Category: The Guest List: Playlists Created by Artists

Welcome to our newest blog addition, The Guest List, featuring playlists made by artists responsible for some of our favorite music this year, spotlighting the tracks that have inspired, crushed, and sustained them. Our latest playlist is from Alexandra Sullivan aka Cherophobiac who released one of THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2018 thus far, Surgery. Take it away girl…

Hello World!

I’ve created a playlist for you called ‘d e s t r o y e r’ – and it’s full of songs that kill me/break my heart/offer me catharsis… and, generally, destroy me (in a good way!). I’ve worn these songs out listening to each of them over and over again, and they still remain the songs that make me feel the most. I tried to order them in a way that cycles through different layers of ‘destruction’ (and that sounded good to me).

Some songs from the playlist that are particularly close to my heart as I write this: ‘Erica Western Teleport’ by Emperor X (it has been for about three years), ‘Saturday Come Slow’ by Massive Attack (“Do you love me?”), ‘Over The Ocean’ by Here We Go Magic (the album that this song comes from, ‘A Different Ship,’ is probably my favorite album to date), ‘Siren Song’ by Bat For Lashes (this song is just about my definition of a ‘destroyer’), and ‘Advice’ by (Sandy) Alex G (it took me about two weeks to decide whether to include ‘Advice’ or ‘Change’ from his album ‘Trick’…)

I hope that you enjoy all of these songs as much as I do, and I hope that they destroy you as much as they destroy me.”

“d e s t r o y e r” by Cherophobiac

Welcome to our newest blog addition, The Guest List featuring playlists made by artists responsible for some of our favorite music this year, spotlighting the tracks that have inspired, crushed, and sustained them. Our latest playlist is from heavenly popmeister  Mute Choir , take it away Sam :

“Most of the music I love and am inspired by consists of one of two elements: raw honest great songwriting, and exploration and experimentation within the music that pushes the envelope. As a songwriter and a producer these are generally what really catches me. Every song and artist in this playlist to me contains either one or both of those traits.”

Here’s the Playlist ! :

And please take a listen below to the latest, lustrous offering from Mute Choir, “Minefield”…and hey, as an added bonus, reposting one of our faves,”Behind the Bars”  because it’s just such a beauty :

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 ! :

Welcome to our newest blog addition, The Guest List featuring playlists made by artists responsible for some of our favorite tracks this year. We are kicking things off with Scuba Dvala aka Fredrik Bergstrand who is responsible for one of the finest, most swoon-worthy pop songs of 2018, “Anthill”. And with that here is one truly plush and poptastic playlist. Take it away Fredrik…

“For this playlist, I wanted to limit myself to songs released in 2018. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know where to begin or end. It’s a good representation of what inspires me right now. Melodies are super important but I’m also drawn to the sounds, textures, and harmony. Music is escapism and that is probably why I love the dreamy stuff. I think this type of music is made by, and for introverts like me.”

And here is the wondrous “Anthill” if you haven’t checked it out yet ! :