Music is a little like food and clothes. These are areas where it’s probably worthwhile for one to explore & expand their tastes. The Playlist is assembled each month by Dappered’s very own music correspondent, Tim Johnstone. Tim is a former Virgin Records Label Rep & current award winning Program Director at KRVB, which was awarded the FMQB AAA station of the year markets 50+. You can also catch his work on Fridays when he assembles the Weekend Dossier.
Bleachers – “I Wanna Get Better”
I didn’t realize it was possible to award song-of-the-summer status in late February but apparently it just might be. Jack Antonoff from Fun. introduces his side project and everyone loses their shit.
Royal Blood – “Little Monster”
They’re back. And this time they promise a full length. About. Damn. Time. Also, no, Dappered doesn’t have any connection to this band. They’re just really liked around here. Meanwhie, it doesn’t look like this track is available for purchase quite yet.
Pharrell Williams – “Happy”
Yes, this is everywhere. And yes, he might just win an Oscar for it. But, what do you guys think of this particular song? Because I want to like it. I really do. But…
Silversun Pickups – “Cannibal”
This L.A. band prepares a vinyl 7 inch singles box set collection with this terrific new track. Twelve years on, the band has left behind the Smashing Pumpkins comparisons that (fairly or otherwise) marked their earlier work. Good stuff.
Lo-Fang – “When We’re Fire”
Matthew Hemerlein is a classically trained musician who travelled America and the world over the past three years. Those travels led to this headphones friendly album Blue Film which has already become one of my go to albums for 2014. This is not your grandfather’s electronic music.
Chevelle – “Take Out The Gunman”
RAWK. Remember when rock could just, be something of the moment, and that wasn’t a bad thing? No? Just me? Hmm. OK.
Disclosure Featuring Mary J Blige – “F For You”
Dance music’s latest clubs-to-riches story teams up with the divine miss Blige for a floor-filling foot stomper.
Kelis – “Jerk Ribs”
TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek has produced Kelis’ upcoming full-length Food. This should be all sorts of hot summer fun. I appreciate that Kelis can move her way through genres with her fierce voice and aura, which really comes through more than most vocalists who try these things. It’s getting hot in here.
Kaiser Chiefs – “Coming Home”
Damn if I don’t like everything about this. The song is charming in that typical Britpop way. The video is clever and well executed. And while this lacks the energy level of their near perfect debut, it does find the band having aged better than I could have hoped. This is another song that doesn’t appear to be available for purchase just yet?
THE CLASSIC: Public Enemy – “Bring The Noise”
Once upon a time, hip hop sounded like this. Make no mistake, Chuck D is still revered.
For previous editions of The Playlist, see the growing archive here. Top Photo Credit.
I’m excited for Beck’s new album Morning Phase. I love just about everything he’s ever done and the first three tracks available on iTunes are terrific so far. Comes out tomorrow.
Damnit Pharrell, it worked.
Temples – Mesmerise
St.Vincent – Digital Witness
Can I just stick my hand up and say I love these Playlist posts?
I’d be happy to see them move to a weekly feature if at all possible. Tim’s picks are always interesting and worth a listen, even if they’re not of a genre that I’d typically pick. I love Spotify, but as a music-discovery tool it’s useless – having Tim provide recommendations lets me get a lot more value out of my sub.
Thanks again.
i generally dig pharrell and am really looking forward to his album. and i hate to poo poo a song that celebrates positivity… but this reminds me too much of the parody pop song “Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie. what? i was the only one that saw (and loved) that? oh…
that said, check out the 2:25 mark… isn’t that the dancing dude from The Black Keys’ Lonely Boy video????
also, nice Kelis pick.
I’m as pretentious as anyone when it comes to music but you’d have to be crazy cynical not to like Pharrell’s “Happy”.
Bunch of great albums coming out tomorrow—St. Vincent, Beck, Wild Beasts and ScHoolboy Q.
I thought it was the same guy from The Black Keys video as well
That Royal Blood is dead nails. Yikes.
Really looking forward to Oxy. Not to mention KiD CuDi just dropped a new album
it’s not the theme of “Happy” as much as it’s the execution. gnarls barkley’s “Smiley Faces” had a similar sentiment, but was much better to me.
listening to schoolboy q right now. neneh cherry also has an interesting album out.
If you like that Pharrell track, check out this mashup:
No, bleachers I wanna get better – especially after listening to that seizure-inducing intro. I’m dizzy from it and hopefully i never hear that while driving for the sake of myself and other drivers on the road.
otherwise, pretty decent list!