I'm working on a post about soul music but I need more time. This week I'm removing the constraints of a theme to provide a variety of really good songs that I think everyone might like. At the bottom is a link to the playlist containing all of the songs, so you can click on that and go to the Spotify app, and if you want to save the playlist, click follow. If several people follow it I might add songs to it later. Or you can make your own playlist and drag and drop the songs you like. Also, any suggestions are welcome. By the way, if you get a weird pop-up dialogue box when you try to play a song on the blog, refreshing the page should work.
1. Taylor Mcferrin - "Degrees of Light" (2014)
I normally don't gravitate towards electronic music, but Taylor Mcferrin (son of Bobby Mcferrin, the "Don't Worry Be Happy" guy) does a good job orchestrating this soundscape. It sounds great with closed eyes.
2. Jenny Lewis - "She's Not Me" (2014)
You can tell this is good music in the first two seconds, and it's because of the guitar. Normally there's a rhythm guitar, that plays chords, and a lead guitar, that typically plays one note at a time at a relatively high pitch. In this song however, there is a "background guitar" playing funky little jingles at low volume, and a more prominent "main guitar," at higher volume, that plays, apparently, whatever the hell it wants, chords or lead. It's so effective because it's so irregular and unpredictable, spending most of its time laying low. They did a really good job mixing everything, so the main guitar cuts through clearly in its own range (nothing is competing with it), and has just the right amount of distortion to stay clean enough to match the rest of the song while also having some attitude. The tone of this guitar is perfect for this song, and it really shines towards the end. Also Jenny Lewis is great. She's the lead singer of Rilo Kiley.
3. Lennon & Maisy - "Boom Clap" (2015)
Ok, I'm not going to lie - I searched for Charli XCXs "Boom Clap" on Spotify, which is a terribly cheesy love song aimed at high school girls... but also happens to be excellent pop music. Thankfully I let the whole song play through, because what came on next was amazing. Lennon (born 1999) and Maisy (born 2003) are sisters known for their appearance on the show Nashville. I don't know how much experience with love Maisy could possibly have, but whatever's going on in this song is above the lyrics, and she's definitely feeling it. Her innocent, angelic voice harmonizes beautifully with Lennon's more powerful voice. When they trade off solos it's like hearing the same person at different ages. I love how they turn "boom" into two syllables at times. The beat is solid, but they could have done this a capella and still gotten millions of hits. That's a lot of soul for a 12-year-old.
4. Vulfpeck - "Wait For The Moment" (2013)
I was very happy to find this. The funky bass player kills it, along with the rest of the band, but they do a good job of staying low-key for the most part, to let this amazing soul singer deliver a sublime performance. Ultra-chill funk, soul, r&b, loving it.
And a throwback
5. Brothers Johnson - "Strawberry Letter 23" (1977)
I don't really know how to convey how amazing this song is. I mean, the funky bass is fantastic, the guitar is stellar, the singing is soulful, but there's just something about it I can't describe. Must be that melody.
Here's the playlist:
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