Nick’s picks

1. Cortex – “Huit octobre 1971”
2. Jake Blount – “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”
3. Grace Potter – “Daylight”

Hip-hop heads will know Cortex’s “Huit octobre 1971.” The French jazz-funk band may not be known today, but their sound is glorious. I found “Huit octobre 1971” while listening to MF DOOM’s “One Beer.” The song’s cinematic feeling compared with the epic bassline and intricate drums make for an amazing listening experience. The track features almost unintelligible lyrics and is mostly made up of a keyboard solo. While the song starts off easy to listen to and approachable, there is definitely some experimentation in there. This song pairs well with a dinner that’s a bit too fancy for the paper plates we all use and a book that is a bit too hard to understand the first time through. 

“Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” is one of my favorite songs ever. Also known as “In the Pines,” the song has been recorded by everyone who has ever touched folk music – artists from Nirvana to Dolly Parton have put out their own versions of the song. For a while, I thought the Nirvana version was far and away the best, but Jake Blount never stops amazing me. Blount has one of the most unique stories in music. His goal is to repopularize the banjo with the people who were its first players and popularizers: Black people. Blount, rather than being attached to a traditional label, is signed to Smithsonian Folkways Recording, a label set up primarily to release music that has been lost to time. Like his label suggests, Blount’s version of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” is full of fiddle, banjo and traditional harmonies. It’s a gorgeous and haunting look back at what American music used to be. 

Grace Potter is not a well-known name in the modern rock scene. Her song “Daylight” is an absolute masterclass in rock performance. The first kick of drums and raging guitar hits the listener’s ears with a shock, and, upon its dissipation, Potter’s voice creeps out, tense and raspy. As the song picks up, her voice lifts in intensity. The strength in her voice is so pure that it is almost hard to bear at points – that’s certainly a compliment. While Potter is great during the soft spots of the song, when the chorus hits, she gets to a whole new level. Potter’s voice stands out as one of the best in rock today and her musical ear is so tuned to greatness that you can’t go wrong with her instrumentals either. 

Sarah’s picks

1. Lana Del Rey – “A&W”
2. Dove Cameron – “We Go Down Together (with Khalid)”
3. Frank Ocean, André 3000 – “Pink Matter”

I couldn’t not add Lana Del Rey’s new song onto this list because one, it was a surprise, and two, it’s a masterpiece. “A&W” is not referencing root beer, but stands for “American Whore” and talks about body image. It’s a roughly seven-minute-long battle Del Rey has with herself and society about whether she should be loved or labeled as a “whore.” The mood of the song is rather sad, especially when you look at the lyrics and realize what she’s saying. It’s a contrast from the lyrical and fun beat of the song. Del Rey has a new album, titled “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” coming out in March that features “A&W” as one of the tracks. This surprise release was surely a reason to keep her fans hyped up about her album. 

Dove Cameron is an up-and-coming artist, and as someone who has been following and supporting her career for years, this song is my favorite of hers. For this particular song, Cameron collaborated with songwriting genius Khalid who is well known for collaborating with Billie Eilish back in 2018 for their hit song “lovely.” “We Go Down Together” is a love song about two people who are so consumed with each other that they’ll do whatever the other does. I like how Cameron and Khalid seem to have equal and similar singing parts. The song is a soft ballad with a slow rhythm which makes you feel as if you’re slowly falling while listening to it.

Frank Ocean is known for his soft pop tracks that soothe and transport the listener. “Pink Matter” is no different. This song is a collaboration with André 3000 who is a part of hip-hop duo Outkast. André 3000 has his own lines where he sings and can be heard playing the guitar in the background. Ocean poses rhetorical questions in this song such as, “What do you think my brain is made for / Is it just a container for the mind?” and “What if the sky and the stars are for show / And the aliens are watching live / From the purple matter?” Ocean struggles with what his human body means on Earth and wants the listener to question their existence. Pink matter is supposed to represent a woman, whereas gray matter rests inside the brain. Purple matter is also referenced in the song, which doesn’t exist in real life, but could mean the cosmos. Ocean seems to elevate the listener out of their own little world by creating a song that follows mind over matter. 

Eli’s picks

1. The Jayhawks – “Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces”
2. The Jam – “Ghosts”
3. Neil Casal – “Maybe California”

One of the original alt-country bands going back over 30 years, The Jayhawks re-emerged in the 2010s with music that was surprisingly up to the high standards set by their earlier works. The highlight of their last few albums is undoubtedly “Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces” from 2016’s “Paging Mr. Proust.” While the track might have felt more at home on their seminal 2005 album “Rainy Day Music,” it starts “Paging Mr. Proust” off with a bang. With the earnest vocal delivery of frontman Gary Louris and the mellow strummed guitars, this acoustic-driven track serves as proof that great bands are always capable of surprising you, even after 30 years.

My first thought when I heard “Ghosts” by The Jam was that it sounded like it could have come out yesterday. On their final album, “The Gift” from 1982, frontman Paul Weller’s pristine new-wave sensibilities have clearly stood the test of time. Clocking in at just over two minutes, “Ghosts” packs a ton of emotion into such a succinct and simple song. Though they never had the same success in the United States that they did in the UK, The Jam is definitely a band that’s worthy of a deep-dive into their brief discography.

Another underrated member of the alt-country pantheon, Neil Casal was best known as the lead guitarist for Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, though he also played with southern-rock band Blackfoot and The Jayhawks. Casal died by suicide in 2019 and I firmly believe his solo catalog is ripe for reappraisal. “Maybe California” from 1995 will instantly transport you to a breezy, bittersweet summer night with its relaxed rhythm and twangy pedal steel guitars. On the track, Casal takes cues from Neil Young and Gram Parsons while creating a distinct, unique style of his own, one that would later serve him well when he began to work with Adams.

Daniel’s picks

1. Bear Hands – “2 AM”
2. Madeon – “No Fear No More”
3. Queen – “I Want to Break Free”

“2 AM” by Bear Hands has a very psychedelic tone within its sound and words. The lyrics to the song are an expression of someone who is attempting to escape from their responsibilities and feel free to live life and just do whatever they please. This is conveyed through lyrics such as “Nothing good happens past 2 AM / I put the ball in your court / Text me back / I want a full report I want cash in hand.”

“No Fear No More” by Madeon is a song described by the French music producer as “celebrating the childish confidence of knowing that you can achieve your dreams.” The song’s instrumentals are upbeat and give it a sort of “living in the big city” vibe. This song received an equally amazing remix featuring hip-hop duo EarthGang. The remix extends on that feeling of achieving your dreams.

“I Want to Break Free” by Queen is a song that represents wanting to, well, break free from a relationship that one may feel trapped in. I love listening to a song like this during the winter, as it makes me yearn to break free from my relationship with school and my job as a curbside pickup worker and winter. It has become one of my favorites during the summer too. It very much reminds me of being on a road trip, free of all my troubles and worries, even if it’s just for a few days.

Anika’s picks

1. The Weeknd – “Less than Zero”
2. Rina Sawayama – “10-20-40”
3. System of a Down – “Lost in Hollywood”

Off of The Weeknd’s latest album “Dawn FM,” “Less than Zero” has a disco pop production that easily gets stuck in the listener’s head. The song’s lyrics detail a relationship where one of the partners “tried their best” to fix the other. It didn’t work, as the other partner could not give up their lifestyle and had less than zero to give. It may be reflective of The Weeknd’s own lifestyle – detailed in other songs such as “Heartless” and “The Hills” – and how it backfires in his relationships.

With an unmistakable opening guitar riff and funky sound synths, “10-20-40” slips under the radar as a song about Sawayama’s struggles with depression. This song is one of the eight off of her debut album “RINA.” It uses car-related metaphors to relay how battling with mental illness feels to the singer. Although it doesn’t highlight some of her incredible vocals as well as other songs, it is a meaningful one that is easy to get lost in.

Maybe it’s because I just finished watching “Bojack Horseman,” but “Lost in Hollywood” is a standout song on System of a Down’s discography. It differs from the sounds they’re known for – loud, shredding guitars and incoherent lyrics about bananas, bananas, bananas, and terracotta pie – and opts for a much calmer sound. It suits the lyrics of the song: a grim story about how Hollywood takes people with dreams and turns them into fake, immoral individuals. After watching the “The View from Halfway Down” episode of “Bojack Horseman,” I think the repeated lyric “you should’ve never gone to Hollywood” is definitely worth meditation.