5 Songs We Can't Stop Listening To is a collection of our newest favorite songs. Every week we ask an artist that we love to tell us about the music they love.
Listen to the whole segment and all the songs below.
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1. Larenz Tate picks “Get Up Stand Up” by Bob Marley
Our guest for song one this week is actor Larenz Tate.
Larenz Tate is a fantastically talented actor. He’s been in movies like “Crash,” “Love Jones,” and “Girl’s Trip.” Our guest today is Larenz Tate.
Justin Barney: Larenz, what is one song you can’t stop listening to?
Larenz Tate: One song that I cannot stop listening to, wow. Because I’m in work-mode right now and on the way to work I’m always listening to Bob Marley. And it’s either “Get Up Stand Up” or “Stir It Up.” Those are the two songs I like to listen to on the way to work. I’ll probably be listening to them on Monday morning at 5AM.
I just like the throwback. Sometimes the new stuff that’s on the radio right now can get you in a good mood, but I kind of like to just settle into the space that I’m going to be in. So right now it’s a lot of Bob Marley right now.
Justin Barney: What does Bob Marley do for you?
Larenz Tate: It settles me. It inspires me. His music had such a strong message.
It’s interesting, I’m working in New York right now and any time I’m going through the boroughs and the neighborhoods it seems like his lyrics actually match the things that I’m seeing. Or I like imagining what he was thinking or feeling when he wrote those lyrics.
Again, it just settles me, inspires me, and gives me a sense of strength.
- “Get Up Stand Up” was originally released in 1975 on the album, “Live!.”
- Listen if you like: You don’t need this, you know what this song sounds like
2. Frankie Cosmos picks “Holding On Too Tight” by Anna McClellan
This is 5 Songs We Can’t Stop Listening To, and my guest today is Frankie Cosmos. Frankie Cosmos is the name of the band, and lead singer is Greta Kline. She has been making fantastic, personal, bedroom rock for years. She just released this fantastic album called “Vessel” that just came out this past Friday. We’ve been playing the song “ Jesse” on 88Nine. My guest today is Greta Kline, aka Frankie Cosmos. Justin Barney: What’s one song right now you can’t stop listening to, that you’ve been jamming on? Greta Klein: Oh my god, wow. The thing I’d recommend so hard is the new Anna McClellan album. It’s just really special to me. I think that Anna’s song writing and her as a person has had a really good effect on me and my writing, and my singing. We were just hanging out yesterday, and we were talking about the idea of having feelings that are too big to fit into a nutshell. I think that’s something that I’m really learning how to accept. Like, this is an in-between feeling that I’m never going to resolve. There’s never going to be an easy way to explain how I feel about this thing, and that’s okay, that’s allowed. Instead of it being like, this is good and this is bad. I think that’s a really good attitude. Justin Barney: I feel that, I feel that a lot. Greta Klein: Yeah, there’s this song on it called “Holding on Too Tight”, it’s been in my head for the last two days. It’s really intense, it’s really good.
- “Holding On Too Tight” is on Anna McClellan’s new album, “Yes and No” which is out now.
- Listen if you like: Frankie Cosmos, Sandy (Alex G), really personal and beautiful songs.
3. Jeff Rosenstock picks “One of My Lies” by Green Day
At the beginning of every week we ask one artist that we love to tell us about a song that they love. Jeff Rosenstock used to be in the band Bomb the Music Industry! which is how I remember him. He is a solo artist in his own right. This year, on January 1 st he released his new album, “Post-“ and I have been obsessed with it. It’s one of the best things I have heard in a long time, so I got on the phone and called him up. This is Jeff Rosenstock. Justin Barney: Jeff, what is one song that you can’t stop listening to? Jeff Rosenstock: Hmmmmm, I’ve been listening back to “Kerplunk!” by Green Day a lot. And the song, “One of My Lies.” Justin Barney: How is it different listening now from when you first heard it? Jeff Rosenstock: I still think it sounds cool and really good. I’m impressed that they were so young and made such a good record. You know? Justin Barney: Yeah. Jeff Rosenstock: I’m a sucker for good pop-punk. That’s kind of gotten me into everything I’ve gotten into in life. Basically, pop-punk got me into writing. Justin Barney: And I feel like those are often written off as being frivolous when I think some of the best writing has come from pop punk songs. Jeff Rosenstock: They are written off because pop-punk devolved into this fasion-cor/mall-core bullsh*t that seems like it was designed to be consumed. But the side of pop-punk that I like is that 90’s Bay area style pop-punk or anything like that. Where it sounded like a bunch of scrappy people, a bunch of scrubs trying to be like, “Yo, I don’t care that were scrubs. Were gonna make a punk tune. We’re gonna make a pop song and it’s gonna sound nasty cause we don’t care and we just want to make a song.” That’s the kind of vibe I like a lot about pop-punk.
- “One of My Lies” was released in 1991 on Green Day’s album, “Kerplunk!”
- Listen if you like: early 90’s Bay area pop-punk, scrubs making songs, Bomb the Music Industry!
Cody Gaisser - “Wish There Was A Way”
Every year, we have this event called Sound Bites at the Iron Horse Hotel. Restaurants all around town are paired up with DJs from here at 88.9. They pair a dish with a song. There is also an auction, which Bridget Flynn won and is our guest today for our 5 Songs We Can’t Stop Listening To segment.
Justin Barney: Bridget, what is one song that you can’t stop listening to?
Bridget Flynn: I had to find something that, 1, I didn’t think you would know, 2 would…
Justin Barney: Not a prerequisite, but okay.
Bridget Flynn: I wanted it to be sort of a sad song, so my pick is Cody Gaisser, “Wish There Was A Way.”
Justin Barney: Okay, so I don’t know it. Good. We’re on the right track. Tell me more about it.
Bridget Flynn: So I met Cody probably 15 years ago, and he’s a singer/songwriter out of Florence, Alabama. It’s fun, but it’s a little sad.
Justin Barney: Do you remember hearing it for the first time?
Bridget Flynn: I do. He used to come in and do open-mic nights at the place I worked. The first time I met him, he was just this little 16 year-old guy. He pulled out a guitar and no one really thought anything of it, and he opened his mouth and I was like “Oh my God! My life is changed.” He’s got this crazy voice that I just love.
- “Wish There Was A Way” was released in 2002 on Gaisser’s “Good As Velvet” EP.
- Listen if you like: Kyle Craft, Van Morrison, gritty vocals and guitar
- Get tickets to Sound Bites here.
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4. Bahamas picks “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” by Prince
Our guest is Bahamas. The new album from Bahamas is “Earth Tones”, and we’ve been playing the song “ Way With Words” on 88Nine. My guest today is Afie Jurvanen, who is Bahamas. Justin Barney: What’s one song you can’t stop listening to? Afie Jurvanen: One song I can’t stop listening to is “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” by Prince. It’s off his first album, and I think this album he played all the instruments. It’s basically like a demo, but a demo for him is probably the best album anyone could hope to make. That whole record is really good, but it’s just so tight, every song is very tight, very close. It sort of feels claustrophobic, but in a good way, like something you actually want to be stuck in an elevator with. Justin Barney: Love it. What’s the name of the song? Afie Jurvanen: It’s called “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad”. Justin Barney: By Prince, let’s do it.
- “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” was released in 1979 on Prince’s debut album.
- Listen if you like: Keyboard slides, D’Angelo, sexiness
5. Sex Park – “Dignity”
Despite the bands unfortunate band name, Sex Park makes some pretty good music. The genre, surely up for debate, I’m gonna say is post-punk. Punctuated by dark synthesizers, a pedal heavy guitar that never really stops, and a vocal that sounds like it was recorded from the other side of the room that fits just under everything in the mix. Post-punk, kind of started by bands like Wire and perfected by Joy Division, continues here in 2018 with multitudes of subgenres that each give the genre something different.
“Dignity’s” synths are thick, and the drums are propulsive. Like the best in it’s genre, it gets your head to turn off everything that’s around you and live in the song.
- Sex Park’s new album, “Atrium” is available now on bandcamp.
- Listen if you like: Joy Division, shoegaze, post-punk
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5. Broken Social Scene picks “On My Own” by Patti LaBelle feat. Michael McDonald
We always like to start off the week by asking one artist that we love to tell us about a song that they love. The band Broken Social Scene was formed in Toronto, Canada in 1999. They’ve released many albums and have had almost 30 members come in and out of their band. Brendan Canning has been there through it all. Their new album is “Hug of Thunder” and I’m here with Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene. Justin Barney: Alright Brendan what is one song that you can’t stop listening to? Brendan Canning: Lately it’s been “On My Own” by Patti Labelle with Michael McDonald. Justin Barney: Why that? Brendan Canning: I was in my neighbors basement and he had a crate of records and he had a Patti Labelle record and I was like “oh yeah I remember that song.” I came home and put it on and it just gets so epic by the end. We had a post-show bowling match in St. Louis with Frightened Rabbit and the DJ was playing mostly up tempo stuff and I was like, “Hey man do you have Michael McDonald, Patti Labelle?” and he was like “Yeah, I’ll play that for you.” So that came on while we were bowling. It’s funny; you mention that song to some people and immediately they just start singing it. I realized there are some people out there who really like that tune.
- “On My Own” was released in 1986 on her album, “Winner in You.”
- Listen if you like: mid-80’s R&B ballads, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins