Radio LBB: Playlist of Playlists
Image commissioned by MAS, captured on film and laid out by Philm (@phishonphilm)
I think it’s a symptom of my job as music supervisor, constantly feeding our clients new sounds, that there’s nothing I like more than people turning ME on to new music. I love taking a guided deep dive into a genre I want to learn more about, or just have someone who’s taste I trust turn me on to new favourites.
Josh Marcy, director of music at Media Arts Lab, DJ Harvey collaborator and all around guru of sound, has turned me on to endless new music over the years. Inspired by his sprawling, days long Apple Music playlist COMP OF COMPS I am proud to present my very own, Playlist of Playlists.
New Commute Now
Updated every Monday, New Commute Now serves up folk and country leaning indie with lots of left turns. This is the first place I remember hearing MJ Lenderman and many more artists that have become favorites.
Herb Sundays 86: Dante Ross
Ghostly founder Sam Valenti’s Herb Sundays Substack is its own Playlist of Playlists interviewing folks he’s met over the years and having them make a Spotify mix every Sunday. This one by legendary A&R and producer Dante Ross really hits the sweet spot for me. Was jamming this modern soul, funk, soul and Garage adjacent boogie in the backyard when my new neighbor stuck her head over the fence to declare that she too “LOVES Brass Construction!”
Innocence and Panic
It was actually via her Herb Sundays playlist that I was first introduced to @Marg.mp3. Caroline Polachek called Margeaux “the future of music journalism” on the Grammys red carpet this year and her social media posts are a great way to stay in the loop with all things new and cool. This playlist reflects her listening for March and April of 2024 and as usual, you can be sure you’re hearing the cream of the rising underground, mixed with totally off trend old Thrill Jockey records, psych folk and everything in between.
How Long Gone Pre Show
How Long Gone is an excellent podcast by Jason Stewart and Chris Black and Black regularly carries the torch for new guitar talent. He has turned me on to groups like Narrow Head, Crushed and Belair Lip Bombs while also waving the flag for MAS management clients Pleasure Pill. The HLG Pre Show mix of anglophilic rockers, '90s alt and indie-up-and-comers is a killer getting-ready-to-go-out vibe-stoker.
Haruki Murakami’s Vinyl Collection
Murakami has a legendary vinyl collection and this is the digital representation of it. Completely sprawling, and mostly jazz, if you throw this on shuffle at your next dinner party your guests will think you have better taste than you do.
Bonhomie
I collaborated with hospitality legend Sean McCusker to curate the sound of his highly regarded, but short lived Bonhomie restaurant in Austin, TX. The concept was French Bistro meets American Diner and the playlists (vol. 1 and vol. 2) that came out of it are still real, “put this on in any company” go-tos.
PHILM!
Philm is the leading light of digital commentary (zines, philms, one million Insta stories a day) in the nu jam band scene. He’s a cat just as versed in Stereolab deep cuts as he is in the finer plot points of Gamehendge and this playlist is large and in charge. All over the map and always tasty.
MAS/WFH: JEFF PARKER’S SOUL FROM THE SON
MAS/WFH: BEN PIRANI’S SWEET SOUL
MAS/WFH: ANGELICA GARICA’S CAMA DE PIERDA
MAS/WFH: DESIRE’S TRIPPY AFTERNOON
During the first few weeks of the pandemic, no one was sure what to do. MAS decided to hire some musicians we were connected with to make playlists that we called the 'WFH Series'. As Desire’s Megan Louise says, “Music is medicine.” Each one of these playlists is a treasure from an expert mind.
Generally General
The playlist portion of manager Jay Steele’s Generally Weekly newsletter. It’s a peak inside the mind of what’s moving one of the most forward thinking players in the game from week to week.
Fenriz Metal
A simply MASSIVE collection of great metal from Darkthrone black G.O.A.T. Fenriz.
LadmanMusicDiscovery
You don’t become one of the most nominated music supervisors at the GMS awards without putting in the work and digging for new music every week. Ladman’s music discovery list is refreshed regularly, reliably global in scope and refreshingly genre agnostic.
Van4Lindsay
Howard Greynolds manages Glen Hansard and Iron and Wine so you know there’s no better expert in all things Irish and all things Folk. I asked him to put together what he thought was the perfect introduction for my friend Lindsay who was wanting to “get into” Van Morrison. This eschews a lot of the most obvious Van bangers and shines the light on later cuts like “Cleaning Windows” and “Hungry for Your Love” which I had never heard but are now favorites.
Justin Tripp and Matt McDermott are two greats in the world of left of centre electronic sounds. They created the wonderful Common Time website as a staunchly NOW focused resource for music searchers awash in a sea of reissues. It updated regularly for a few years with guests posting their latest YouTube dubplate obsessions, but has moved to a more sporadic schedule since then. Browse and have your mind splintered then expanded.
bops 4 baddie b
More NOW sounds – Ben Pirani, who’s been known in the past for his beautifully classic takes on Northern Soul, made this workout playlist of contemporary hip hop that showcases crazy production and raps from some huge and under the radar artists alike. This playlist proves “new hip hop sucks” isn’t just a dusty take – it’s wrong. Bonus Playlist from Ben: Ben and the Means Tour Van Jams. 22 hours and sick.
Run for Fin
Another one for the gym rats, John Stirratt (Wilco, Autumn Defense, Tourists) made this excellent retro-guitar-forward playlist for me when I ran a half marathon to raise money for a toxoplasmosis patient friend a few years back. Including inspo-stonkers from Rockpile, the Stones, Dream Syndicate and Badfinger it really makes a case for more non nu-metal guitar tones in the gym. If you happen to be at the wonderful hotel Tourists in North Adams, John also programs a mellower pastoral blend for their bespoke radio station.
