From the Archive is a series on playlists past.
This playlist starts with a question:
If I saw you on the street
Would I have you in my dreams tonight?
Alvvays is a Canadian band with whose sophomore record Antisocialites (2017) was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize and won the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. My favorite song from it is “Not My Baby”, which appears on 168 constellations. I love their use of electronic drums and strong bass lines paired with an indie sensibility.
I’m a huge Jay Som fan; I’m excited to see where her various side projects (Bachelor, Routine) take her. She cites my all-time favorite record, E•MO•TION (2015), as one of her inspirations, as well as Tame Impala and Yo La Tengo. She writes:
Why don’t we take the bus?
You say you don't like the smell
But I like the bus
I can be whoever I want to be
My favorite songs of hers are “I Think You’re Alright”, “The Bus Song”, and “Nighttime Drive.”
Another one of my favorite bands appears on this playlist: Rilo Kiley. I saw Jenny Lewis live at the Fox Theatre in Oakland in late 2019 during her On the Line (2019) tour. She was wearing this incredible sequined gown and all her instruments were painted pastel, as if they’d come out of a Jordan almond factory. She played “Acid Tongue” the way she always does, in a crescent with all her bandmates singing layered harmonies. It was one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen, and I worked for a concert venue. I could dedicate a whole issue to Rilo Kiley and Jenny Lewis; I think she’s a brilliant songwriter and is within the top five of my influences. The song on this playlist is from rkives (2013), the compilation record that rounded out their career as a band. Their first reunion, if only partial, was just a few days ago, for a benefit where Blake and Jenny played “Let Me Back In”, also from rkives.
A Sharon Van Etten song from Are We There (2014) appears on this playlist. This record really shaped my songwriting, and my belief that earnest, desperately sad music is worth making. I resonate strongly with this YouTube comment on SVE’s Tiny Desk Concert.
I highly recommend this article about her.
Truly banger after banger on this one. The next track is “Till Death” by Japanese Breakfast, whose highly anticipated next album, Jubilee (2021), comes out in May. Soft Sounds from Another Planet (2017) shaped my teenage brain like no other; I wrote about “The Body Is a Blade” in my first experimentations with music writing, my travel blog. Since the single for the new album came out, I’ve been listening to “Till Death” multiple times everyday, which is having unknown effects on my mental health.
The last song I’ll mention is the closing track, “Ocean of Noise” by Arcade Fire. I have tried multiple times to “get into” this band, and only my last attempt was really successful. While I can say now that I’m a full-fledged Arcade Fire fan, I’ve always loved this song. It’s driven by this 60s bass line, like a particularly bluesy Johnny Cash song. The lyrics are mysterious and open into a repetitive outro, complete with horns and Win Butler wailing,
I'm gonna work it out
'Cause time won't work it out
i love sharon van etten and jenny lewis thanks to stalking your playlists! your beautiful mind 🤩