My roundup of my latest discoveries and old faves. 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!
THIS MAD DESIRE –BRAND NEW LOVE (as made famous by Sebadoh)
Our latest single is the first of several Secret Covers we’re releasing this year. Two of those voices you hear at the beginning are other singers and the others are actors and one is very, very closely acquainted with a musician. Anyway, I’ll include the two singers later in this playlist.
SEBADOH –HAPPILY DIVIDED
This song is by Jason Louwenstein and one I have sang around the house for years and years. I could have just as easily covered this one. The one I did cover was by Lou Barlow. One of the things I always liked about Sebadoh is that they all write and sing lead as well as swap instruments depending on the song. If you’ve never listened to Sebadoh, I can only encourage you!
MJOY –WOMANSPLAIN
Our pal MJoy’s first song in years! She appears in our Running Wild Running Free video and is just generally a cool person down in the Bay Area in California. You can pause the playlist and watch her JUST RELEASED lyric video for this song. While doing that, click like, subscribe, and the notification bell.
ANNAA SOLESEIS –WHAT’S LEFT OF ME
Annaa’s from eastern Canada and we met virtually last year at an Indie Week-related conference. I’m totally in love with the vocal effect and bassline in this song. I was doing housework the other day and became absolutely mesmerized. Great stuff Annaa!
AARON FRAZER –LOVER GIRL
This guy has the greatest falsetto in music today and his music harkens back to the days of Otis Redding. I really like this stuff. This song reminds me a lot of My Girl, a song which I used to cover frequently in my act. I had a bassist who was obsessed with the lick (which appears in this Lover Girl song as well).
GREG SPERO –RUSLAN
Greg is a great keyboardist in LA but from Chicago. I met him at a music conference and came to realize he was the touring keyboardist for Halsey. Greg has been releasing tracks on a very frequent basis lately and I always dig them. This one really takes you on a journey. The piano is deceptively simple but the drums and the whole arrangement take you deeper and then also up into the stratosphere, creating a whole landscape. I hope to get him on a track in the future!
ECCODEK, JOHN ORPHEUS, KING INFINITY –HOW WE DREAM (KING INFINITY REMIX)
My man Andrew McPherson is the mastermind behind Eccodek, a syncretic world music-electronic hybrid that has received quite a lot of international recognition and JUNO nominations, etc., and also the producer of my Celebration album. I met John Orpheus at a JUNO party one time and I still hope we get our acts together to make a cool show one day. I like the idea of having different genres in one night. Anyway, this is a groovy, groovy remix!
ART BERGMANN –AMPHETAMINE ALBERTA
Art is kind of a legend in Canadian music that I feel is overlooked. I think if you like people like Tom Waits or Nick Cave, you’d be all over this.
KYP HARNESS –POVERTY LINE
Kyp Harness is in the same boat as Art Bergmann in terms of being a Canadian singer-songwriter that writes in that same style as the classics like Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, and Bob Dylan. Notably this is a pretty new song! He’s a social activist, a folk singer, and a Torontonian. Check him out!
REUT –MIMICRY
NEILIO, ELYXIR –THE CITY
These are two tracks from people I see on my friend Tianda’s Discord now and then. There’s quite a few songwriters at various stages of development hanging around talking shop all the time. I like both of these songs. They both sound great and have dance-y feelings although my man Neilio’s track here has a real ‘80s vibe. Reut’s is very funky too. It’s really grown on me!
CJ SLEEZ –IN THE CITY
CJ Sleez is a punk rock icon who lives in Hamilton but really made her mark in Toronto. She’s back in business and starting to play shows again. This song feels like early Iron Maiden to me and I love the lyrics! She also connects with the first song in this playlist.
HOT SNAKES –SIX WAVE HOLD DOWN
My most exciting find! I used to be a HUGE fan of Drive Like Jehu when they existed in the 1990s and no one told me that the two main guys started this band not long after folding the other one and have been making crazy post-hardcore music that is not all that different from Drive Like Jehu ever since. I have so much to catch up on!! Really exciting guitars and cooler-than-cool lyrics. I think of them as being like Jane’s Addiction-meets-Fugazi. Or like Sleater-Kinney circa Dig Me Out.
VIAGRA BOYS –MILK FARM
I started getting into this Swedish band last year and every now and again, I dive in and find another crazy great song. I love how this guy sings and he’s always in these bizarre adventures fueled by drugs and partying. In this one, he’s woken up somewhere and doesn’t know where he is and realizes there are tubes hooked up to his chest and he’s being milked! It must have been one of THOSE nights… Lol
AVA KING –PRAYER FOR THE BASIC BITCH
Very cool modern California pop that reminds me a lot of Lily Allen and Charlie XCX. Super well-produced. And, by the way, she also produced MJoy’s Womansplain that we heard earlier. I want to make friends with her!
SHAKURA S’AIDA –HOLD ON TO LOVE
Shakura is a legendary R&B/soul singer in Toronto and a frequent collaborator with Donna Grantis (Prince, ThirdEyeGirl), who co-wrote this song. I’m obsessed with Donna these days as I just saw her speak with Brian Eno on a Zoom call about Music and Environmentalism at a conference held in Minnesota.
SANDRA SUTTER –MIDNIGHT SERENADE
Sandra is a friend of mine from Alberta and an award-winning indigenous filmmaker and singer-songwriter. She is one of the voices at the beginning of Brand New Love. Check her out!
DARCHAILD –NEVER LET GO
Shareece is a friend of mine in southern California and also a contributor to Brand New Love. I use a similar arpeggiator effect as she has in this song on a song I’m currently recording (and on which Sandra Sutter sings some bg vox). Shareece is very fun to work with. I’m really glad we crossed paths!
And with that, this 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!
Yours in music,
Mac