Playlist of the Week: Weekender 5

True giants never really stop casting giant shadows.

A short hiatus, but alas I've returned!  I'm backed up so hard with new good music, I'm not sure I could take waiting much longer.  So I won't.  But I've been busy taking hugely rad life steps, traveling America, and gearing up for another big rock 'n roll show in my beloved hometown.  I'm all up in lots, clearly.

But you want this.  You need this.  Your weekend is kicking off with a dozen fruits to tame your hunger along the road to rock salvation with a variety of classic and contemporary flavors.  A dozen tracks and a dozen "becauses":

1.  "Protovision" by Kavinsky:  Because as my friend TJ Clark so eloquently stated to me earlier this week, "I'm sure the new Daft Punk will be good, but if Outrun (by Kavinsky) was the album DP released, people would shit themselves."  And I concur.

2.  "2020" by Suuns: Because I am equally creeped out, intrigued, and impressed by the electronic voodoo these Montreal wizards of audio create.  Listen under a variety of influences.  

3.  "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" by David Bowie: Because David Bowie is a treasure.  And if he's decided there's a good reason to make music again, I dare say you can be assured there's a good reason for you to listen.

4.  "People Power" by White Mystery: Because two-member rock bands done right are a pleasant surprise these days--and because they will be sharing their bombastic brand of beat-making tonight here in Oklahoma City.  I'm there. You're there.  We're all there.

5.  "Jubilee Street" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Because Nick Cave is both the monster hiding in the dark and the angel sent by God to come save us all.

6.  "Default" by Atoms For Peace: Because while everyone focuses on lead singer Thom Yorke, I'm fascinated by the idea of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea making good music for the first time in a decade and a half.

7.  "Jezebel" by Sade: As I get older, I've begun to hear Sade's stylistic influence in places I didn't expect.  Check out Destroyer's Kaputt or the most recent Ducktails release The Flower Lane.  I swear, I'm not making this up.

8.  "Sewr Rat" by Copperheads: Because it's 95 seconds of absolute rock relentlessness that is missing nothing except maybe the letter "e"--but I don't ever seem to notice.

9.  "Prairie Rose" by Roxy Music: Because to be ignorant of the greatness of Roxy Music's 70's catalog (as I have up until recently) is to be missing a huge portion of your glam rock education.

10.  "Blurry Nights" by Hayden: Because his new album--like much of his career--has flown almost criminally under the radar in 2013 and it's time for a reckoning.

11.  "Drive Inn" by The Boom Bang: Because this week the band announced that it would soon be no more and the loss of my city's most entertaining live act has hurt me more than I expected.

12.  "Raspberry Cane" by Youth Lagoon: Because while the new album has yet to fully take me in, the flashes of brilliant soft touches and pure soul of Youth Lagoon is nearly impossible to ignore.  And because I don't know what the hell a "raspberry" is, but am hoping this song will eventually educate me.

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Spotify playlist below the track list. Not a Spotify member?  No problem. An 8tracks playlist (requiring no membership) is also found below.