This Friday (October 21), British cosmic rockers Syd Arthur release their latest LP, Apricity, via Harvest Records. Frontman Liam Magill put together this playlist that’s chock full of great guitar playing, underrated songs from classic artists and powerfully honest songwriting.
–Dave Lucas, Talkhouse Marketing Manager
Wolf People – “Ninth Night”
We were very happy to hear of a new Wolf People record and it doesn’t disappoint. Heavy riffing and some great drumming from Tom… We listened to this in the van touring across the USA last month
Morgan Delt – “System of 1000 Lies”
When we were making our new album, Apricity, it turned out that we were staying just down the road from one of our favourite new psych artists, Morgan Delt. This cut is one of our favourites from his new album. And watch this space for a wicked remix he’s done for us…
Cate Le Bon – “Love Is Not Love”
I only just recently discovered Cate Le Bon’s music having only being aware of her through her name… This is a beautifully melancholy piece of songwriting with some great guitar work and some really good lyrics
Miles Davis – “So What”
I went through a massive Miles phase during my early twenties – I think I didn’t really listen to anything but Miles for about a year at one point! I love his acoustic jazz records as much as I love his blistering future funk electric period. And this album has certainly been lauded by many as possibly one of the finest recordings of its time, possibly ever, for all the right reasons.
Van Morrison – “Linden Arden Stole the Highlights”
Now, obviously Van isn’t underrated, is he? But this majestic album, Veedon Fleece, most certainly is… It should really be mentioned in the same breath as his seminal Astral Weeks album, but somehow it usually goes unnoticed. It really is a stunning piece of work, and it was also an album I stumbled across by accident in a good old fashioned CD sale. It was an album of his I didn’t own and it was from the mid ’70s period of his work and I took a punt on it. From the hauntingly beautiful “Linden Arden Stole the Highlights” to the epic “You Don’t Pull No Punches, But You Don’t Push the River” the songwriting, band interplay, stream of consciousness lyrics and vocal flair of this record really are second to none.
The Velvet Underground – “Who Loves the Sun”
Loaded is a contender for one of the most underrated albums category, too. There was a “carefree” period of my life when I was around seventeen or eighteen years old and I vividly remember discovering this album and driving around the Kent countryside loving every second of it.
Mac Demarco – “The Way You’d Love Her”
It took me a while to connect with the lo-fi slacker rock of Mac’s music, and I’m not sure why, really. We recently watched him at Glastonbury Festival and it was a revelation live, too. I would say it was one of my musical highlights of the festival and I saw a lot of good music this year. Simple, honest songwriting like this is very powerful when it’s done so well.
Goat – “Psychedelic Lover”
New music from one of the best live bands around at the moment? Yes please!
D.D. Dumbo – “Satan”
The first time we went to SXSW we played at an amazing evening curated by our brothers over at Communion and we shared the bill with DD Dumbo. He blew us away… His new record is really quite something!
Jaco Pastorius – “Word of Mouth”
I recently watched the Jaco documentary and it made me delve straight into his back catalog again. I must admit it had been a while, but his album Word of Mouth has always had a special place for me. He really was one of a kind and got such a tone out of the bass!
