Each week, Audio Taste Test serves up an obscure and independent playlist for your evening, tantalizing your musical palate with flavors from all different soundscapes. Listen on demand here and on 88Nine from 10-11 p.m. every Thursday.
Darkwave and synthpop duo R. Missing just dropped the single “Halo Jelly,” which is just as cold and minimalist as the leafless trees outside. This one’s for you fans of Immortal Girlfriend, Black Marble and Boy Harsher. If you’re more into math rock and Midwestern emo, Train Breaks Down released new album The Weight of Reality Beneath, which is loaded with post-hardcore intensity. I found the track “Too Much Thinking Makes Me Ill” incredibly relatable for obvious reasons.
Seu Jorge and Marisa Monte team up on the track “Quando Chego” from the former’s album, The Other Side. Although he’s known for funk and samba tracks, Jorge opted for more 1970s Brazilian jazz and bossa nova on this one. It’s a smooth, contemplative treat for early evenings when the hectic day is done.
While mixing beats with a good friend of mine who’s also a DJ, she turned me on to Max Tannone, a producer out of New York who made a reggae album titled Mos Dub. It features core tracks by rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) but remixed so that the music takes on the flavor of dub and dancehall beats. Get ready to be obsessed with the song “History Town.”
Southeastern nomadic folk artist Dylan LeBlanc captures the scavenging nature of the “Coyote” in a track of the same name. He said he related to the animal because he’s spent his life wandering from place to place. I don’t have anything against coyotes, but the only memorable interaction I've had with one was brief and jarring. I was getting on the freeway somewhere in the suburbs of Chicago, and as I was accelerating to merge, a coyote darted across the lane about 20 feet in front of me. I slammed on the breaks, and it was one of the scariest moments of my life. LeBlanc’s lyrics in the song capture the sentiment of the coyote perfectly.
Also making an appearance is The Cure with a track from their album Join The Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001. I remember when my dad bought this set back when Best Buy was the place to get rare finds, and it’s cover-to-cover fantastic. “This Twilight Garden” is one of my favorite tracks because of its dreamy melody and core theme of pure romantic devotion. I’m a hopeless romantic, and I don’t care who knows it.
Happy tasting!
Episode playlist
- R. Missing, "Halo Jelly"
- SALLIE, "LET ME KNOW"
- Dessy Mesk, "Show and Tell"
- Sstedi, "Adonai"
- Seu Jorge & Marisa Monte, "Quando Chego"
- Max Tannone, "History Town"
- Yvonne Caterfeld, Fattu Djakite & Dieg, "Irgendwas"
- Finn Wolfhard, "I"ll Let You Finish"
- FELIVAND, "this very thing"
- Train Breaks Down, "Too Much Thinking Makes Me Ill"
- Dylan LeBlanc, "Coyote"
- Paper Citizen, "Into the Wild"
- Blank & Jones, "Terraza"
- The Cavemen., "Beautiful Rain;
- The Cure, "This Twilight Garden"
- Moon Razor, "Pulse"
- Fai Laci, "Elephant"
