Take a Chance on Me
🔀 Shuffle Sundays #72 • Awolnation, Andrew Bird, Son Lux, Daft Punk, Martha Naranjo, & more.
How’s everything going?
Feels good to be back after some necessary time off, hope you all enjoyed the remix issue, and thanks to Fog Chaser for taking over for me last week. Now back with the regular programming! 🤘🏼
💽 » My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers & Me, by Awolnation
alternative rock • 11 songs • 44 minutes
You may know alternative rock (one-man) band Awolnation for their smash breakout hit Sail (2011). Even though their sophomore album followed pretty much the same music style, the rest of their discography is pretty diverse.
While we’re seeing so many artists and bands trying to replicate the 80s these days, Awolnation decided to embrace the decade in a different way. Instead of creating yet another clone of A-HA’s Take on Me, they decided to put out a whole album full of covers of pure 80s classics and brought a bunch of great features along the way.
Although I truly enjoyed the majority of the album, some highlights worth mentioning are Eye In The Sky (The Alan Parsons Project) featuring Beck, Maniac (Michael Sembello) featuring Conor Mason from (the great band) Nothing But Thieves, and the super fun version of Material Girl (Madonna) with the unusual feature of Taylor Hanson (yes, from Hanson!). It’s not going to change your life, but it’s a fun ride when all you need is some familiar tunes playing while you go by your day.
🎶 » Atomized, by Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird is one of those artists that is simply impossible to fit into any box. With an enviable discography and very prolific career, he’s able to wander around many different (and diverse) genres always maintaining not only a high level of quality but also his own strong identity throughout his whole catalog. Atomized is a great folk-rock tune that flirts with classical music in a fun and creative way, and is part of his new album Inside Problems that just came out.
🎶 » Plans We Made, by Son Lux
Son Lux is an NYC-based band that I’ve been following and enjoying for quite some time now, for their interesting blend of post-rock, electronic, and lots of great visuals. Plans We Made was taken from their 3-part album Tomorrows, and got a video that blends choreography with their music in a truly work-of-art kind of way.
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🧩 » Random Bits
• this video breaking down how Daft Punk creates their music through samples is absolutely insane! (via Tira do Papel)
• if you enjoyed reading Mason Currey’s book Daily Rituals, you’ll probably enjoy the recent New York Times Magazine article 24 Hours in the Creative Life;
⚡️ Visual Inspiration
Martha Naranjo Sandoval is a Mexican-born, NYC-based filmmaker and visual artist who’s been working on a large and incredible collection of stereoscopic collages which explore the construction of memory and the illusion of 3D space. Check out her website or Instagram for more. Here are some favorites:
🎶 » New Music
this week’s new albums I'm curious to check out
Also, new singles from Panic! At The Disco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix, Tuyo, and many more. If you’re curious to hear some of these songs and more, make sure to follow my 2022 playlist on Spotify, updated weekly with new releases:
I'm a huge Andrew Bird fan, and while I've only given the new album a cursory listen, I can't say I was thrilled with it. I shouldn't even say anything yet having only listened once, but my initial impression was that it's no Armchair Apocrypha, Noble Beast, Break It Yourself, or Pulaski At Night. That run of albums is tough to beat, in my opinion. Will give it more time though—maybe it just needs to sink in or grow on me more?
Wow, what an issue! 🤩 Every single thing you recommended in this one resonated with me. From "Eye In The Sky" cover to these retro gif collages. Nice work 👏
P.S. I've never heard about Andrew Bird and I'm really happy that you introduced me to his music. "Atomized" left me speechless