Formerly known as Opanoni and The Raindrops, Circle have been described as many things, including ‘Australia’s answer to the Flaming Lips’, as well as ‘Cat Stevens at 15 walking through a candy store’.
Bill Callahan / Eid Ma Clack Shaw What? What the fuck did he just say? Huh? Wah? Yeah, well only Billy boy could get away with a song like this and come out the other side even cooler. He’s a storyteller better than most, and his world view is drenched in empathy, love, hate, colour, dark and light. I didn’t stop laughing the first couple of times I heard this song, and although the subject matter is clearly a heavy one, it still makes me smile. Listen out for the horse connections.
Yuuki Matthews is a Seattle-based freelance musician and owner of two cats. Originally from Hollywood (Burbank), California, Yuuki moved to the Northwest with his mother and brother in the mid-nineties. He recorded the songs that make up Music for Savage Tropical Imagery at home between tours, odd jobs, and major milestone events. With this record, Yuuki sought to expand upon the nostalgia of subtle sound degradation.
Xavier Cugat / Perfidia I first heard this song while watching Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love. He has an incredible knack for pairing the right song with the right scene. Even without the scene, the song is pure romance.
Domino recently released Lou Barlow’s new album, Goodnight Unknown. In the four years since his career-redefining, mostly acoustic record Emoh, Lou Barlow has reunited with Dinosaur Jr. and reissued three of Sebadoh’s classic albums. But as Goodnight Unknown illustrates, he’s hardly living in the past. Borrowing the live-band energy of Dinosaur Jr. and the stylistic reach of Sebadoh, Barlow has built on Emoh’s full production and written a set of immediate, melodic pop songs that Lou describes as, ‘a cross between my later work with Folk Implosion and my earlier work with Sebadoh … to my ears, anyway’.
Empire Of The Sun / We Are The People I saw the video on Italian TV. The song reminds me of being a kid listening to pop radio in the 70s. The chorus overwhelms me, with echoes of Al Stewart.
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.
