Super impressive and undeniably catchy debut from London-based Anna Straker.
♩ Anna Straker – Late Night Swimming [from Serious EP]
80s inspired synth-pop from the Dum Dum Girls Kristin Welch (aka Dee Dee).
♩ Kristin Kontrol – (Don’t) Wannabe [from X-Communicate]
Love this frantic, fuzzy banger. Turn this one up loud.
♩ Har Mar Superstar – Famous Last Words [from Best Summer Ever]
More of my favorite music videos from this past year…
♩ Chance The Rapper – No Problems (ft. Little Wayne & 2 Chainz) [from Coloring Book]
Directors: Skim Nasty & Lil Chano from 79th (aka Chance)
♩ David Bowie – Lazarus [from Blackstar]
Director: Johan Renck
♩ ANOHNI – Drone Bomb Me [from HOPELESSNESS]
Director: Nabil
♩ Angel Olsen – Shut Up Kiss Me [from MY WOMAN]
Director: Angel Olsen
♩ Blood Orange – I Know [from Freetown Sound]
Directors: Devonté Hynes & Tracy Antonopoulos
Can’t get enough of the vocals in the song. Truly mesmerizing.
♩ Twin Limb – Workhorse [from Haplo]
Shimmering and insouciant pop track. First-rate throwback sound. Super relatable lyrics that make me want to have an all night adventure.
♩ Mass Gothic – Every Night You’ve Got to Save Me [from Mass Gothic]
Sex music for hipsters and I absolutely love it.
♩ Wet – It’s All in Vain [from Don’t You]
[wet.band]
bed.//klickitat
♩ bed. – Billy Joel [from klickitat]
Braids//Companion
♩ Braids – Companion [from Companion]
CC Dust//CC Dust
♩ CC Dust – Never Going To Die [from CC Dust]
Charli XCX//Vroom Vroom EP
♩ Charli XCX – Vroom Vroom [from Vroom Vroom EP]
Flasher//Flasher
♩ Flasher – Destroy [from Flasher]
Gordi//Clever Disguise EP
♩ Gordi – Nothing’s As It Seems [from Clever Disguise EP]
Holy Ghost!//Crime Cutz
♩ Holy Ghost! – Crime Cuts [from Crime Cutz]
Kllo//Well Worn
♩ Kllo – Bolide [from Well Worn]
Linying//Paris 12
♩ Linying – Paris 12 [from Paris 12]
Lowell//Part 1:PARIS YK – EP
♩ Lowell – Blow the Bass [from Part 1:PARIS YK – EP]
Naps//The Most Beautiful Place on Earth
♩ Naps – The Most Beautiful Place on Earth Is the Moon [from The Most Beautiful Place on Earth]
Nutrition//These Days Don’t Exist
♩ Nutrition – Lost [from These Days Don’t Exist]
Sorority Noise//It Kindly Stopped For Me
♩ Sorority Noise – XC [from It Kindly Stopped For Me]
Strange Ranger//Sunbeams Through Your Head
♩ Strange Ranger – Sunbeams Through Your Head [from Sunbeams Through Your Head]
Vince Staples//Prima Donna
♩ Vince Staples – War Ready [from Prima Donna]
p.s. Favorite LPs of 2016 drops Dec 15th
Local Natives had kind of fallen off my radar since their 2013 album Hummingbird. “Past Lives” is their first new song since then and it’s nice to have them back in the mix. Guitarist/vocalist Taylor Rice the following to say about the song in a press release – “The world is not static, it’s made new over and over again. But we tend to live the same patterns in a loop, loving the same way, wrestling the same demons, the same dynamics playing out around us again and again. Untangling every moment and decision that led us to where we are now can make fate feel concrete, inescapable. But our world is not fixed, it’s constantly reemerging, and we can change it into whatever we want.”
♩ Local Natives – Past Lives [from Sunlit Youth]
Too bad this song wasn’t released in the early 80s, it’s sound is perfect for the Stranger Things Season 2 soundtrack.
♩ Patience – The Church [from The Church / My Own Invention]
Frøkedal is Anne Lise Frøkedal’s solo debut (in the past she’s collaborated with Robyn Hitchcock and Sufjan Stevens and fronted Norway’s Harrys Gym before they split in 2013). “The Sign” is a percussion driven track accompanied by some flawless vocals and heavenly harmonies. According to Frøkedal, “Olaf Olsen, who plays the drums, lives in a cozy old house outside of Oslo. I remember going out to him on a beautiful summer’s day and recorded us playing this song, me on an acoustic guitar while he was all over the drumkit. It was so much fun – and that recording remained the core of the track.”
♩ Frøkedal – The Sign [from Hold On Dreamer]