Jer Coons is a pop artist from the green mountains of Vermont. His songs draw comparisons to John Mayer, Jason Mraz, and Damien Rice (although, as Jer would claim, you do not need Zoloft to enjoy his music). His debut album Speak drops September 29th through RED Distribution.
Michael Jackson / Baby Be Mine Talk about soul. What Quincy and Michael did with this track has forever shaped the way I look at pop music. I put this song on, turn it up loud and inevitably end up dancing around like an absolute idiot for its entire duration. It MAKES you move. I’d tell you to pick this album up, too, but I’m pretty sure the world got the memo.
The Lovehammers feature ex-LA GUNS front man Marty Casey. Their new record, Heavy Crown, was released recently.
Ladyhawke / My Delirium I love this tune because Ladyhawke so confidently sings about being thrown through the wringer. I love the driving rhythm and the tone of the guitars. This songs just kicks my ass!
Australian band Dappled Cities have a new album about to drop, Wall Of Zounds, and a national tour underway which will see will play live favourites from the AMP nominated Granddance (2006) album and indie cult-classic A Smile (2004).
Mastodon / Oblivion I really like the new Mastodon record, Crack the Skye. This song is a real shout-out to where they are heading. It is pretty metal but also — disturbingly — 70s prog. Totally progarific.
Depending on your background, the term “power trio” may bring to mind the ’60s sonic depth-charges launched by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream; the twisty prog-rock styles of mid-70s King Crimson and Rush. Or the post-grunge bash of Seether and Wolfmother. In the case of Civil Twilight, as evidenced on their self-titled debut album, the term means all of that. And much more.
Grizzly Bear / Two Weeks I love this whole album. In fact, our whole band has been getting into it and really enjoying it. It’s a super creative and fun album that seems to transport one to a magical world of sounds and pictures, melodies, rhythms and harmonies that the Beach Boys would be proud of.
Vandaveer is the alt-folk song singing/record making/globetrotting project penned and put forth by DC-by-way-of-Kentucky tunesmith Mark Charles Heidinger. The son of a preacher, whose father was a gambler, whose father was both judge and US Congressman, Heidinger one day found himself in possession of a golden pocket watch owned, wound, and regularly counseled by each in this paternal line. On the backside of the watch was a family name engraved, passed down for more than a century like the timepiece that followed. That name was Vandaveer. Vandaveer will release Divide & Conquer through Supply and Demand Music on August 25.
Elvis Perkins / Shampoo This is the first track on Elvis’ new record, and it bites and lurches with intensity. Black is the color of a strangled rainbow, as Perkins rightly points out. Why isn’t a song like this topping the charts? I just don’t get it.
Hill Country Revue think of themselves as ‘the modern blues band for the new generation’, which might sound lofty, but they are rooted in the music of the region. ‘It’s the music we grew up on, and our goal is to bring a fresh take to it. We play the blues of the Mississippi hill country as though it’s been dosed with Viagra’.
Amy Winehouse / Back to Black Simply put, I love the lyrics of this song. She mixes dark melancholy undertones with sugar sweet melodies and the outcome is this brilliant track.
Beginning its incarnation in Torquay, coastal Victoria, Outrun evolved out of the shared ambitions of old friends and founders Dan Preston and Josh Armistead – the latter of whom also writes and produces as part of experimental act TeamYes!, and plays in thrash-prog band, Slazenger. Brash and catchy — with an unsuppressed affection for retro synthetics and icy Italo ambiance — Outrun’s debut album, FutureNature [out on Snowball through Inertia], is thrilling, with the apocalyptic lead track, Out Of The Ashes, tracing unpleasant times of burning out and messing up, only to be reborn a better and more powerful creature.
John Maus / Do Your Best This song has been on repeat in my head for about two years. I’m not that familiar with the rest of the album, but if you go to his MySpace page, the reviews of the album are hilarious. There is something about the slow driving beat and his near monotone drawl that sucks you in. I kind of like anything to do with Ariel Pink and these guys have collaborated a bit. This song couldn’t be simpler and that’s what I love about it. This song sounds as if Joy Division were in the K Hole while fucking around in the studio.
California duo, Rubies, combine the sweet melodies of Fiest and Kings of Convenience with disco beats and a subtle funk undercurrent. All of which is reflected on their debut album, Explode From The Center, which has been described as ‘bedroom disco meets danceable folk’. Indeed. These are the songs that inspired that recording.
Wildbirds and Peacedrums / Doubt/Hope This is from a relatively new band from Sweden. The first time I heard it, I stood up and started dancing. I love how it’s just vocals and percussion — there is so much energy in this track, it sounds like it’s coming from people that are on the verge of exploding. I want more bands to have this energy. It’s like these guys have never listened to music before and created their own genre. I love them.
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.
