Magichour, the self-titled debut release from acclaimed songwriting duo Ian Housten Shadwell and Gemma Deacon is an intricate tapestry of sounds wrapped into dreamy pop songs. Gemma and Ian are best known as the songwriting team behind iconic Sydney acoustic pop classicists, Cactus Child.
Magnet / Where happiness Lives I have always had a deeply sentimental side, the kind of cloying cry in the movies kind of girliness that has marked me as a soft cock lover of the acoustic ballad, and they don’t come anywhere softer or more ballad like than this fingerpicked folk paen to a lost love. It became the soundtrack for a particularly difficult break up in which I would press replay with a Pavlovian frequency, each time feeling the tears well in my eyes with a delicious sadness. My own instincts aside and I can recommend it you as a very pretty song indeed by someone who I think is more or less unknown outside of his native Denmark.
Miami Horror is a DJ/Producer from Melbourne who started out his music career playing house party and regular weekly club nights such as Streetparty and Third Class. Having remixed for the likes of Pnau, The Presets, Faker, Datarock, Party and Midnight Juggernauts in the space of a year, Miami Horror’s remixes are dance floor hits.
Neon Indian / Deadbeat Summer Neon Indian has several great tracks but I selected this one for several reasons. Besides its 70s melodies and keys hook, its ridiculously loose production and detuned, wobbly synths makes it sound like a lost warped record playing with your head.
Lexington, Kentucky’s pop superheroes Big Fresh have been hard at work in the laboratory since Yes, Nice, Please, Thanks (2001, Aquapop Records) electrified the regional college radio airwaves. Their U.S. tour last year opening for The Apples in stereo broadcast their pop manifesto to head-bopping masses, disseminating a 150-copy limited pressing of their newly completed album.
The Apples In Stereo / The Golden Flower I know you shouldn’t talk about songs by a band you’re in, but this song was recorded way before I joined up. It perfectly captures the feeling of melancholy that comes with a bittersweet teenage romance. The chords and melody haunt me in a good way.
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.
