Crate Digging: Lauren Wilson, Record-Play
Crate Digging is a music discovery platform where contributors take home an discuss two records from across Concord Recorded Music’s active and historical labels.
Lauren Wilson, head of music supervision at Record-Play, discusses her top two finds.
My frontline find is Local Natives’s Sour Lemon EP. I've been a fan of the band since their first album and not yet had a chance to check out their latest output.
I've always been drawn to vocal harmonies and interesting drum rhythms, both things Local Natives do very well. This EP feels very spacious, scattered with their signature intricate guitar lines and moving vocal deliveries.
The EP features a great collaboration with another favourite of mine, Sharon Van Etten, entitled 'Lemon' and backed by luscious strings and delicate acoustic guitar, it's definitely a highlight on the EP. I love the drum beat on 'Statues In the Garden (Arras)', as a drummer my ears always prick up when there's an interesting rhythm section, especially one that doesn't feel overpowering and has that balance of creativity and also serves the song, which this does!
The emotive vocals could lend themselves well for a romantic/heartfelt story line in film or TV. Local Natives are also great at having a lot of backing vocal oohs and ahhs which also could be helpful for a more sentimental/moving ad that needs some human texture, but also has some VO going on.
For a catalogue record I went Travelling Wilburys’ Travelling Wilburys Vol. 1. I'm a huge George Harrison fan and Tom Petty soundtracked my childhood and although I was very aware of the Travelling Wilburys project, it was my partner who really got me into them.
There is a great documentary on the recording of this album that I'd invite you to check out. The way they put this album together and how causal they made it sound, when in reality they are some of the greatest songwriters and performers, it's special. It sits very much in the American rock realm, venturing into country and pop on occasion. Written and recorded very quickly; there's definitely this air of spontaneity and freedom in the tracks. Jeff Lynn's magical production touch really ties everything together on an album that feels could have quite easily not have happened due to incompatible schedules or run itself off the road with the amount of strong characters involved.
My favourite tracks are 'Handle With Care', 'Congratulations' and album closer 'End Of The Line'. Handle With Care and End Of The Line are probably the most 'known' Travelling Wilburys tracks and definitely have that immediacy that you want from singles, but I also love the sarcastic drawl from Bob Dylan on 'Congratulations'. Handle with Care is just a big rock stomper, with what feels like no end of riffs, hooks, and the like.
I can definitely see some of these iconic tracks being re-introduced to a new audience via US TV, Thomas Golubić and his team are masters of doing that, especially with a series like Breaking Bad.
If you’d like to know more, or you’re keen to discover more of our repertoire, please contact: tom.frank@concord.com.
