One of the great difficulties in life, for me at least, is that moment when you’re on Youtube and you simply can’t decide what tune to put on. You’ve got every song from the last 50 years available to you and your mind goes blank. So, here’s a few old and new ones to get you back on the right track if you should ever face this very postmodern conundrum.
Panda Bear – Slow Motion
Panda Bear's new album is coming out soon, and it's looking pretty good
Everyone knows Animal Collective are pretty class, so it’ll come as no surprise that when Noah Lennox, one of AC’s members, creates a solo album (called Tomboy, his fourth as Panda Bear), it’s going to be pretty cool. The album comes out in September, but you can make do with this until then
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
The title track from their new album, which came out this week. They sound a bit more upbeat than previously, and going by the other songs I’ve heard from the album, it looks like another triumph from the Canadian septet.
The Kinks – Mr Churchill Says
They’re probably my favourite band from their era, and this song from their 1969 album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), is a brilliant, prog-pop number which really held up well over the years.
Vaski – Terror
One of the recurring themes on Universalgrassroots is the future of dubstep, whether it’ll just become assimilated into a wider electronic scene, or stay true to its original sound. This great track, which I found on the Dubstep Dublin facebook page, is pretty dark but not in the new, almost unlistenable way that seems to be getting ever more popular for some reason.
Boney M – Sunny
Don’t look at this as an ironic, “it’s uncool so it’s cool” way, this is just a great song, plain and simple. Boney M had some shocking tunes, but I can forgive any band a thousand sins for just one moment of redemption like this. It will instantly put you in good form.
Kanye West – Power
He might be stone mad, but Kanye's a forward-thinking musician
As time goes on, he just becomes more and more egotistical and downright strange. But musically at least, he’s really innovative and interesting. Somehow I can’t imagine 50 Cent releasing a video or song like this, and for that alone, he deserves credit. In fairness to him, he does help breathe life into an otherwise stale hip-hop scene. Kanye’s unshakeable belief in himself really comes through in this song, and it’s pretty good despite/because of this.
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