Today,
forYoungModerns is introducing a new feature to our site:
Spotify Playlists customized by us for your listening pleasure -- free of charge!
HOW IT WORKS:
At the beginning of every month, we're going to create a playlist (Called 'Heavy Rotation') of our top ten songs that we were really into the previous month and compile them in a playlist on Spotify.
We'll give you the tracklisting of the playlist here on the site, put
in our two cents on each song, and then we'll link you directly to the
playlist on Spotify so you can listen to the whole thing at your
leisure.
Occasionally we'll create other kinds of playlists on Spotify throughout the month usually
based on a certain theme or artist. Obviously,
you need to have a Spotify account to partake, which is FREE and attainable by clicking right
HERE.
Active Child - You Are All I See
This crimson-topped Los Angeleno choirboy (choirman? --
choirboys aren't usually ripped like he is) has the voice of an
archangel and the harp-plucking skills of the apocalyptic symphony said
archangel is riding in from the heavens with. It also doesn't hurt that
Active Child, A.K.A. Pat Grossi, is a master manipulator of New
Order-esque synthesizers, and it all comes together wonderfully on this
title track of Active Child's debut album
You Are All I See.
Bleached - Think of You
These four Los Angeles-based rockers grew out of long-broken up punks Mika
Miko. Singer Jennifer Clavin sings this love song with
the sincerity (and perfectly raspy voice) of a young woman professing
her love to someone at the end of a rager of a party in the early hours
of the morning.
Eleanor Friedberger - Owl's Head Park
The
sister half of The Fiery Furnaces released an excellent debut solo
album in July, hit the road, and made several stops around LA recently
(which you can read about
HERE).
"Owl's Head Park" is possibly the best song on the album with its
mysterious aura and wonderful Brooklyn-centric lyrical imagery.
Karen Elson - Crying, Waiting, Hoping
Fiona Apple's cover of "Everyday" was originally the sole reason why I was
interested in hearing this Buddy Holly tribute album in the first place.
Apple's version is perfectly fine, but the real treat of the album
turned out to be Karen Elson's energetic take on "Crying, Waiting,
Hoping", which is set to a playful horses' gallop and Elson's
perfectly nasally country voice.
La Sera - Watch Me Jumpstart
Speaking of tribute albums, Guided By Voices got a rather good one recently, as
well. La Sera, A.K.A. Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls, adds to her
excellent 2011 (great new La Sera and Vivian Girls albums and live
shows) by contributing the best cover on this compilation. Her take on
"Watch Me Jumpstart" turns the original lo-fi growler into the music of
he heavens, complete with Goodman's angelic vocals and some church organ
to match.
Man Man - Oh, La Brea
Man Man released the decent
Life Fantastic
earlier this year but its closing track, "Oh, La Brea", took a little
extra time to reveal itself as one of the best written songs of 2011.
Perhaps the late bloomer quality of the song is partly thanks to the
complex multi-sectional structure of the song: it goes from freaky
cabaret theatre piece to hushed folk to quirky potential film score of
some unknown indie dramedy. It feels like three songs in one and it
will appropriately demand three consecutive plays the first time you
hear it.
Pictureplane - Trancegender (feat. Zola Jesus)
Zola Jesus' Nika Rosa Danilova is quickly becoming a guest appearance MVP
due to her recent collaborations with Pictureplane, M83, and
her participation in this past weekend's Serge Gainsbourg Tribute
Concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (with Mike Patton, Victoria
Legrand, Ed Droste, and others). Picturepane's Travis Egedy utilazed
Danilova's voice perfectly as a sort of disco diva over a trance pop
whirl of synthesizers. The result is one of the better potential singles
of 2011.
St. Vincent - Surgeon
Now
bracing big time magazine covers like Spin, St. Vincent/Annie Clark
seems absolutely ready to explode in popularity. "Surgeon" is just the
song to help that cause. It's ridiculously catchy with a riptide of a
chorus and some fancy guitar work that already warrants a ridiculous
amount of repeat listens.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Senator
Pavement reunion behind him, Mr. Malkmus keeps marching right along with yet another strong
album, this one produced by sudden superproducer Beck. "Senator" is
classic explosively quirky Malkmus songwriting no matter what the
senator wants.
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
He still hasn't missed a beat. Now into his 60s, Tom Waits aims to take
the world by storm once again and this title track/lead single off of
his seventeenth studio album is just the song to do it. "Bad As Me" essentially picks up where Waits left off, with fiery horns that
match his vocals, all mixed in over a rigorous percussive stomp. He
should still be making fresh music well into his 80's at this rate.
