Sputnik’s Infinite Playlist: Q2 2015 Edition

Because who wouldn't be enticed to click on this playlist by Chad Kroeger's glorious mug?

Ladies, gentlemen, and readers who may not identify by either pole of the gender binary, welcome to Sputnikmusic’s 2nd Quarter Infinite Playlist for 2015. It’s been a long year since the last one of these went up – in the interim, the staffers who typically run the playlists (namely Sowing and myself) have been very busy with various kinds of work, both within and without Sputnik. That said, we figured now is as good a time as any to kick-start the ol’ Infinite Playlist again, and thanks to a healthy crop of user submissions we’re able to present a wide variety of some of the finest music released between April and June of this year. We’ve got a great mix of music for you, from post-hardcore to weird synthesizer explorations to a double dose of Britpoppy alt-rock, and we hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

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This issue’s contributors are as follows:

Gameofmetal / Supercoolguy64 / danielito19 / RadicalEd / ChoccyPhilly / Tunaboy45 / judasgoat / Crawl / Brostep / ZackSh33 / Lambda / anobsoletevernacular / TheSpirit / Arcade / Pangea / cmaitland421

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Being As An Ocean – “Little Richie”

“Little Richie” contains veiled hints that the upcoming third, and self titled, album by melodic hardcore/post hardcore outfit Being As An Ocean will feature something of a reconciliation of the sounds found on their previous albums. The aggression of Dear G-d is present, as well as the softly laid electronic leanings of How We Both Wondrously Perish. The best part is that the two sounds merge exceedingly well on “Little Richie”. It doesn’t worship Defeater and Pianos Become The Teeth as much as album number one, and it doesn’t rely on laid back vibes and spoken word as much as the followup. Even the Christian-based lyrics are toned down in favor of telling an emotionally gut wrenching tale of both domestic and child abuse. The chorus of “How can you say this time that it will be alright, how can you still look in his eyes and see the love of your life?” absolutely soars with sorrowful energy. Between the quick post hardcore riffs and the distant melodic leads lining the chorus, the track never fails to move with grace and effectiveness. It may lack the clean tones dominant on Dear G-d, which gave the album so much of its charm, but this is the kind of ballpark hit that makes me forget all about that fact. It’s fitting that the album will be self titled, as I’m getting a strong feeling that this will be the album they really hit their stride. If this is any indication, it’s sure to be monumental. -Gameofmetal

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Local H – “John the Baptist Blues”

This track makes it almost impossible to notice Local H’s collective age as a band due to its energetic performance. This song starts off with perhaps one of the grimiest riffs of their career, only to quickly blow up as a massive epic. The frantic, one-note piano during the chorus adds extra urgency to the already destructive track, and Ryan Harding’s precise drumming gives the song a well-needed punch. Add in a sludgy halfway mark, followed by a furious, 200 miles-per-hour instrumental freak-out, and you got perhaps one of the best songs of the year. To put it briefly, this track proves that, after all these years, these guys still know how to kick it. -Supercoolguy64

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Holly Herndon – “Home”

“You know me better than I know me,” because you have my history from incognito mode, every query I’ve ever typed into Google. I’m never really alone anymore because of you, nameless NSA agent. Could we really relate to Holly Herndon’s “Home” in any other time but now, in the wake of Edward Snowden letting us know the NSA performs surveillance on us all? “Home” sounds exactly like the present – could any other time see the collision of techno percussive ideals, art school pretensions, and glitchy vocal stuttering? Could any other time support an electronic song devoid of synths, relying almost solely on vocal samples for melodic content? Herndon is dedicated – no, obsessed – with the present, and “Home” is her glib, paranoid vision of now. -danielito19

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Titus Andronicus – “Dimed Out”

Titus Andronicus always embodied the rah-rah-underdog spirit of punk rock more believably than just about any other band of the 21^st century. Musically “Dimed out” is a testament to this. A bustling thunderstorm of a song that fires on all cylinders from the very get go and clocks in just below three minutes; “Dimed out” features the intense vocal delivery, punchy drums and relentless riffs that longtime listeners have come to expect from the band. The strings in the second half of the song hint at an anthemic, more diverse sound; but “Dimed out” is still very much a straightforward, kickass bar-anthem. Lyrically the song deals with the feverish desire to live life to the fullest and the attempt to create art that really means something. When vocalist Patrick Stickles belts out that he will “incite a riot, fire flying all around” he’s both bragging and admitting defeat. He knows that he may be the first to get burned and that the manic nature of his creative process could be his ultimate undoing. Regardless of that, he won’t slow down or become less intense, and if he and his band will go down in flames, they’ll make sure that it will be in a giant, glorious firestorm. -RadicalEd

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Lapalux – “Don’t Mean A Thing”

I have a sweet tooth when it comes to music. As much as I love furious breakdowns and barked vocals, give me a sing-along chorus and chances are I’ll devour whatever you put in front of me. Dance Gavin Dance’s newest album Instant Gratification offers the best of both these worlds, and one song in particular – “Something New” – is a tasty example of the sugar-coated post-hardcore recipe for which I unabashedly hunger. While in retrospect their last effort Acceptance Speech can now be seen as something of a trial run for their current line-up, “Something New” shows just how much this incarnation of Dance Gavin Dance has grown together. By streamlining their instrumental pyrotechnics, Will Swan and Co. strike a balance between frenetic post-hardcore noodling and straightforward melodic progressions, allowing the subdued musical performance to accentuate frontman Tilian Pearson’s stirring vocals and create one of the band’s most memorable songs. A pop-singer at heart, every line Tilian croons here is absolute ear-candy; from the verses’ tantalizing hooks where his seductive inflections dance with quirky guitar leads, to a soaring and layered chorus, this track shows the vocalist in fine form. Refusing to be forgotten, screamer Jon Mess’ vitriolic snarls, while sparse, are perfectly implemented throughout, proving that even in a reduced role he is an integral piece of Dance Gavin Dance. The chemistry between Tilian and Mess has improved dramatically since Acceptance Speech, their newfound comfort with one another perpetuating the band as a whole to a previously unexplored level of artistic heights. With “Something New” (and to a greater extent Instant Gratification) Dance Gavin Dance shatter the notion that the pop/hardcore paradigm has become nothing more than a stale novelty, and its palette-cleansing delivery leaves your mouth watering for more of their deliciously served pop-hardcore dishes. -TheSpirit

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Blur – “Lonesome Street”

Credit where it’s due, Blur’s reunion doesn’t feel like an ordinary cash-grab or fan service that plagues the integrity of the action. The Magic Whip – and ostensibly its lead-off track, “Lonesome Street” – are undeniably relevant pieces that push the boundaries of what Blur can achieve. It helps that “Lonesome Street” has a foot firmly in the distinctly opposing sounds of Blur; the jangly melodies and cynical lyricism of “For Tomorrow”, the ramshackle Pavement worship of “Tender”. Itself a lyrical catalogue of Hong Kong’s annexing, Albarn’s pen serves up some confronting truths with his Northern drawl offsetting the seriousness of everything (particular attention to the line, “This is a place to come to, or, well, it was”). Few reunions in recent memory prove themselves justified; for Blur to comeback with a song like “Lonesome Street”, a precedent has been set for all other reunions to have something important to say. -Arcade

Blur – “Pyongyang”

“Pyongyang,” as you may have guessed, is about the capital of North Korea and Damon Albarn’s experiences in the country. The bleak lyrics certainly reflect the images that come to mind when you think of North Korea, and the strings accompanying the backing instrumentals have such a light and yet oppressive tone to them that you can’t help but feel completely engulfed by the atmosphere of the song. The Magic Whip is the album Blur needed to make after a 12 year absence from the world of music, and Pyongyang is one of the many highlights in an album of stellar tracks. -Tunaboy45

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TRC – “Butterflies” (ft. Princess Nyah)

Many would argue the sweet sounds of UK garage became significantly less sweet somewhere around the turn of the millennium, when its songs’ crossover appeal became too weighty and spacious to fit into the tiny, packed clubs that any good underground electronic music tends to fill. Once garage became so big as to be impossible to bring back to its “glory days” of sorts, the big names travelled elsewhere – some to an exciting new hybrid of garage and dub starting to fill Croydon venues, some to more surgical techno, and some to the new “Eskibeat” sound spearheaded by MCs and producers like Wiley and Dizzee Rascal. However, for those who remained (and would continue to join the scene long after it was cool to join), garage was able to take on a new sort of pop sheen – now that it had thoroughly lost any sort of underground credibility thanks to its mainstream popularity, it was easier to access the blinding new avenues that popularity opened up. Not in terms of popularity, mind you – that ship had long sailed, as mainstream attention shifted elsewhere – but in terms of the exciting new cogs and cranks pop lent to the garage machine. Years after that schism and dismantling, TRC has shown that his propensity for insanely catchy helter-skelter UKG is still alive and kicking, producing one of the best (and most criminally unknown) pop songs of 2015. Princess Nyah’s clear, clean vocals ring through the glassy organ and jangly cymbals, helping to pin down a violently syncopated monster of a beat and many flourishes of gorgeous chords. Somehow, the song hasn’t gotten the recognition it deserves – having just over 100 views on YouTube and only 6 visible supporters on Bandcamp – and it’s time that changed. -Brostep

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Nao – “Apple Cherry”

The best thing about “Apple Cherry” is easily Nao’s outstanding vocals. Her vocals are excellent throughout the whole song, but they really shine at the line “Your chocolate on my tongue / I can taste what love really feels like”. During that line you can hear exactly what makes Nao’s voice so good: her soft, sweet yet strong voice is perfectly high-pitched and simply sounds amazing. I would sell the instrumentals short, however, if I would say that the song’s greatness is solely based on the vocals. Right from the opening synths the instrumentals are on point, with those synths and relaxing beats on the background. Mostly, though, the beats and synths give Nao’s vocals a change to shine and, no matter how good the instrumentals are, that’s the thing you’d want to hear. -Pangea

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A$AP Rocky – “Holy Ghost” (ft. Joe Fox)

Hip-hop star A$AP Rocky has risen to fame by predominately making psychedelic, catchy songs about sex, drugs and high-end fashion. “Holy Ghost”, the opening track from his second LP At.Long.Last.A$AP, sees Rocky briefly pushing those defining characteristics to the side by making a rare foray into more serious subject matter without losing any of the charisma that’s allowed him to rapidly rise to the top of hip-hop’s popularity ranks. Rocky loads his verses with scathing commentary on how the excess of his lifestyle and the tumultuous, corrupt nature of the music industry has made him lose touch with his moral and spiritual values. Rocky’s introspective verses are bolstered by appropriately somber production from Danger Mouse and a chill-inducing clean-sung outro by Joe Fox. “Holy Ghost” is a stunning example of just how brilliant Rocky can be when he decides to explore dense subject matter in his music. -cmaitland421

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Sun Kil Moon – “With A Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry”

Mark Kozelek isn’t afraid to confront what terrifies him most, and this raw gut punch of a track is a prime example of this, as well as a highlight of the otherwise tepid Universal Themes. At first listen, it’s quite odd; Kozelek breaks away from his usual baritone croon in place of a barely controlled, almost punk rock-esque shouting. It’s an unwelcoming listen, but it has real emotional intensity, something the rest of the album lacks. As Kozelek tells the story of his sick friend Teresa, he belts his vocals more and more, and the song turns into a powerful, cathartic release. As Kozelek said in Little Rascals, “The world don’t owe us shit and I learned that real fucking young.” But that doesn’t stop him from railing against the injustice of what’s happening to Teresa. And when he shouts “I love you, love you, Teresa” with a stubborn insistency, he makes us feel his pain too. -judasgoat

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Ash – “Machinery”

Ash, a group of thirty-somethings from Northern Ireland, released a full-length album after 8 years. In 2008 they decided that they would put out only singles, because the album format didn’t work or something. Well, apparently, the guys from British islands changed this decision with the release of their new record. Kablammo!, as the title might suggest, is full of energy and returns Ash to the summery power pop they were known for in the early noughties. It sounds fresh, passionate and surprisingly youthful. The third track of Kablammo!, Machinery, sums up the album perfectly. It’s a warm anthem with an unbelievably infectious chorus, synthesized strings and it has that sense of urgency that has been missing in the last few Ash releases. Machinery is a song that is literally made for summer, so roll down your car windows and let it blast through speakers as loud as possible. -Crawl

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Tame Impala – “Cause I’m A Man”

Kevin Parker (aka Tame Impala) has really grown into his own as one of the most talented writers and performers of the last five years. Over the course of two acclaimed studio albums, Parker has both evolved and steadied his trademark sound, making the crucial realization that sometimes less is more, and focused his attention on hummable melodies and wonderfully dreamy instrumentation. If the singles released from Tame Impala’s third album, Currents (out July 17^th) are any indication, Parker has clearly not yet reached his musical peak. Out of all the songs released in promotion for Currents, “Cause I’m A Man” has been a standout, and the track that I keep coming back to as the weather warms up and the sun sets. To an unattentive listener, the track is a beautiful dreamscape of interweaving sounds: everything from the dreamy high pitched vocals, the subdued, yet, driving bass line, the snapping fingers, and the occasional feminine moan is technically and sonically perfect. The fact that it is so easy to digest from an instrumental standpoint is not such a bad thing, but digging deeper into the sometimes indecipherable lyrics reveals Parker at his most desperate and confessional, crooning things like: “Each fucking doubt I make, unleash a cry/I’m just pathetic, that’s the reason why” and “But I have no voice if I don’t speak my mind/My weakness is the source of all my pride.” In four minutes of slow-jam reverb-soaked glory, Parker pours out his soul in a way that we have not heard before, all while maintaining the poppy melodies that make most of Tame Impala’s work so unbelievably addicting and wildly effective. The fact that it may not even be the best song we’ve heard from Currents thus far makes it even more wondrous. All aboard the hype train. -ZackSh33

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Faith No More – “Superhero”

“Superhero” begins with distorted guitar chords, jangling keyboards, and blaring cymbal crashes, and it never lets up. The band provides an energetic landscape for Patton to scream/croon/everything else over. The production is superlative, balancing the intricately layered tracks flawlessly (see: the second half of the song). It’s hard to believe Faith No More’s last record was released almost twenty years ago. With “Superhero,” the band is fresh and relevant and fierce. This is how a comeback should sound. -Lambda

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Jamie xx – “Obvs”

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