The Weekly Dose 04-09-14 (Coachella 2014 edition featuring Future Islands)

So, The Weekly Dose has recently been bi-weekly, at least for this last month, but I’m still trying to do it weekly if possible.  I have a lot of other things going on that come before this blog, but I do like sharing some good music as often as I can.  I usually put this plug at the bottom of each week’s post, but I don’t know if everybody makes it down that far, so if you’re enjoying the playlists that I post here, please let me know what you think in the comments, on Twitter, or on our Facebook page.  I’d like to know what you liked, what you didn’t, and what songs you’d like to hear in the future!  Also, thanks to those who have actually subscribed to this playlist on Spotify. We’ve been gaining a few every week.

The big event for this week, at least for me and thousands of others, is that Coachella starts this coming weekend. I’ll be at weekend two this year, and will be my 10th time attending the festival.  It really is always my favorite time of the year.  Even though I wasn’t initially as excited as I usually would be for the 2014 lineup, there are still dozens of acts that I’ll be seeing, some I’ve seen before (Beck, Arcade Fire), some I’ve been wanting to see for awhile (Little Dragon, Pet Shop Boys), and I’ve made some new discoveries this year as well.

The Weekly Dose 03-04-14 (featuring St. Vincent)

This week’s post may be going up a day late, but it’s definitely worth the wait… I have “road tested” these songs (in other words, “listened to them in the car”) and I think it’s the best playlist yet!

I hope everybody has been enjoying these playlists so far. I’ve had a good time putting them together.  There’s just something kind of retro about putting together an hour’s worth of music (almost like a mix tape or CD) and sharing it so other people can hear.

Featured Artist Of The Week: St. Vincent

I’ll admit that I didn’t immediately get into the music of St. Vincent (also known as Annie Clark).  I had people telling me about her stuff for years before I gave it a proper listen, but to be honest, I wish I had discovered her sooner.  Her last album, Strange Mercy was one of my favorite releases of 2o11. In 2012, she collaborated with David Byrne on an amazing album, Love This Giant.

Now, she’s back with her fourth studio album (the self-titled St. Vincent) and I think it might be her best work yet.

The Weekly Dose 03-04-14

This week’s playlist includes two songs from the new St. Vincent album (the frenetic “Birth In Reverse” and the slower album-ending track “Severed Crossed Fingers”). In addition, you’ll find 15 more songs by The Dandy Warhols (one of my top 100 songs of the 00’s), XTC, new Bombay Bicycle Club, Jellyfish (one of my favorite 90’s bands), Beck (whose new album features two ex-members of Jellyfish: Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. and Jason Falkner), Karen O’s Academy Award nominated “The Moon Song” … and many more!

1. The Dandy Warhols – Bohemian Like You
2. St. Vincent – Birth In Reverse
3. Fujiya & Miyagi – Sixteen Shades Of Black And Blue
4. Vacationer – Good As New
5. My Morning Jacket – Holding On To Black Metal
6. The Clientele – Since K Got Over Me
7. Architecture In Helsinki – Heart It Races (Yacht Remix)
8. St. Vincent – Severed Crossed Fingers
9. XTC – The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead
10. Beck – Blackbird Chain
11. The Black Angels – Don’t Play With Guns
12. Jellyfish – Bedspring Kiss
13. Nada Surf – Whose Authority
14. CSS – Hits Me Like A Rock
15. The Zutons – It’s The Little Things We Do
16. Karen O f. Ezra Koenig – The Moon Song
17. Bombay Bicycle Club – Overdone

 

I wish I had time to write about every one of these artists and songs. In addition to the ones I listed above, there are so many goods ones here… The Clientele, The Zutons (who most people know because they wrote “Valerie” which was covered by Amy Winehouse). I’ll have to feature each of these artists in a future playlist!

Join in on Bombay Bicycle Club

Bombay Bicycle Club are on the rise, and it’s rightfully so. From their debut to their newest release, they have made no promises other than to make music that stays true to themselves.

Fresh out of high school Bombay Bicycle Club kicked themselves onto the scene with with their debut album I Had the Blues, But I shook Them Loose spawning immediate hit singles “Always Like This” and “Dust on the Ground”.

They laughed off the very idea of a sophomore slump with their second album Flaws. This beautiful and melancholy album is a perfect showcase of the youngsters’ more serious side. Not only did it give us a peak into their versatility,  but it also reasserted that they were not going to disappear from the scene anytime soon.

The next year they came back with a blend of their previous two albums and gave us A Different Kind of Fix. With it’s subdued vocals and dizzying melodies, you will feel like you are living in a day dream.

On February 3rd of this year, BBC showed us how they have grown now that they cut their ties and put out their fourth album So Long, See You Tomorrow. Debuting at #1 on the UK charts, a first for the band. With production completely in their hands, this piece departs from the whimsical sound of their 3rd release. From the rocky opening track Overdone, to the experimental piece Cary Me, to the haunting Eyes off You,  Bombay Bicycle Club further explore their depths of creativity and differentiate themselves from all other groups out there today.

This is a band to watch and follow as they grow and develop into what could be the one of the top groups of our time.

Bombay Bicycle Club – Overdone