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. Cat Power picks “Ain’t It Fun” by Peter Laughner
Our guest today is Chan Marshall who is Cat Power. Cat Power is bit of an indie rock mainstay. She’s from Atlanta, Georgia. In 1998 she released, "Moon Picks," in 2006 she released the album, "The Greatest" and this year she’s got a brand new release which is fantastic, it is called, "Wanderer."
(Chan Marshall was super generous with her time, she called me from her hotel in New York the day after recording the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. So, I just wanted to thank her extra here.)
Justin Barney: What is the last song you couldn’t stop listening to?
Chan Marshall: You mean in general?
Justin: In general and it can be anything.
Chan: Okay, umm recently it’s “Ain’t it fun” by, it was recorded by The Dead Boys. I think Rocket from the Tombs did it, but you know what, Peter Laughner’s version, Peter Laughner’s version has just been on the tip of my tongue lately.
Justin: Why is that?
Chan: I just love it! Just love it!
Justin: I don’t really know Peter Laughner, who is he?
Chan: No one does!
Justin: haha! Why is that?
Chan: It’s just old school, they were never huge you know?
Justin: Yeah, but what do you like about the song itself?
Chan: Mmm, the story, the tone of his guitar, the tone of his voice, yeah and his attitude.
2. Elvis Costello picks “Dwa Serduszka, Cztery Oczy” by Joanna Kulig
My guest today is Elvis Costello. Born Declan Patrick MacManus in 1954 in London England, Elvis Costello has been a staple of music everywhere since his debut album “My Aim Is True” in 1977. He's won just about every kind of award there is, he’s in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he's collaborated with Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney and plenty of others.His unique style of storytelling and music has led him to worldwide acclaim and millions and millions of fans. He's got a new album out and it's fantastic, it's called “Look Now.” We've been playing the song “Unwanted Number,” my guest today is Elvis Costello.
Justin Barney: Elvis Costello, what is the last song that you couldn't stop listening to?
Elvis Costello: You know I was trying to think of what this might be. A song that I find is very haunting to me at the moment, I don’t know the title of it. Because I saw a film a couple of weeks ago and I found myself singing this tune and I go ‘what is that tune?’
It’s from a movie I saw in Liverpool a few weeks ago and it’s a Polish film so I can’t tell you the title of the song because it’s Polish. I can’t get that tune out of my head so I guess that's a good thing -if you hear it a couple times in a movie and then you can’t shake it, that's got to be a great song, hasn’t it?
The movie's called “Cold War.” That's what it’s translated to be and I think it's coming out in November. So that's honestly the answer. I mean, it isn’t what I heard on the radio, it isn’t what I’ve discovered on a record, it's one I went into the cinema to see the drama, and the song ended up sticking with me, you know?
Justin Barney: That's really a testament to the song.
Elvis Costello: I'd say so, I'd say so. I think it was a traditional chant that was adapted into a sort of like a jazz song, and it’s so memorable.
Justin Barney: Well I'm going to try to find that song. Do you know any indication if I were to look at the tracklist, what it would be?
Elvis Costello: Well I think if you go online and you type in the words “Cold War” and “film,” you’ll see the trailer and the trailer features that song very prominently. In fact, it runs for the whole length of the trailer.
Justin Barney: Alright.
Elvis Costello: So that's the same as kind of, hearing it on the radio isn’t it? You know I don't know whether you can play it yet. You know, I don’t know that it’s been issued yet but, at least for your own ears you can hear this lovely song and just hear what a beautiful performance it is.
Justin Barney: Alright,I found it. The song is by Joanna Kulig from the soundtrack of “Cold War.”
- This song is featured in the Polish film “Cold War”, released in 2018.
- "Cold War" is screening at the Milwaukee Film Festival this Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Oriental Theater.
- Listen to if you like: jazz singers, chansons, the Milwaukee Film Festival
- FULL INTERVIEW
3. Caroline Rose picks “Washing Machine Heart” by Mitski
Our guest today is Caroline Rose. Caroline is a pre-new artist and she is from Long Island, New York. She’s got that Gucci Gucci, Gooey Uzi, Icky Uzi style and we’re playing her song, “Soul No. 5” from her new record “Loner.” My guest today is Caroline Rose.
Justin Barney: Caroline what is one song now that you cannot stop listening to?
Caroline Rose: Well we are basically all obsessed with Mitski’s record.
Justin: Uh-ohhhhh Preaching to the choir.
Caroline: Oh yeah, it’s so good, and I mean every song on the album is so good, but my favorite song is “Washing Machine Heart,” I think it’s perfect. I think it’s funny, exciting and sad all wrapped into one. She’s a maestro at combining mixed emotions and humor into one, which is what I kind of like doing as well. That song in particular just really speaks to me.
Justin: What is it that we all love about Mitski?
Caroline: I think she just…She’s just really relatable and funny. She’s just such a good entertainer and is just the master of it.
Justin: Yeah
Caroline: Her lyrics are so good she’s just a great lyricist.
Justin: Totally, what was the name of the song again?
Caroline: “Washing Machine Heart”
Justin: By Mitski
Caroline: Yeah
Justin: Alright, Let’s do it!
- Mitski’s new album is “Be The Cowboy.”
- Listen if you like: an artist that is everything, being relatable, MITSKI
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4. Judd Apatow picks “No Hard Feelings” by The Avett Brothers
Our guest today is Judd Apatow. Apatow has directed movies like, “The 40-year-old Virgin,” “Knocked Up,” and “Trainwreck.” He’s written for TV shows like “Love,” “Crashing” and “Girls.” He’s been a producer on many movies including “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling,” “The Big Sick” and “Bridesmaids.” I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say his brand of humor and compassion has shaped entertainment today.
My guest today is Judd Apatow.
Justin Barney: Judd, what’s one song right now that you can’t stop listening to?
Judd Apatow: Well I made a documentary about the Band The Avett Brothers for HBO. It streams on HBO called “May It Last.” The peak of the movie is they record this song, called “No Hard Feelings,” which accepts things about how he hopes he’ll feel on the day he dies like he cleans it up with everybody and there’s no hard feelings with anybody.
It’s a very emotional song, but in the movie after they sing it they start debating on how they feel, about being so vulnerable and making music having to put your feelings out there for the world and also hoping that it makes you money. Then bringing you pain and offering up your soul. It’s a great conversation and something you don’t hear people talk about. Just the strangeness of offering up your spirit for other people for art, but also for commerce.
Justin: What a strange intersection. That’s great, I mean, I talked to Scott Avett once and it was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had. I went in being like, alright we’re talking on the phone, kind of impersonal, and it’s kind of weird cause you can’t see each other, but he was one of the most genuine people in the entire world.
Judd: I feel bad that I’m still not making the movie. I made the movie because Rick Rubin said to me, “There’s something about these guys that when you’re around them a lot life is better.” I quite know what he meant but I think that they’re just a pure spirit and they’re just good guys and really creative.
It just makes you feel good about the human race when you’re around them. Which we need these days.
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5. CHVRCHES picks “Remember My Name” by Mitski
My guest today is Lauren Mayberry lead singer of CHVRCHES. They are a synth pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. They’ve released three excellent albums, their most recent is “Love is Dead.”
Justin Barney: It is my pleasure to have as a guest today, Lauren Mayberry, lead singer of CHVRCHES. What is the last song that you couldn’t stop listening to?
Lauren Mayberry: The last song that I couldn’t stop listening to was “Remember My Name” by Mitski
Justin: uhhh… My heart!
Lauren: Good Good. I just love her. I think she is, she’s one of my favorite lyricist and she’s got just such a way of expressing something and that song lyrically I was just like aw I really love it! I think that she’s got that amazing balance of aggression.
Like if it’s going to be vulnerable it’s going to be aggressively vulnerable, and if it’s going to go for the jugular then it’s going to aggressively do that.
I think that kind of fearlessness is something that I find super inspiring.
Justin: Same! Aggressively vulnerable, I think that is such a great way to describe Mitski’s music. So what is the song about, do you know?
Lauren: The need for a connection, and when do you feel like that’s enough? I feel like most of the time when you are spending time with people and talking to them, like this sounds depressing, but I think from the outside you can never really purely know someone because even when you do know so much about somebody, they’re still looking at things from their perspective and you’re still looking at things from yours, so everything is always sort of a projection of what you “think” they think, if that makes sense.
Justin: Oh my god! Absolutely.
Lauren: Then I feel like that can be quite lonely, like everything’s kind of disjoined and disconnected sometimes and I’m looking at the opening lines of it, like “I give to much of my heart tonight, can you come to where I’m staying and make some extra love?”
The interpretation of that I suppose is that there has been a certain level of connection, but you don’t feel like it was enough, you don’t feel like it really penetrated enough or permeated you.
I just thought like yeah, it was something that a lot of people can relate to and I don’t know, you see stuff on Instagram of people posting about their amazing relationships and it kind of dawned on me after a certain amount of time, “Is everybody posting about their amazing relationships actually having an amazing relationship? Can’t you just go have it? Why do you keep posting about it all the time?”
Then I was like, “Does that make me not romantic that I never post anything about that ever even when I’m in relationships?” But then I think so much of what we do is like performative or trying to convince ourselves that we’re fine, like everything’s fine and it’s like you’re telling yourself that just as much as everyone else.
I feel like that’s why I listen to something like this, it’s something that’s actually really honest and I think that’s something that a really great songwriter does, they can talk about emotions that maybe aren’t so flattering to themselves. I think that’s why it connects to people because it’s so honest and we all feel that and you don’t hear that in songs anymore I think.
Justin: Yeah and I feel like that the real truth you know. I think that cuts through and that is the real truth. That is a wonderful way to put it.
- “Remember My Name” was released on Mitski’s new album, “Be The Cowboy.”
- Listen if you like: aggressive vulnerability, possibly the best album of the year, truth