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.
1. Panda Bear picks “Powerglide” by Rae Sremmurd
My guest today is Panda Bear. Panda Bear is Noah Lennox. He is also a founding member of Animal Collective. Panda Bear's music still has that experimentation that Animal Collective has, just a little more Noah Lennox to it. Panda Bear has a new album out called, “Buoys.”
Justin Barney: “The question that I have that I would like to talk about is, what is the last song that you couldn’t stop listening to?”
Panda Bear: “Powerglide”by Rae Sremmurd.
Justin Barney: “I don’t know, uh tell me more about them. I don’t know that much.”
Panda Bear: “Uh, so I believe it’s a… god I don’t know who produced it even. I want to say it’s Mike WiLL. It might not be Mike WiLL. Mike WiLL did Black Beatles by them, which is another song I really love.
But, "Powerglide" probably came out I want to say about a year ago. Maybe a little bit more. Um, I think. I gather that they’ve just broken up, that Rae Sremmurd have just broken up, but uh… Swae Lee who’s the singer of in group is one of my favorite things.
Justin Barney: What about Swae Lee separates him or what connects for you?
Panda Bear: I can be kind of choosy about voices. It’s hard to like, put my finger on what it is that I like about a voice, but it’s just an instinctual response. Yeah, it’s hard to explain beyond that. Some people’s voices just sort of feel right I guess.
Justin Barney: That’s true! Yeah, I’m always trying to dissect it. I guess a lot of times you just hear it and that’s what it is. You know, yeah this is my jam. This is the thing.
Panda Bear: Yeah, it’s just a jam.
- Check the full interview
2. Sharon Van Etten picks “Gladly” by Tirzah
Our guest today is Sharon Van Etten. She is a singer from New Jersey who’s just released this incredible string of albums: “Tramp” in 2012, “Are We There” in 2014 and her new album “Remind Me Tomorrow” is out now on Jagjaguwar. We’ve been playing her song “Comeback Kid” on 88Nine.
Justin Barney: Sharon, what’s the last song that you couldn’t stop listening to?
Sharon Van Etten: The last song I couldn’t stop listening to… there’s been a handful but I guess, do you know Tirzah?
Justin Barney: I do not.
Sharon Van Etten: She has a song called “Gladly.” I think she is or she’s about to be a new mama and I think she’s from from the UK. That song “Gladly” has just been in my head.
Justin Barney: What do you like about it?
Sharon Van Etten: It’s got a cool beat, but it’s super minimal and you can hear the nuances in her voice and her phrasing and it’s optimistic but it’s kind of heavy. It’s a feel good song with a deceptively simple riff. I don’t know, it’s just a good jam.
- Check our full interview with Sharon Van Etten here.
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3. IshDARR picks “Silent Ride” by Boogie
IshDARR is Milwaukee born and raised, but he has gone world wide. His songs on Spotify have millions of plays. He was recently in the movie “White Boy Rick,” with Matthew McConaughey. We’ve been playing his song, “Slow Down,”recently and he just played the Rave. My guest is Milwaukee’s own IshDARR.
Justin Barney: IshDARR, what’s one song that you can’t stop listening to?
IshDarr: Aye, so one song I can’t stop listening to right now is a newer artist. Goes by the name of Boogie and the song is called “Silent Ride.”
Justin Barney: What do you like about “Silent Ride?”
IshDARR: Really the meaning of the music and kind of the feel of it. Um, he’s just talking about… just things he’s going through, kind of being a young entertainer like myself. Coming from kind of a hard time, which is things that we kind of all go through as far as friends, family and just kind of noticing things around him happening.
Justin Barney: What are some of those things? I want to know!
IshDARR: Some of those things ha, you know he said, “voices in his head” kind of telling him right from wrong and the main hook is just “silent ride home.” It really alerts me, because I know I’ve had a lot of those silent rides home where I’m just in my head and I’m thinking. Kind of just really thinking everything that he’s saying and it’s crazy, because it usually happens for me on a ride home from a tour or I just think about really being on tour and being on the tour bus. So, silent rides home, after the fact and just to recap it’s always just a silent ride, where you just think on everything and I feel that everyone has them. So, kind of why it touched me.
Justin Barney: Yeah dude, so what’s the name of the song?
IshDARR: So, the song is called “Silent Ride” by Boogie.
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4. Kurt Vile picks “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” by Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson
Our guest today is Kurt Vile. From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Kurt Vile started off his career by forming the band “The War On Drugs,” and has since had an excellent solo career and has basically become a household name of indie rock. Last year he released the album “Bottle It In.” His long songs, finger picking and kind of off-the-cuff vocal delivery made it a top ten album for many critics and fans alike. We’ve been playing the song “Loading Zones,” my guest today is Kurt Vile.
Justin Barney: Kurt, what’s the last song you couldn’t stop listening to?
Kurt Vile: The last song I couldn’t stop listening to literally happened yesterday. My friend Jenny who plays bass in “War Paint” – we both follow Miley Cyrus and obviously she’s great beyond talented, but I think she’s even coming into her own more now and she just did these performances on BBC One and one is a cover of Arianna (is that how you say her name), but the one I’m really talking about is Miley’s new single, she plays it with an orchestra and that guy Mark Ronson and what is it called again.. Oh yeah, “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart.” She’s clearly ripping off of, I think she’s her godmother or something, Dolly Parton. It’s got “Jolene-isms” but yeah she’s really killing it live. It’s hard to believe that’s really her voice you know, but it’s so, she’s nailing it.
Justin Barney: What about Miley Cyrus – her voice or the orchestration?
Kurt Vile: Her voice is killin’ it yeah, and also I mean she’s just like the definition of star power. I’ve been admiring her from afar for awhile, but now I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like she’s really coming into her at least lately. I mean, she’s always been talented but I think something…
Justin Barney: It’s clicking.
Kurt Vile: Well, it’s next level.
Justin Barney: Totally. What is the name of the song?
Kurt Vile: It’s called “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” but it’s the performance on BBC One with the string section. So good.
Justin Barney: Perfect.
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5. Pedro the Lion picks “Devil In His Youth” by Protomartyr
My guest today is David Bazan, lead singer of Pedro the Lion. Pedro the Lion was a band that was formed in 1995 by lead singer David Bazan. They released their last album in 2004 and kind of disbanded for a while and David Bazan released a string of solo albums. And then, last year they picked it up. Last year they got together and recorded this new record that just came out last week. It’s called “Phoenix.” The thing is a triumph. Lyrically it’s great. It soundsamazing. It is just a fantastic new record from Pedro the Lion. We’ve been playing the song “Yellow Bike.” My guest today is lead singer, David Bazan.
Justin Barney: David, what is one song you can’t stop listening to?
David Bazan: This band Protomartyr I just can’t get enough of. Somehow they just make the most perfect distillation of my taste in the world. It’s just really bonkers.
There is so much pop smarts and hookery in the records but there is this…it’s just such well-made music.
Justin Barney: And then a lot of darkness.
David Bazan: Yeah yeah.
Justin Barney: Listening to Protomartyr, sometimes it can be brutal.
David Bazan: Oh it’s so brutal. The song, “Devil In His Youth,” when it comes on, the opening strains of that song are just one of my favorite things to hear in the world.
When they play it live, I just saw them recently for the first time. It’s so simple and so perfect, it just feels like church. To me. In a really good way.
Justin Barney: Yeah, I saw them play here in Milwaukee at Cactus Club
David Bazan: DANG! That would have been amazing! What great room to see those guys in.
Justin Barney: It was AMAZING.
David Bazan: That room is electric, man. It’s so fun to play rock ‘n’ roll in that room.
Justin Barney: Yeah, when that room is rockin’ and sweaty, it was so all-consuming. You know?
David Bazan: Yeah
Justin Barney: “Devil In His Youth”
David Bazan: Yeah, that’s an all-timer for me.
And, if you listen to the lyrics in our current context, I mean it’s really, it’s just a really helpful picture.
- Check out our full interview with David Bazan/Pedro The Lion here.