Yes, 2024 may be off to a sluggish start as most of us in the US are freezing cold and tired of hopping back into the continuously bad news - but new music rolls on, and I’m here to talk about what’s worth a spin.
Like last year, you can find everything from 2023 in its own fancy new playlist, and the weekly playlist is now wiped fresh! Love that new playlist smell.
But before the tracks, some very good links for a very weird January:
None of us shall reach the disruptive swag level of the first MF to wear a top hat, who “was charged with “breaching the peace and incitement to riot” and had to pay a bond promising future good behaviour.”
Adam Green on becoming an artist, reposted from Bullett Mag from 2010
Lana Del Reactionary – I really loved Jude Doyle’s look at taking Lana’s politics seriously in their essay “This is What Makes Us Girls: On the Lana-Del-Rey-to-Red-Scare Pipeline”
Aaaand on to the new music. As always, you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy!
Jayson Green & The Jerk – Local Jerk
Another great new track from the seemingly-refreshed DFA Records, and a debut track from longtime DFA associate Jayson Green! This one is a live-in-studio 12” from featuring a collection of DFA/Greenpoint all-stars: Nancy Whang (LCD), W. Andrew Raposo (Midnight Magic), Nick Millhiser (Holy Ghost), and way too many others to name – complete with another mix job from James Murphy himself. “Local Jerk” sounds like it was fun to make, but more importantly, the producer braintrust (Murphy, Raposo, Millhiser and Korey Richey) make sure the disco fundamentals never miss: the conga enters right when it should, and even the mid-song guitar freakout is placed for maximum sonic debauchery. May all your afterparties sound like this song in 2024.
A.G. Cook – Silver Thread Golden Needle
Cook takes a break from the pop machine to drop a minimal, searching techno track. The song finds a midpoint between Daphni and “Music For 18 Musicians,” and Cook’s ability to keep the tension afloat for ten minutes is impressive – this feels like a big room set closer, so keep an ear out at Nowadays, kids!
Sleep 300 – Live @ Bossa Nova
This live set from Sleep 300 avoids so many pitfalls of the live hardware set: the transitions are clean and musical, the kicks are playful and human, and the tracks never dead end with a “uhh we’re out of drum machines” shrug. There’s a guy who keeps saying “wow” on the live recording, and though he should probably have been dancing, he’s also right.
Kim Gordon – Bye Bye
I was stoked to hear new music from Kim Gordon this AM – from a new upcoming record, no less! – and her comfort over a loud 808 beat honestly makes me think Kim could do a excellent collab record with Metro Boomin.
Ariana Grande – Yes And?
Pure Madge from Ariana, and I’m not mad about it! Like all of her music, you won’t need to search this song out – it’ll quickly be omnipresent – but interestingly, Grande seems to be running the Jessie Ware playbook of using big 80’s dance sounds to craft the sound of self acceptance and pleasure. It’s lithe and bright, but it’s more fun than it should be and more interesting than it needed to be.
Honorable mention: there’s absolutely no reason the Liam Gallagher/John Squire song should be this good.
throwww w w w backkkk
Cinderella – Pat’s Chili Dogs
I DARE you to listen to this and not have “PAT’S DOGS! PAT’S CHILI DOGS” stuck in your head all day. This might be the best Cinderella song??? (Apologies “Somebody Save Me”)