Our weekly (or however often) roundup of this week’s 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!
VALENCE / ARIANE ROY –CHARLIE
I discovered Ariane Roy last year and love everything she does. This is a real 70s-style piano rock song. Very upbeat and makes me think the sun is shining.
THIS MAD DESIRE -RESPONSE OF A LAKOTA WOMAN TO FBI INVESTIGATION CIRCA 1973 PINE RIDGE
Our latest Secret Cover. This track is by Bob Wiseman and comes from his Lake Michigan Soda album.
THIS MAD DESIRE -WHAT THE ASTRONAUT NOTICED AND THEN SUGGESTED
Another song originally from Lake Michigan Soda which I covered on our American Dream release. I was as surprised as anyone to realize that I had covered two songs from the same album! You'll notice these both have extreeeeeeeeeemely long titles and that these words do not appear in the lyrics. I asked him about that and he made it sound like it was just a phase he was going through. Lol.
ALI WICK -WHEN I FALL IN LOVE
Very sweet song from Alberta songwriter Ali Wick. The guitar is very dreamy on this one. I have to admit that I've enjoyed everything I've heard from Ali so far. A definitie talent! Another person that often has very dreamy guitar sounds is...
M. WARD -YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS
M. Ward covers far too many great songs. This one is a real classic and his interpretation is very gripping. Huge fan! 10/10.
TIMBER TIMBRE -I AM COMING TO PARIS (TO KILL YOU)
I met him around when his song Demon Host was taking off and starting to appear in every TV show and movie. I think my old tour mate Chris Stringer produced that one. This track here though is a classic murder ballad! We need more of them if we’re to ever make sense of this masquerade we call life. Lol.
THIS MAD DESIRE -PARIS AMOUREUX
Speaking of Stringer, I wrote the English version of this song, Paris of Love, on the tour bus between Paris and Luxembourg after we played in Paris and partied all night long. I remember ending that magical night drinking wine at 7am at a bar across the river from the Louvre.
NINE INCH NAILS –CLOSER
I thought while we were listening to songs about various romantic moods, this one would be dynamite. Such a great song!
DAVID BOWIE -THE HEART'S FILTHY LESSON
The only time I saw NIN was opening for David Bowie. Bowie played this and lots of other songs from an album that had not been released. It was very challenging and intriguing! Over time, 1. Outside has become my go-to Bowie album.
PERRY FARRELL -KING Z
Perhaps the strangest and grooviest song from Perry's solo album Song Yet To Be Sung.
RESKINNED MUSIC –DETANGLE
Our friend Ben from Detroit aka Reskinned Music here doing what he does best. Alternative rock with a hip hop influence here. Cool lyrics and interesting phrasing and harmonies. Just great stuff! He did some harmonies on one of our upcoming singles that are absolute gold.
ST. VINCENT –MASSEDUCTION
Everything about this starting from the title on through lyrics, production. When she comes in with "Masseduction", the effect on her voice? My heart melts. Then she references The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave (one of my faves). "I can't turn off what turns me on."
MACKLEMORE Ft. SARAH BARTHEL OF PHANTOGRAM -DAY YOU DIE
I really like both of these people. What can I say? I support artists named Mack! Totally up for a collab, Macklemore, if you're reading this. Mack and Mack? It would be epic!
BOB WISEMAN -CHILDREN AT PLAY
Here's Bob Wiseman covering a local Toronto folk singer that he really liked, Sam Larkin, who passed away a few years ago. This song sometimes makes me cry as the lyrics really paint a picture and reflect so many kinds of families. It's on Bob's last full-length Giullietta Masina at the Oscars Crying. Highly recommended. Bob even put together a posthumous release of Sam's songs with production that he added. Read All About It!
CONNIE CONSTANCE -HURT YOU
A Spotify recommendation and I like it but know nothing about it. It's a bit more straight ahead than the band Warpaint but it feels like it's in that same direction.
CAROLINE ROSE –MIAMI
Very pretty chords in this one. Again, I know nothing about it!
SHE & HIM -WOULDN'T IT BE NICE?
M. Ward doing Beach Boys covers with Zooey Deschanel? Sign me up!
THE PHARCYDE –OH SHIT
I was just acting for four days and nights in an Eli Roth production called Thanksgiving, which was, by the way, very interesting and fun. It’s a slasher/horror movie that is related to the Quentin Tarantino classic Grindhouse, for which Eli Roth had made a trailer for a fake movie called Thanksgiving, which was part of Grindhouse. Now, the actual Thanksgiving movie is in production and coming out this November. Such a high-level concept! I won’t reveal how that connects to this song but it’s definitely a great tune. I think Eli Roth and I are not very different in age so I certainly remember it from when I was a teenager.
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