October! Yes! I love this month so much, and with a wedding around the corner between Maria and I, I have even more reason to love this particular one. October is by far my favorite month of the year, and I can’t wait to share these songs with y’all.
First we start off with the Dandy Warhols and “The Autumn Carnival,” which is a song I’ve had on repeat at work since September. This track isn’t necessarily new, but goodness it gets me in the October mood–it’s perfect and has everything I love about music in one song; absolutely fantastic…I can’t even express how much I love this song. Few bands are going to successfully follow that song, but I think Phantogram does a pretty good job of it. “Black Out Days” is a great song with a lot of the same elements that I love in music–droning vocals, minor chords, and thumping bass. It’s all there, and I appreciate it.
Toro y Moi does a good job keeping a nice bassline going with their track “Campo.” The twangy and thumpy mix of this track is just delightful, and I never want this song to end. Heavenly Beat comes in next with an equally-addicting backing track that is sure to get even the feet of a marble statue thumping. There’s a good mix of electronic and traditional here, and it rules.
Let’s bring it back to the traditional for a second, and check out Temples and their Yellow Submarinesque track, “Keep in the Dark.” I love this track so much. The power of the instrumental chorus, the perfect lyrics, and the drum beat keep this song bumping along through the October pumpkin patch. Play this a few times for the full effect–like three. Keep this traditional thump thump thump going with Arctic Monkeys and “Snap Out of it.” This song has some perfect piano and keyboard backing to it, and it’s one of those songs that is sure to get stuck in your head in the best way possible.
Let’s slow it down a bit for “Shapeshifter” by Elephant. The vocals in this song are just too great to pass by, and it’s also a mid-tempo for those mid-temp October days ahead. Next up in the slow bit is Alex Blood & The Diggers with “Broken People,” and this fancy picking and grinning is one of the best singer/songwriter tracks I’ve heard in a while–a touch reggae/dub, a dash of Everlast, and a lot of something their own. Bravo, gents. While we’re slowish, how about the Son Lux track, “Easy?” Those horns, y’all! This song is creepy, awesome, and creepy awesome–I can’t get enough of that chorus. Alright, last downtempo song of the set with Bill Callahan‘s “Javelin Unlanding.” This lounge-meets-M.Ward song has some pure great vocal stylings. The song builds and builds with woodwinds all the way to the end.
But let’s get back up to speed, shall we? How about some Cruiser with “Kidnap Me?” This is a great October song because it encompasses the upbeat feeling of the cooler weather with the echoing of the later winter months. I just love this track. Ginger and the Ghost keeps that mix going with “The Mark of Hearts,” and I love the layering in this track. There’s something about it that keeps me wanting more, and that’s why it has a spot on this October 2013 Playlist. Buried Beds and their track “Oh Lonely Fortress!” is the perfect following track because it’s just as complex and layered in all the same great ways. Ending the playlist is La Femme, who lays the next track down hard with some killer keyboard action. I love this song’s samples and peculiar ghostlike sound. Halloween, anyone?
