“Out of some desire to do something other than sit around and rot, the men known as David Prowse and Thom Lavelle decided to sit around and rot whilst swapping Spotify playlists and blogging about them”¦”
And so it begins. This week, Dave Prowse and myself are going to be swapping Spotify playlists, culminating in a Collab playlist come Friday. I was first up, so here is my Monday morning playlist.
Take a listen, leave some feedback. We”™re hoping we can expand this concept in the coming weeks, so feel free to get in touch with either of us if you want to contribute in some form (playlists, reviews, rants, ideas, whatever).
01 Spotisfaction Monday (22 Feb) – TLavelle
- Heartbreaker – Metronomy
- You Could Easily Have Me – Metronomy
- Presto Change-o – Quasi
- I Never Want To See You Again – Quasi
- GNG BNG – Flying Lotus
- Velvet – The Big Pink
- Summertime – Ringo Deathstarr
- Them That Do Nothing – Field Music
- Rome – Phoenix
- Bro”™s – Panda Bear
- Empty Vessels – The Macabees feat. Roots Manuva
- Herbaholics – Phi Life Cyper
- The Terrorist – DJ Vadim Feat. Moshun Man
- King Without A Crown (Live) – Matisyahu
- The Naughtiest Girl Is A Monitor – Youthmovies
- Wasteland – Swanton Bombs
- Dot – Instrumental – Gonzales
- Always Already Gone – The Magnetic Fields
- Norway – Beach House
- Rulers, Ruling All Things – Midlake
- Stick To My Side – Pantha Du Prince
- Outhouse (Fluffy Mix) – Nathan Fake
Running down track by track isn”™t happening. So instead, I”™ll list the highlights. Will keep this short”¦
Metronomy”™s “Heartbreaker” is just the track to kick off the weekends revenge with its steady beat and dark undertones before rolling into “You Could Easily Have Me”. Taken from Metronomy”™s debut album “Pip Paine (Pay The £5000 You Owe)”, this track is a personal favourite, complete with gangled distorted riffs and awkward melodies. The shocking thing here is that it all comes together so well.
With that behind us, it”™s on to Quasi. You know, ”˜that band with Janet Weiss in”™. “Presto Change-o” wouldn”™t sound out of place on Yamane Michiru”™s Castlevania soundtracks. The restless yet futile ascension of this haunting track makes me feel that I should be atop a giant tower, at midnight, overlooking the city. Smoking a cigarette and plotting evil. Looking cool”¦ (with a cape).
(aside) I put “GNG BNG” by Flying Lotus on here as it nothing short of awesome. I”™ll just leave it at that and see how you get on with it.
On with show and on to Ringo Deathstarr. I came for the name, stayed for the awesome. I saw their name on a split 7 inch with The Depreciation Guild a few months back. I was blown away with the fantastic band name but sadly didn”™t get chance to check them out. Finally gave them a listen recently and well, I was impressed enough to tell you that I am impressed with them. “Summertime” is candy wrapped shoegaze, drowned in ambience and subtle melodies that may or may not put you into a quiet candyfloss coma.
In an attempt to break things up, I dropped a few oddities in to the playlist. Phi Life Cypher, for example. These guys have always escaped my radar. Having done work with DJ Vadim and The Gorillaz you would think I”™d have paid more attention to this group. Well, I haven”™t, no. Regardless, my friend JB played “Herbaholics”, rapropaganda of grand intentions, for me many years ago and I”™ve held on to it ever since. This track has hooks, it has the beat and it mentions Jack Straw. Instant win in my book.
The Hasidic singjay known as Matisyahu has single handedly proven that white people can be cool and having religious messages in your music isn”™t always horrible. This live version of “King Without A Crown” is an office favourite and has earnt a place on todays playlist.
Swanton Bombs – “Wasteland” reminds me of The Cramps attempting to accidently The White Stripes and winner. Don”™t try and look for sense in that.
“Dot – Instrumental” by Gonzales helps me with my crippling lust for fantastic piano pieces. This track could be two hours long and I”™d still be mesmerised by it. As it stands, it”™s two minutes long and therefore ten times as fantastic as your mind will allow you to comprehend.
And now we lay in wait for Tuesdays playlist to go up and read what David has to say about that. See you Wednesday.
[Thom]