Dylan Chenfeld fronts the NYC indie rock band Rebounder. The band just put out their latest single, "Sunset Vision," and to celebrate, they sent us a playlist of their favorite tracks that sound just as good at midnight as the morning after. Their EP, Sundress Songs, will be out August 15; in the meantime, you can stream Dylan's picks below (and check out the band in the first issue of the Talkhouse Reader!).
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
There are some songs that only work in certain situations, some music you love, but maybe you won’t play it at noon when you are in the throes of your day.
It’s funny — my favorite songs and sounds are for the late night. It leaves me with a weird morning situation: What works that isn’t just audio wallpaper?
Over the past few years, I’ve gotten really into the soul revival coming out of the Diamond Mine studio in Long Island City, and the various labels associated with it — Big Crown, Daptone, Colemine and others. I realized this was the only music that was working for me both at night and in the morning. Now I can’t get enough of it. I can’t think of a situation where I wouldn’t want to hear El Michels Affair, though I can give you plenty where I don’t want to hear about anything else.
Rebounder were lucky enough to get to record some live elements of our record at the studio. Here are a few of the newer soul recordings that inspired me sometimes, but sound good all times.
Brainstory — “Listen”
I met these guys at a party in deep Brooklyn one night. Their singer, Kevin, was wearing a really specific gigantic Mickey Mouse sweater — one of those sweaters you don’t forget. Many hours later, I was at a party in Chinatown and I saw him again. I couldn’t believe it. Had we both been at the same very specific parties on opposite sides of town? We could’ve split an Uber. We got to talking, and he mentioned he was in this band, I instantly got into their record. They are a brother band as well. The album is called Sounds Good, which is funny.
El Michels Affair/The Shacks — “Tearz”
A cover of the classic “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” by Wendy Rene. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but you can repaint it.
Holy Hive — “This Is My Story”
This is one of my favorite recordings, full stop. It’s originally by Dave Richardson. The pianos are hammer hard and matter of fact, the drums are soft and brushed. Hard to get that balance correct.
Lady Wray — “Guilty”
With a lyric like, “Don't you make me feel guilty and suffer the pain (That's the sound of the chain),” and its theme of filling time while your lover is incarcerated, this major-feeling song rides a line of hitting you with its devastating story while somehow sounding vaguely uplifting. It’s a triumph. I saw Lady Wray perform it, and I was an instant convert.
The Arcs — “Heaven Is A Place”
When a band is putting together a setlist, so much hinges on the ending. Do we go epic? Do we go small? How do we create the feeling that you’ve just seen The Final Thing, that there should be nothing after what you have just witnessed? I want to play a show and have the house music sound silly; I want the rest of the night, whatever you hear, to sound like a joke. Thats the feeling this song creates. Maybe it’s because the word “heaven” is used so often, it floors you. I had never been too familiar with Dan Auerbach prior to this one, but it was my intro point to him and the Black Keys, who have a lot of great stuff. “Heaven is a place I know where all the lovers go.”
Homer (ft. KIRBY, Hether & girl named GOLDEN) — “Racecar Driver”
A song that feels equal parts reggae and soul. It evokes the feeling of a taxi driving by playing something really hot that you can’t quite place and dont have the time to Shazam. It sounds like something Lee "Scratch" Perry would Frankenstein from a few different singers onto a reggae track. Had this song been made many years ago, The Clash would’ve covered it (or called it their own), or RZA would have sampled it for his crypto album.
Lee Fields & The Expressions — “All I Need”
In Kill Bill, they have all these great 10-minute disco funk versions of classic songs. This one feels like that, but it’s not a cover; it’s just a great mostly-instrumental song that grooves. Heads will recognize that the early Travis Scott hit “Antidote” is based entirely around a sample of the first four bars of this song. It’s lit. I need to be collected.
Bruno Mars — “Locked Out Of Heaven”
Honorable mention, but I unironically think this is one of the greatest recordings of the past few decades. Many of the players on the above tunes/make the above bands are all over this one: Nick Movshon on bass, Homer Steinweiss on drums. The other guys in Rebounder often make fun of me — whatever instrument I pick up, my inclination is to play it’s respective part in “Locked Out Of Heaven.” Sue me… it’s something spiritual.
(Photo Credit: Phoenix Johnson)
