Welcome to our newest blog addition, The Guest List featuring playlists made by artists responsible for some of our favorite music this year, of tracks that have lit an eternal flame inside their hearts. Our latest playlist comes courtesy of our favorite manic-epic-pop-prog purveyor Little Alien ! Allow the man himself to shine a light on a few of his picks before you listen :
Kings of Leon “Arizona”: I appreciate this song for it’s beautiful soundscape created around a simple I-IV progression. The storytelling and the melodic bass are features of this era of Kings of Leon that I have always appreciated.
Renata Zeiguer “Wayside”: A relatively new release but it was the candor of the opening rhythm and the soul crushing dissonance of the third chord in the progression that instantly made this a classic in my eyes.
Noname “Shadow Man”: Incredibly tender production and adept performance instrumentally speaking. The lyrical content is deep and the execution is superb by Noname, Saba and Smino (three of my favorite rappers).
Colour “Unicorns”: Colour’s entire “Anthology” is full of zany tunes with catchy hooks and eclectic rhythms. This album introduced me to math rock and heavily influenced many aspects of the Little Alien self-titled album.
Hiatus Kaiyote “Building a Ladder”: An early live performance of this song introduced me to Hiatus Kaiyote and epitomized groove when I heard it for the first time. The harmonies are delicious and I’m attracted to the ambiguous and sometimes hard-to-perceive lyrics.
Gang Starr “Moment of Truth”: In this tune, Guru offered deep heartfelt wisdom that speaks to me on many levels. The lyrics and monotone flow have stuck with me for years.
Time King “Main Street”: This song combines progressive rock with straight-up groove. It’s full of tasty harmonizations, catchy vocal melodies, and delightful interplay between the guitars and rock solid bass. It’s the whole package for me as a single.
Marble Moon “Rosey Eyes”: The highlight of this song for me is the personal and prose-like lyrics that are delivered with strong and spirited vocals. The instrumentation seems to have been crafted with purpose and feels very meaningful in each section. Along with that, the dynamics of the song are drastic and impactful from beginning to end. The entire album is well worth listening to from beginning to end.
Tom Jobim & Elis Regina “Águas de Março”: This is possibly my favorite song of all time. The chords and instrumentation create a sense of continuous falling or similarly, a cascading waterfall or endless rain that is reflected in the lyrics. But even without understanding the lyrics it seems to me that you can take a lot away from this song and it immediately conveys a certain emotional state somewhere in between melancholy and rebirth.
And now, the Playlist:
And hey, make sure to check out Little Alien’s exceptionally fine and crazy self-titled debut album if you haven’t yet ! Here it is ! :
PICKING UP ROCKS 