The New Loud is a three-piece electro/punk/new wave band from Milwaukee, WI. Their debut EP, Can’t Stop Not Knowing, consists of six tracks, including a frenetic cover of Radiohead’s 2 + 2 = 5. The EP was produced by band member Shane Olivo and displays a tight mixture of electronic elements and natural sounds, layered obsessively, with some songs using up to 80 tracks in the mix.
Liz Phair / Fuck and Run Without Liz Phair there would be no Tegan and Sara or Sex In The City for that matter. Liz Phair took all the visceral thoughts lying publicly dormant inside the female id and put them all out in the open and she did it as if it was all part of everyday conversation.
White Rose Movement’s debut album, Kick, was produced by Paul Epworth, and is an eclectic fusion of electronics and bass driven guitars which divided the critics, both impressing and confusing them. They made their foray into Eastern Europe, with gigs in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Ukraine, where they headlined a festival in front of 33,000 people. Despite the fact that their first album was never released outside the UK, with the help the internet, WRM have amassed a huge fan base and toured extensively throughout the world. Their USA tours have included gigs at Coachella, South X South West and the Bowery Ballroom, selling out the NY club before they had even arrived in the States.
This Mortal Coil / Song To A Siren It’s rare to find a cover better than the original, but this succeeds. Originally earmarked as a B-Side, Liz Frazer and Robin Guthrie’s cover of Tim Buckley’s Song To a Siren became an underground hit. Liz Frazer’s voice is so cold yet so emotive. Dripped in reverb, she sounds like she’s from another planet.
Australian duo, Empire Of The Sun, feature Luke Steel from The Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore from Pnau, each stepping our their respective shadows to create a sound and look for Empire Of The Sun that is absolutely, totally electric.
Holger Czukay / Persian Love There is so much depth in this track. It’s like the magician chef who can transpose flavors when people’s expressions change during meals. It’s a dream of spices.
Great Northern (Solon Bixler, Rachel Stolte) released their atmospheric and melodic debut album, Trading Twilight For Daylight in 2007. Their new album, Remind Me Where the Light Is, is the work of a more seasoned group, one that has been on the road for months, missed home, seen the world, and returned, not entirely prepared to sit still and write. The results being upbeat, guitar-driven songs, yet with the familiar layered vocals and sweeping, panoramic sound.
Simon and Garfunkel / Bridge Over Troubled Water It makes us cry every time.
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.
