AMPlify Radio Playlist – November 1

For my radio show last Thursday, I decided to counter the possible lady-overload from the previous week with a male-dominated playlist. It was mostly folk and alt-country, but there was a pretty wide variety within that, along with some surprises.

As for why I chose to open with Sharon Van Etten, well, I just couldn’t help it. “All I Can” became my new favorite song of as of late after seeing her at the 9:30 Club on October 25.

Enjoy!

1. Sharon Van Etten – “All I Can”
2. U.S. Royalty – “Fool to Love (Like I Do)”
3. Dr. Dog – “Lonesome”
4. Ryan Adams – “Shakedown on 9th Street” (8tracks wouldn’t allow this track to be uploaded.)
5. The Shins – “Girl on the Wing”
6. Neil Young – “Out on the Weekend”
7. Bright Eyes – “If the Brakeman Turns My Way”
8. The Smiths – “Half a Person”
9. Nick Waterhouse – “(If) You Want Trouble”
10. The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
11. The Avett Brothers – “Paranoia in B-flat Major”
12. Mumford & Sons – “Holland Road”
13. The Temptations – “Under the Boardwalk”

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As a side note, thank you to whoever has been listening to my 8tracks mix called “Classy.” I had no idea it would get over 200 plays!

AMPlify Radio Playlist – October 25

There are many days when I get on air and feel like I’m at the top of the world. Everything is peachy and I’m full of confidence and enthusiasm. And then there are some days when I am just totally off. Basic knowledge of the sound board escapes me as I scramble to find something to say about music I normally talk about all the time. I try to fake it, but I’m just not 100% there.

Today, unfortunately, fell into the latter category. I was recovering from a bout of food poisoning and just did not have my A-game on. But I managed to play some pretty good music by some pretty cool ladies.

The track list is below, and you can find a mix with some extra songs here.The Grace Potter track would not upload to 8tracks, so I’ve included its own link.

1. Kate Nash – “Kiss That Grrrl”
2. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – “Paris (Ooh La La)“
3. Florence & the Machine – “Between Two Lungs”
4. Adele – “My Same”
5. Sharon Van Etten – “Leonard”
6. Alicia Keys – “If I Ain’t Got You”
7. Feist – “Intuition”
8. St. Vincent – “Jesus Saves, I Spend”
9. Rilo Kiley – “The Execution of All Things”
10. M.I.A. – “Jimmy”
11. Yelle – “Ce Jeu”
12. Beyoncé – “Schoolin’ Life”

I created this playlist for my show partially as a reminder to myself that there are many more kickass female artists out there other than Jenny Lewis and Feist, the women whose singing voices are most familiar to my ears. There are the Top 40 divas, there are the goddesses of indie who stun with their poetry and grace, there are women who float through genres and create things I could never dream of. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I’m not a hardcore feminist, and I don’t even know that if – by separating the category of music by women from music in general – we are doing that music or its creators any justice. Rather, I’m a kind-of feminist who just likes music a whole bunch. The playlist above just happens to be both really good and by women. So go listen to it, and let me know about any other female singers you’d think I’d like.

 

(P.S. Sharon Van Etten was amazing tonight. More on her this weekend.)

AMPlify Radio Playlist – October 18

I’ll be the first to admit that this blog has been majorly lacking lately. School is in full swing (sometimes too full swing), and sometimes searching for cool music is pushed to the back burner when all of a sudden it’s 2:00 AM and I just want to sleep. Props to the many college bloggers I know who manage to balance school, activities, and their websites. It’s tough.

To make up for the radio show that I didn’t do post-history midterm last week, and to make up for the lack of posts on here lately, I decided to make a really f*cking awesome playlist for AMPlify Radio today. I needed something that was all at once raw and refined and intense and chill. I was inspired by some of the top mainstream releases as of late, like Muse’s The 2nd Law and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist, and filled in the rest with tracks by some artists who are getting a lot of hype at the CMJ Music Marathon. Admittedly, I heard of some of these acts through promoters who email me via WGTB, and for once, promoters actually sent me stuff worth listening to! So thanks to the promoters who sent along music by Snowmine and John the Conqueror.

 

You can listen to today’s playlist here. The tracks are listed below.

1. “Can’t Hold Us” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, feat. Ryan Dalton
2. “Supremacy” – Muse
3. “Don’t You Forget It” – Nick Waterhouse
4. “Call Me” – Kimbra
5. “Saucer Eyes” – Snowmine
6. “Ritual” – Blood Diamonds
7. “I Am the Antichrist to You” – Kishi Bashi
8. “Broken Yolk in Western Sky” – Ben Gibbard
9. “Fifty Fifty” – The Luyas
10. “Move Like U Stole It” – ZZ Ward
11. “All Alone” – John the Conqueror
12. “Starting Over” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, feat. Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses

FYI, several of these artists are playing in DC soon.

• Kimbra @ 9:30 Club on 10/23 (This Tuesday!)
• The Luyas @ The Red Palace on 11/5
• Snowmine @ The Red Palance on 11/8
• ZZ Ward @ Georgetown University on 11/10
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis @ 9:30 Club on 11/13

AMPlify Radio Playlist – October 4

Last night I was listening to “Panic Station” from the new Muse album. I was struck by not only by an urge to shake my hips but also by the realization that this song really isn’t all that new-sounding, despite the band’s recent foray into that mysterious and divisive genre known as dubstep. The thumping bass line reminded me of Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust.” With this pairing of similar songs totally blowing my mind, I was inspired to do an entire radio show based on old-new pairings.

If you missed AMPlify radio this morning, never fear. Below is the complete playlist with some brief and possibly totally illogical reasoning for my pairings.

(1) America- “Ventura Highway” and (2) U.S. Royalty – “Monte Carlo”

“Ventura Highway” has this really iconic acoustic riff that Janet Jackson randomly sampled, and “Monte Carlo” has a totally different but equally memorable electric riff. I hear the “do-DO-do-DO” backing vocals as the “ohOHohOHohhh” in U.S. Royalty. The vocals in the chorus are also unmistakably 70s-inspired. Maybe I’m crazy for thinking this. But my parents who LOVE America said “Monte Carlo” was reminiscent of the 70s. Oh yeah, and the fact that both bands have America-themed names is pretty awesome.

(3) Miriam Makeba – “The Naughty Little Flea” and (4) Feist – “When I Was a Young Girl” 

In 1960, Miriam Makeba covered a song by a Jamaican musician, adding some charm via percussion, the pennywhistle, and her backup singers. In 2004, Feist covered an American folk song by Texas Gladden, cleaning up the vocals and adding handclaps a hand drum or two, and a guitar. I hear the parallels between the two mostly in the percussion. Again, I may be crazy.

(5) Queen – “Another One Bites the Dust” and (6) Muse – “Panic Station”

I went over this above, but they both have strong bass lines, a steady, heavy beat, a dance-y aspect, and some element of showmanship. But actually, they’re kind of the same song.

(7) Lauryn Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and (8) ZZ Ward – “Criminal”

So Lauryn Hill isn’t that old, but 1998 is old enough. It’s partially just the fact that both songs feature piano motifs, but they’re both sassy ladies who’ve got soul and are just awesome.

(9) Blossom Dearie – “Lover Man” and (10) Lana Del Rey – “Oh Say Can You See”

Lana is clearly trying to convince the world that she is of the era of Blossom & co., but I’m okay with that, even though she struggles. I still love both songs.

(11) Simon & Garfunkel – “The Only Living Boy in New York” and (12) Bright Eyes – “Bowl of Oranges” 

These songs are both acoustic and uplifting and somewhat folky. A natural pairing.

 

 

AMPlify Radio playlist – September 20

Last night was the first episode of AMPlify Radio on WGTB – Georgetown University Radio. It was kind of weird being back on air again after a four-month break, but it felt good.

The first episode was me playing and talking about music that has appeared on the blog so far. Here’s the playlist, though it’s missing the song “Empire Trashed,” which you can find in the post right before this one.

Keep listening! And for GU students, be sure to come dance your pants off at the AMERICA iPod Battle Royale tomorrow night. It should be a riot.