Last year’s Orchard-IODA merger brought a veritable treasure trove of great new music into our system. We’ve had the very pleasurable opportunity to do a fair bit of exploration over the last 13 months and thought we might share a cross section of highlights. The following playlist includes household names to some of today’s buzziest / most acclaimed new artists to formerly obscure musicians who have only been rediscovered in recent years.
The list includes “Head Like A Hole,” the song that put Nine Inch Nails on the map in 1990, Arlo Guthrie‘s 1972 Top 40 hit “The City Of New Orleans,” and “After The Laughter (Comes Tears),” a 1964 Soul masterpiece by Wendy Rene which has been sampled by The Wu-Tang Clan and Alicia Keys and used in films like Lucky Number Slevin and The Wackness.
It also contains early tracks by contemporary Rock royalty like My Morning Jacket, Rise Against, and The Black Angels; and music from fast-rising up-and-comers like Portland bands STRFKR (“Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” has been heard in a Target ad on the TV show Weeds) and Blind Pilot (their 2008 debut, 3 Rounds And A Sound led them to tours with The Hold Steady and The Decemberists), as well as San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees, (Breaking Bad fans may recognize the 7″ single “Tidal Wave” from a pivotal scene in season four).
It’s not all Rock by any means. On the Electronic end of the spectrum, we have selections from the Mercury Prize-nominated debuts by the UK’s Burial and Zero 7, and a single from Minneapolis duo Poliça, whose (late) 2011 debut Give You The Ghost earned praise from the likes of Jay-Z and Bon Iver. We have also have Jazz from three-time Grammy-winning bassist Christian McBride (a track recorded with Grammy-winning world music legend Angélique Kidjo), and Hip-Hop from Deltron 3030, an Alternative/Hip-Hop supergroup comprised of Dan the Automator [Gorillaz], Del the Funky Homosapien and Kid Koala, (their self-titled album was “the most purely enjoyable Hip-Hop album of 2000,” according to NME).
We’ve also included a few slightly under the radar picks from some personal favorites, including pioneering all-female Post-Punk trio The Raincoats (who were extensively championed by the late Kurt Cobain), influential Los Angeles Blues Punk-ers The Gun Club (“Carry Home,” featured here, was covered by Mark Lanegan on a his 1999 covers album, I’ll Take Care Of You), and Santa Barbara Folk musician/Vietnam veteran F.J. McMahon, whose lone album, Spirit Of The Golden Juice [1969], was a highly sought after/highly priced collector’s item that was only recently reissued by Rev-Ola [CD + digital] and Sacred Bones [vinyl].
Now, without further ado…
Listen to this playlist on Spotify or ShareMyPlaylists.
Swedish masters of the extreme Meshuggah will be taking their sonic arsenal on the road and detonating sound systems in cities across the U.S. and Canada on “The Ophidian Trek” tour, which launches on April 29th in Houston. Support for all 19 shows will come from Baroness; opening each night will be special guests & label mates Decapitated from Poland.
Meshuggah drummer Tomas Haake says: “We’re really stoked to be coming back again!! A new album and two really awesome bands to join us on our trek across the U.S. and Canada!! There’s one word that comes to mind: Sweeeet!!”
Decapitated guitarist/founding member Vogg adds: “FUCK YEAH! DECAPITATED with MESHUGGAH! We’re so proud and happy to be part of this amazing tour! It will be a huge honor to share one stage with such a great fuckin’ band! Cannot wait!”
With that kind of excitement, you can’t go wrong.
Meshuggah‘s eighth studio album, KOLOSS, will be released in North America on March 27th. The North American deluxe digi-pak version will include a bonus DVD.
