Stalwarts of the Chicago music scene, The J. Davis Trio’s latest album, These Things Happen, features their ever evolving blend of hip hop and garage-jazz with big beats. The band is known for their crisp performances and has shared stages with The Roots, M’shelle N’degleocello, Ozomatli, Reuben Wilson, De La Soul, Maceo Parker, Norah Jones, and many others.
Marlena Shaw / California Soul Just a great example of a beautifully crafted classic soul song. A masterful balance of big band and intimate soulful expression.
Joe Corrales Jr. aka Yppah, is back. The young Mexican-American from Texas debuted on Ninja Tune in 2006 with his album, You Are Beautiful At All Times, and now releases his sophomore effort, They Know What Ghost Know. Fashioning a rockier sound than last time out, the album draws on a cultural heritage that took in My Bloody Valentine alongside hip hop and which is heavily influenced by various forms of electronic music, psychedelic soul and rock.
Suicide / Cheree This is a song I could listen to on repeat for hours. I love the atmospheric drone mixed with Alan Vega’s pleading vocals. There’s not much to the structure, and the melodies are pretty simple, but something about the way it all works together keeps me eternally interested, as if I’m going to hear something that I hadn’t heard before. This is definitely in my Top 5 heartbreak songs. The haunting vocals, the minimal spacey melodies, the driving drums, it’s perfect.
Depart From Me is the latest full-length album from underground/indie-rap legend Cage, aka Chris Palko. Cage’s music is truly reflective of a reality far stranger than fiction. On Depart From Me Cage illuminates the struggles he’s faced upon entering a world that continues to be a source of loss and confusion. He’s helped along in this task with production by El-P, F. Sean (Hatebreed), the late Camu Tao and Aesop Rock.
Deftones / My Own Summer This song reminds me of what it feels like to be on all my favorite drugs that I quit doing and the sadness that comes from failed romances that will never be again. I’m referring to the drugs, not the women.
Chopper Reeds (Scott Towers to his mum) has been adding smoky saxophone licks to the mystic, musical brew of Fat Freddy’s Drop since early 2007. When he’s not deep in the beat lab with the rest of The Drop – or adding his secret spice to other respected NZ artists such as Opensouls, The Tornadoes & Tyra Hammond, Sola Rosa and Hollie Smith – Chopper spends his time playing with his son, digging for records and perfecting his gnocchi recipe, as well as releasing the new Fat Freddy’s Drop album, Dr Boondigga & The Big BW and preparing for upcoming shows in Melbourne [16th Oct] and Sydney [17th].
Floating Points / Love Me Like This Yeah, I know, this is almost played out. Almost. But come on, it’s just pure dance floor gold. Great bass line, great vocal hook. Hope there’s more edits on the way from this guy. Please?
Sean Ray, aka Snob Scrilla, knows what it takes to be an MC in the 21st Century. He fuses socially conscious lyricism with up-beat late 80s finesse and caps it all off with a distinctly indie sensibility. It’s reflected in his latest single, Chasing Ghosts, which has been creating a radio hurricane.
Tokyo Police Club / Citizens of Tomorrow Brilliant mash out rawness that I never get tired of hearing. The grittiness of the guitar combined with the sci-fi doom and gloom lyrics keep it on high rotation for me.
Fannius has been signed to two different major labels, released a platinum record, and had a song featured in the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler movie, Baby Mama, all before she was 20. Her blend of indie rock, hip hop, rap, and pop sounds like a mashup of MIA, Pink, and Robyn.
Beyonce / Halo Beyonce is my everything. I could listen to this song over and over and over and over – and I have been. It’s the claps. I LOVE the claps.
Renowned for her energetic live performances, female vocalist and MC, Karoline Tamati — aka Ladi6 — released her debut album, Time Is Not Much, in March. Co-produced by Mu, from Fat Freddy’s Drop, along with upcoming beatsmith, Parks, Time Is Not Much also features a guest appearance from hip-hop superstar, Scribe.
Al Green / Lay It Down If you’ve ever liked Al Green, you will love his new album. It’s full of Al Green sultry sexyness. It makes me want to fall in love and fall asleep under the shade of a huge tree on a hot summer day. Damn!
Brighton trio The Qemists mix up genres and guest vocalists until you don’t know what’s hit you. Titanium-tipped drum’n’bass beats anchor many tracks, while layers of distorted rock guitars assault the ears. Throw in hip hop, dancehall, metal and soul, and you’ve got Join The Q, a debut album that covers more ground than most acts manage in a career.
Red Fang / Prehistoric Dog This is a favourite on the Qemists tour bus at the moment. Jenna G loves wigging out to a bit of punk rock. This band sounds a bit like Queens of the Stone Age crossed with Ben Folds Five. The video is awesome, check it out on YouTube.
Brooklyn native, Los Angeles transplant by way of London, along the way The Angel has created a sound all of her own. The sound she has established through her recordings, remixing, producing and, most recently, scoring for film and television is an amalgamation of the many environments she has inhabitated.
Collie Buddz / Come Around Collie captured the classic vibe of Beres Hammond and Zap Pow’s Last War, using it as the backing track and giving it a whole new life. I love it! So when I was scoring a UK based TV show called, WEST10 LDN, I played this to Menhaj Huda, the director, and he just laughed at how perfect it would be for the scene where our main characters are looking to unload a kilo of hash. And in it went.
Yitz Jordon, aka Brooklyn hip-hop artist Y-Love, is an Hasidic rapper who creates ‘faith-based rhymes in a mixture of English and Aramaic, the ancient language of the Talmud and Kabbalah’, and with his full-length release, Youth, reached number four on the Billboard’s album chart.
Daler Mehndi / Tunak Tunak Tun I’m not normally a fan of Bhangra, but this song’s “internet phenomenon” status (Wikipedia) made me curious. It inspired me to learn its lyrics in Punjabi, showing it to be a beautiful song with religious overtones of a Sikh religion I previously knew nothing about.
My Secret Playlist is a music discovery website and weekly email publication. We invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs right now. These are their words on the music that inspires them.
