Our periodic roundup of new discoveries and old faves. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music!
p.s. Right now Meta is not letting Canadians access any news content. It's crazy!
THIS MAD DESIRE -ARMY OF ME
My tribute to Iceland's greatest musical export. I had a lot of fun with this -especially the keyboard parts. I used a keyboard that lets you bend notes. So trippy! Watch the video here!
NELLY FURTADO / TIMBALAND -PROMISCUOUS
This track is so groovy. I especially like the part where Timbaland goes, "I want you on my team," and Nelly shoots back, "So does everybody else." Boom! Mic drop.
KISS -C'MON AND LOVE ME (LIVE)
Definitely an old fave of mine. I saw them play this once and it was incredible. When Paul Stanley sings, "I'm a Capricorn and she's a Cancer," I always thought of my parents, who fit those same astrological profiles.
RESKINNED MUSIC -EAT THE YOUNG
Ben is from Detroit Rock City and blends elements of rock with bits of hip hop. Very cool lyrics and delivery.
JULIANA HATFIELD -LOTTA LOVE
Like me with my Secret Covers, Juliana cranks out cover tunes too. She has a really great record covering all Olivia Newton-John tunes. Here she takes on Neil Young. I have personally sang this approximately 852,253 times myself so fun to hear her take on this classic, especially since Neil Young took his music off Spotify -which means I never hear him anymore...
U.S. GIRLS / BOOTSY COLLINS -SUPERSTAR
This Leon Russell cover slays me. I imagine Meg as a 14-year-old girl crushing on this much older, dirty old man, sleazy funk musician and I laugh. It's incredible!
TOM ODELL -ENEMY (LIVE)
I've been really getting into Tom Odell this past year. I find his songwriting to be very emotionally direct. Here he is accompanying himself on piano with a few background singers. Devastating.
NORAH JONES / M. WARD -LIFELINE
This comes from an upcoming album of Norah Jones playing along with various friends. This song is also on the new M. Ward album. I actually prefer this version but as far as I'm concerned, M. Ward can do no wrong so both versions are pretty great.
LAURA GAGNON -DARK HORSE
I just met Laura through the DIT online music community and I believe she is in the London, Ontario, area. She has a great voice and I'm hoping we work together on something. This particular song seems to her "hit" song.
LEO DRAGTOE -BLUES ON ME
Leo is in Hamilton and while I don't know him, I have seen him at an open stage here one time and found him to be a very compelling performer. I just found out about this Live At Zyla's album (Zyla's was a local venue at which even I played one time). This song makes me think of some old Alice in Chains and Smashing Pumpkins acoustic bootlegs I used to listen to.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE -BOMBTRACK (LIVE AT FIRST AVENUE)
First Avenue is a legendary live venue in Minneapolis. I saw Rage around this time in St. Paul, the slightly less famous twin of the Twin Cities.
BONNIE PRINCE BILLY -CRAZY BLUE BELLS
This guy, Will Oldham, is incredible, full stop. I cover his song, I See A Darkness, and saw him opening for Björk in Toronto one time. Incredible show.
THE REPLACEMENTS -BLACK DIAMOND
We had a track recorded in Minneapolis and KISS in this playlist so I went for one of Minnesota's greatest bands covering KISS.
NICK CAVE / WARREN ELLIS -BALCONY MAN (LIVE)
While not the best track off this new live album, it does have a fun intro!
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