Our weekly (or however often) roundup of the greatest music in the universe!! Usually it’s friends of mine or just music I like. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music!
ALICE COOPER –EIGHTEEN (Live)
For our 18th playlist, we have to tip our hats to Alice! This comes from The Alice Cooper Show, a live album from the 1970s that I have always liked. Diehards will note this version has slightly different lyrics than usual. I had the cassette version that has bonus tracks not included in the Spotify release. We actually covered Alice on our American Dream release with the track Elected (and in this case, "we" means myself and Dan Konopka from OK Go). Not long after, I wound up speaking to Ryan Roxie, who has been one of Alice's guitarists for around 20 years and he was very complimentary and also very enthusiastic about OK Go as well.
THIS MAD DESIRE –RUNNING WILD RUNNING FREE
Our new single!! I recorded this in Hamilton and Toronto. It features co-writing with Leon Harrison (Bandwagon Hub, The Lazys) and co-production with Mark Zubek (Zedd Records). Play it loud!
BOB WISEMAN –LOVE IS A ROSE
Since Neil Young has pulled his music from Spotify, we have to get our Neil Young fix with cover versions. This is a great rendition that I’ve always liked from Bob's Accidentally Acquired Beliefs release. I also have covered Bob on the American Dream album with his tune What The Astronaut Noticed And Then Suggested. In this version of Love Is A Rose, the beginning slays me every time with all the different people saying what they think Love Is. My personal fave? Love –The Final Frontier! Also, I should note that Bob has a song ABOUT Neil Young on his fantastic Giulietta Massina at the Oscars Crying album. It’s great!
DEVON MORE –PARADE OF PROGRE$$
Just made Devon’s acquaintance the other week at Indie 101. She’s based in East Vancouver and does a lot of very cool stuff with loops and unusual instruments. This is her latest single. She’s quirky, clever, and kind of contagious!
KATE SCHUTT –GLAMOROUS LIFE
Kate is a great singer/songwriter based in the northeast USA. This is digging into her back catalogue a bit but Kate has been on my radar since she was working on this album back in Guelph. At the time, we were both making our records with Andrew McPherson at the Monastereo. Speaking of Andrew…
ECCODEK, ORANMIYAN AJAGUNDADE –I WANNA TALK TO YOU
As mentioned in our last blog, Eccodek is Andrew McPherson’s JUNO-nominated electro-world music project going on 20 years. He throws down great grooves and collaborates with really neat players from all over to brew up a sonic stew of delight! Shake it, baby. Shake it!
SEE SEE BEATS, HRDRV –RING RING
Speaking of collaboration, this is a new track from my buddy Cas (See See Beats) from New York City. I don’t know anything about his collaborators on this great pop track. Cas Weinbren is a billion-streaming artist due to a great deal because he collaborates with anyone and everyone. Very cool guy. He did a remix for one of the tracks from our upcoming album. You can buy the NFT of that single and remix (Victim Appreciation Night) here at http://kickoff.market/en/produto/this-mad-desire-nft/. With respect to Ring Ring, you should know I’m a fan of songs about phones. Operators Are Standing By!
LILYISTHATYOU –GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GIRLS
Found this randomly on Spotify. She’s from Toronto so I’m sure we’ll somehow cross paths at some point. I think she’s only 20 so this makes this track that much more impressive!
DJ CHEMO –B MINOR LOVE MAJOR
I just met DJ Chemo at Indie 101 the other week. He’s a musician, producer, DJ, and songwriter who’s been cutting grooves for decades. Cool guy. Looking forward to checking out more of his material.
MATTE ROXX! –ROLLING LOUD
DWAIN WILLIS –SET ME FREE
These are a couple of new tracks from artists I have met on my friend Tianda’s Discord. Great group of people on that Discord. Both of these tracks are pretty great modern-sounding songs!
EMM GRYNER –WAITING ROOM
Emm Gryner has been one of Canada’s coolest people since I can remember. She has collaborated with Chris Hadfield (hello astronaut!) as well as the ultimate Space Oddity, David Bowie himself! She did a couple of tours with him doing keyboards and backing vocals. How cool is that? This is a deeper track of hers, a piano-based version of one of Fugazi’s most well-loved songs, Waiting Room.
ARLO SUN –UNKIND
I came across Arlo on TikTok last week and I love her vibe. She’s a Toronto area artist and has a very sweet voice. At times on some other tracks, she reminds me a bit of Joni Mitchell.
SHIRLEY ANN LEE –THERE’S A LIGHT
As you might know, I like to mix up old and new in these playlists and this is on the older side. Born at the tail-end of a Depression that darkened the entire United States, Shirley Ann Lee took her talent as a singer and pianist from a grim, overcrowded house in Toledo, Ohio, to a glamorous, gospel-fueled adolescence on the road and in Nashville. It wasn’t until her return to Toledo after a disastrous marriage in Los Angeles that, for the first time in almost two decades of public performances, she found the urge to praise God with her own words. Just a fantastic track.
TYLER ALEXIS/FUNKY MONK –SUMMER NIGHTS
I just e-met Tyler at Indie 101 and love the vibe of this track. She’s based in the Los Angeles area so you can imagine this track at the beach!
SCRUBFROG –YES MR MANSON
Lee Reisch is also in California and someone I met at Indie 101. I’ve been listening to alternative music since the Butthole Surfers and love stuff like that. Yes Mr Manson takes me into that world and adds answering machine recordings and general weirdness. This just gives you a taste of what Scrubfrog is all about. AND Motley Crue gets mentioned in it. This track is all kinds of cool!
BUDGIE –CRASH COURSE IN BRAIN SURGERY
This is a pretty classic track that is probably more famous these days as a Metallica cover. Hear the original here! I was thinking about this band because I was just acting in a movie called Budgie. Not sure if that will be the final title of the movie...
And to close out our EIGHTEENTH playlist, not too long after the US Congress has started becoming more open about UFOs and the aliens they are working with…
MEGADETH –HANGAR 18
Classic conspiracy song! I’ve seen Megadeth twice, once opening for Judas Priest not long after this song was released and a few years later with Motley Crue. They played this both times.
That wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.
If you are an artist that would like to be included in the future, reach out anywhere and I’d love to check out your tunes! Or if you are just a music fan and have suggestions, let me know. :)
Yours in music,
Mac