Greetings from my teeny little bedroom in East London! I’m nursing a pair of very sore ankles after trekking around Chelsea all day and ending my night at The Jazz Cafe in Camden Town to see Wolf Alice. For those who haven’t been to this venue, it’s slightly larger than a dive bar and holds about 300 people. Nice and cozy, though the cider was genuinely a diabetic’s sugary piss. Crappy cider aside, I’d like to give a huge thanks to Richard for getting us into the show! It was absolutely insanely cool for a first show experience in London.
Another musical highlight of my week in London so far included a nice lunchtime performance by former cmd+f pick Phoebe Bridgers at Rough Trade Record’s Brick Lane store on Tuesday. Phoebe blew through an intimate 30 minute set to promote her debut album Stranger in the Alps, and was overall an absolute delight. Her set drew in a sizable crowd at Rough Trade, including the marvelous Shura.
Please reach out to me via the handy dandy contact page on the cmd+f website, or on Twitter with your thoughts about any of the tracks I’ve selected this week. As you already know, I love chatting about music. Let me in on your new favorite band; they’re looking for new fans, too!
As always, you know the drill: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about the songs you liked in this letter, but most importantly, let the artists know. There’s a good chance they’ll see your comments. Let them know how good their tunes are, and they’ll crank out even more magic.
P.S. If you would like to have this letter sent to your email every Friday, please head over to this link right here to subscribe to never miss a weekly roundup!
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“Downfall” - Kllo | Kllo are one of those groups who spark nostalgia and newness at the same time. Their single “Virtue” has cropped up on cmd+f before, swirled in that blissful, low key UK Garage pop. If you’ve been craving more, you’re in luck: their debut album Backwater has officially dropped today, and it’s 45 minutes of euphoric bops. Give the opening track “Downfall” a spin. Listen here
“Love You Like That” - Dagny | Norwegian pop ANGEL Dagny needs to be a THING on pop radio over here (in the States) – even if it’s satellite radio. She drops nothing but bop after bop after bop, and her latest “Love You Like That” has a monster of a chorus that hasn’t left my head all week. Listen here
“Zacharia” - Bad Sounds | Spoiler alert: they’re actually not really bad, and are pretty good. Saw them open last night for Annie Mac Presents’ showcase with Wolf Alice, and I told Richard a few of their songs reminded me of early Spoon, but now I’m hearing studio recordings and they’re much more early Of Montreal-esque, but very English sounding and all that. They’ve gotta the wonky, ear-biting hooks DOWN. Listen here
“Seth and Summer Forever” - Babygirl | Will start this rec with a huge shout out to my pal Agnes for bringing it to my attention. Only after she sent it did I check my discover Weekly playlist to see a tune from this band tucked in waiting for me to hear, and honestly, is Agnes putting my Discover Weekly playlist together? Anyway, between and IRL human and an algorithm telling me that I would enjoy this track, it further proves machines are becoming more human and will one day ultimately fulfill my heart’s desires. And I do love Babygirl. I’m sharing their single “Seth and Summer Forever” because I have a pang in my chest remembering the excitement of watching The OC every week for 4 years in my youth, and Babygirl sound like an unplugged The Raveonettes. How on brand for Seth Cohen, to be honest. Listen here
“Rushing Guy” - L I M | The instrumentals on “Rushing Guy” are mental, complete with running whispers and a well placed door hinge creak snare. The music video is as mesmerizing, comprised of male models seamlessly blending into each other. Watch here and Listen here
BONUS
MGMT have released their first new tune in 4 years and it sounds basically like an ultra-gothique lo-fi John Maus track. Very into this less colorful/mournful pre-Berlin Wall Tear Down sounding MGMT Listen here
Not really new AT ALL, but I have officially seen Blade Runner 2049 twice since the last letter has been released, and let me tell y’all I am still wigging out over Hans Zimmer’s score. You have to listen to this soundtrack Listen here
Liam god damn Payne has released his second solo single (well, third? Does Zedd’s “Get Low” count, or is it just a feature??) “Bedroom Floor.” It was written by Charlie Puth, is a falsetto fest, sounds very much like a Nick Jonas lite tune, meaning it’s a recipe for my ultimate satisfaction for a pop tune. I enjoy it, but will you? Listen here
New Rita Ora - again, only alerting you because I’m not ashamed to admit I thoroughly like her tunes. “Anywhere” is def a filler track, but the distorted nonsensical, punchy chorus is a groove Listen here
FEVER RAY ARE BACK?!?!! Listen here
The lord has blessed us with a new Jessie Ware album today. Listen to Glasshouse here
Niall Horan is the second (official) member of (the current lineup of) 1D to release his debut album. Going to be honest, since I am 5,500 miles away from home, haven’t had the chance to listen to all of Flicker, but I am hoping more of it is like “Slow Hands” more than anything. Regardless, well done Niall Listen here
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If you’re interested in hearing what else I’ve been rinsing this month (aside from the tracks listed above), peep my personal October 2017 playlist. There I will be dumping in new (and occasionally throw back) tracks as the month carries on. You can dive into the cmd+f archive to hear what I’ve been listening to in previous months this year.
A(lmost a)ll of the tracks I’ve shared this week and past cmd+f newsletters are archived into a single playlist on Spotify for you to follow here. You’re welcome.
See you next week!