Here’s the first installment in my new monthly online-only mixtape series. Listen on an array of options! And read the notes below for a few thoughts about the tracks I’ve selected.
The BeeGees — “Nights on Broadway” (1975)
I love the Main Course album, because it’s the perfect midpoint between the delicate pop of the early BeeGees and the disco years to come. “Nights on Broadway” hints at their classic sound on the bridge, but is also notable for being the first use of Barry’s infamous falsetto.
Ed Sheeran — “Galway Girl” (2017)
This is clearly ridiculous, but I’ve come back to Ed Sheeran’s new album ÷ more than a few times since it’s release. It’s straight up mainstream pop, but the variety and uniqueness of each song make it an unexpectedly compelling listen. On this track, Ed treats us to some rap-singing, alongside a hackneyed (but not unenjoyable) Irish fiddle tune.
Magic Man — “Paris” (2014)
When I heard this song I thought to myself, “this has a real lilt to it.” I’m not exactly sure if lilt is exactly the right word, but it feels right.
Prefab Sprout — “Appetite” (1985)
I’ve been enjoying Prefab Sprout’s album Steve McQueen as part of my ongoing sophisti-pop obsession. This song is particularly lovely, and maybe a little less ostentatious than some other sophisti-pop tunes. I particularly like the way the high keyboards seem to pick up the same tone as the female singer’s backing vocals.
Wesley Stace — “Better Tell No One Your Dreams” (2017)
Stace (better known as John Wesley Harding) has managed to endure as a favorite of mine, even as many other singer-songwriter types have lost their allure. I think his humor and melodicism help him overcome the sometimes too-earnest qualities of the genre. This is also one of two recent songs that capture the tedium and mystery of dreams.
The Last Shadow Puppets — “The Dream Synopsis” (2016)
Here’s the other dream song. A similar sentiment to the above, but Alex Turner really shines with his ability to make nonsense sound meaningful, particularly this most poetic summation of dreaming: “Visions of the past and possible future/Shoot through my mind and I can’t let go/Inseparable opposing images/When can you come back again?”
David Dundas — “Jeans On” (1977)
I heard this on BBC Radio 6 the other day. It’s pretty good for a song that started life as a commercial jingle. Dundas has a fun Wikipedia page full of random trivia. He’s the son of a Marquess and is properly styled Lord David Paul Nicholas Dundas. He also wrote the original score for the horrible movie Withnail and I.
The Magic Gang — “How Can I Compete” (2017)
The Magic Gang have had a string of terrific EPs over the past year or so. They remind me a bit of Green-era Weezer, in that their songs are a nearly flawless execution of a classic pop ideal, rather than an innovation. That’s OK with me.
White Hart — “Friction” (2017)
Another straight-ahead British rocker, “Friction” is White Hart’s first single. There seem to be a ton of British groups out there right now releasing Strokes-influenced rock and roll, and many of them are pretty good.
Estelle — “American Boy” ft. Kayne West (2008)
This song is dangerously catchy. I mean that seriously, in that I can see myself awake at 2 a.m. unable to sleep as this plays on repeat in head. But I’ll risk it, as Estelle brings a somehow quintessentially British songwriting sensibility to the R&B milieu. Kayne’s contribute is quite good as well — “Who killing them in the UK?/Everybody going to say “You, K.”
HAIM — “Want You Back” (2017)
Beyond an inexplicable knowledge that HAIM are part of Taylor Swift’s “squad,” I haven’t really been familiar with them. This new single is pop perfection, and I’d go so far as to say it has an almost Michael Jackson-like quality. Song of the summer contender?
The Isley Brothers — “Summer Breeze” (1973)
The original Seals and Crofts version of “Summer Breeze” is a quintessential 70s solid gold jukebox kind of tune (and excellent in its own right). But this cover version by the Isley Brothers is unexpectedly wonderful as well.