Butter Jelly". Nothing like a 3 year-old wandering around going "VISUALIZE!!!". I've put enough Galantis material up here already this year, so I'll just sit back and let you experience sleepless nights at the chateau.
4 - "Lonely Town", Brandon Flowers
Is this the only song to use "Gravitron" in its lyrics? Nope. Apparently, there was a song by Au Revoir Simone called "Gravitron". Also of interest: typing in gravitron led Google to auto-complete it to "gravitron bong". This is definitely the standout track from The Desired Effect although I can't figure out for the life of me what sort of radio format is spinning Brandon Flowers's solo material these days. Adult Alternative perhaps? Apparently "Can't Deny My Love" had a cup of coffee on the alternative charts in May. "Crossfire" from Flamingo seems to be his only even moderate hit to date. We'll see if things change.
3 - "Holding On (feat. Sam Dew)", Julio Bashmore
Recently Julio was probably best known for his production work on Jessie Ware's Devotion album, although I seem to think that his name's been floating around there on The Hype Machine for a few years. He's about to release his first album (Knockin' Boots) this month and "Holding On" is the lead-off single. Summer. Jam.
2 - "Snake Eyes", Mumford & Sons
This is possibly the Mumfordiest song the band has recorded since Sigh No More. Start off all mellow, then let the instrumentation swell while the vocals are still chilling in the second verse and then completely rock out to bring it home. I may have seen this routine from them before, but I like it every time.
1 - "Don't Wanna Fight", Alabama Shakes
It's not often that you refer to a woman hitting the high notes as "falsetto", but I suppose that's exactly what we have on our hands here. My love for this song didn't fully blossom until a few listens through, but I'm there now. I was listening to this in the car with my wife when we were driving in to Toronto a few weeks ago and she asked if the band toured much in Canada. We hit the Internet and it turned out Alabama Shakes was playing Toronto that night. Hilarity. We were already booked up with wedding festivities but I bet it was a good show.
Happy listening!
