1. John Cale: “Shark — Shark”
Eighty-two years previous and nonetheless making bops like this? Could all of us be so blessed. Droning guitars, a hypnotic melody, percussion that appears like somebody drumming on a trash can — this single from his forthcoming album “Poptical Phantasm” is basic John Cale.
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2. Nilüfer Yanya: “Like I Say (I Runaway)”
Talking of mesmerizing loops and suave distortion, right here’s the most recent from the British singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya, whose earlier album, “Painless,” was certainly one of my favorites of 2022.
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3. Carly Pearce: “Fault Line”
There’s a throwback appeal to a lot of the music made by Carly Pearce, a millennial nation star with a aptitude for good, quaint craftsmanship. I hear a bit Loretta Lynn on this fiery and intelligent ditty a couple of relationship on the rocks: “We must always most likely go and discover a ‘For Sale’ signal,” she sings, “’Trigger we’re livin’ on a fault line, and the fault is all the time mine.”
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4. Ibibio Sound Machine: “Pull the Rope”
I confess I used to be not conversant in the Afro-funk group Ibibio Sound Machine earlier than Jon Pareles chosen this observe for a current Playlist, however it’s definitely bought my consideration now. This title observe from its lately launched LP “Pull the Rope” is buoyant and catchy, constructing its chorus round an optimistic message: “Regardless that we’re keen to tug the set off, let’s pull the rope — collectively, we hope.”
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5. Caroline Polachek: “Starburned and Unkissed”
I lately noticed Jane Schoenbrun’s stirring and surreal film “I Noticed the TV Glow” and when this Caroline Polachek music performed whereas one of many principal characters trudges by a highschool hallway, I used to be like, “Oh I will be looking for out this soundtrack.” Polachek successfully conjures a sense of adolescent boredom right here, intercut with sudden, if fleeting, moments of vivid rapture.
