The Mary Onettes’ critically acclaimed debut was described as “the perfect mix between A-Ha and The Jesus and Mary Chain”. Their new album is entitled Islands. Imagine a Swedish equivalent of The National on a diet of speed, Planet Earth DVDs, and 80’s guitar pop singles and you’ll have a vague idea of how good this album is.
Kate Bush / Running Up That Hill I have such a clear memory of the first time I heard this. A friend of mine made a CD with his favorite songs for me, about six years ago. This song was number one, and I immediately fell in love with Kate Bush and her music. It had such a strong impact on me and I had never before felt that I could fall in love with a song like that. With the song Cloudbusting, I almost felt the same way. That summer I was listening to Hounds Of Love all the time and somehow I have never got tired of it.
Animal Kingdom hail from North London. Their new album Signs and Wonders was recorded at Seattle’s Electrokitty Studios with Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Shins, Band of Horses). The band has shared the stage with acts as diverse as Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, Camera Obscura, Snow Patrol and a UK tour with the Silversun Pickups.
Joy Division / Disorder Joy Division have got to top my list of bands I wish I’d seen live. Their sound is chaotic, tense and danceable, all at the same time. Peter Hook has written some of the best bass lines of all time, too. This track is a proper classic.
Fuck Buttons, the duo of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, recorded their new album Tarot Sport at Rotters Golf Club Studio in London with DJ, producer and remixer Andrew Weatherall on production duties. Tarot Sport is an album in which Fuck Buttons continue to refine, craft, explore and develop the experimental aesthetic of last year’s critically acclaimed debut album, Street Horrrsing. As Power says, ‘I think it sounds a lot thicker than our previous work — our brains kind of went into meltdown’.
Philip Glass / Floe The repetition in this track is stunning and mesmerising. I’ve been listening to loads of techno recently and can hear it in this track in particular.
Singer-songwriter Essie Jain was raised in London, but now lives in New York where she released her debut full-length album, We Made This Ourselves, on Ba Da Bing! in early 2007. Her follow-up ten-track album is entitled The Inbetween and was released on Leaf Records in May 2008.
Frank Sinatra / That’s Life I always thought I had an affinity with Frank, because when I was a kid, I found out that he shared my birthday. So I felt like we had a connection and I listened to a lot of his music as a result. I think his voice is so magical and classy, he just gives this song so much of his character. It’s truly classic. All the instruments give the song its own swagger and charm, and it sits so perfectly.
Los Angeles-based band Divisible, consisting of singer Shola and drummer Albert Sadia, released their debut album Less Than Lion recently, a collection of songs which includes a reinterpretation of Radiohead’s Exit Music [For A Film]) and explores Shola’s journey from the halls of Harvard to a West African reconciliation with her father, who lives in Ghana via a propulsive mixture of rock, electronica, and world music sounds.
Kate Bush / Cloudbusting When you’re working on a new record, you have to seek out new sources of inspiration. I had never listened to Kate Bush before, even though all my musical heroes referenced her. Now, I can’t believe what I was missing all these years.
Young French musician, M83, released a brilliant album, Saturday=Youth, in April, and has since been busy making 2008 his. The recording itself will take you on a journey through a sentimental and nostalgic land. In M83’s own words: ‘this is the most explicit celebration yet of how it feels to be dazed, confused and fifteen year old’, as haunting melodies are filled with overtones of Kate Bush, Human League and Boards Of Canada.
Tears for Fears / Head Over Heels This song was the biggest influence for my new album. Our track, Kim and Jesse, takes a lot of inspiration from 80s bands like Tears for Fears. This is one of my favourites.
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.
