NAILED Songs of the Week #50
"I’d like to have the jammingest world beats in my set list, boogie tunes…"
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Fiona George, Columnist and Contributor of NAILED:
“If You’re Crying” – IAN SWEET
High pitched airy screech-sing. Home-video-style nostalgia. The way my generation feels love. IAN SWEET’s got it down.
From Hardly Art Records, I had high expectations, clicking into this video for the first song I ever heard from them. I seriously cannot stress how much this label is the shit, and as follows how much IAN SWEET is the shit.
This song will tell you an old story in a new way; your first love.
Their debut EP only a few months old, they’re on their way to following Shannon and the Clams and Chastity Belt as Hardly Art artists with cult-like followings.
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Carrie Seitzinger, Editor-in-Chief of NAILED:
“Night Drive” – Ari Lennox
Ari Lennox’s EP PHO came out about 6 months ago, a long-waited followup to Ariography (2013). I can definitely hear the influences of Erykah Badu and Minnie Riperton. There is an ease in Lennox’s vocals and delivery, and in this song even in the stringing together of images that take you perfectly on a city-lit drive on a tryst on a night where forgiveness and hopes are flowing.
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Guest Editor: Joe Blair, Writer and NAILED Contributor:
“La Vie C’est Bon” – Vaudou Game
Now may not exactly be the right time to declare that life is bon, bon, bon, bon, bon, bon, bon, bon, but it’s important to take a break from the doom that many of us are feeling in our bones at this moment. On another note, one of the fantasies I don’t often share is that I’d like to be a DJ. More specifically, I’d like to have the jammingest world beats in my set list, boogie tunes that summon up everyone’s courage to shake it, even if none of the lyrics are sung in a language that anyone’s ever heard of. World beats, funk disco, African sounds, all of it. If you’re a regular at the club where I spin, then you’re already familiar with Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, and you can feel the West African sounds of Benin and Togo, and 70s-inspired Afro-groove in your blood.
Of course, in the case of Vaudou Game and Peter Solo’s lyrics, we’ve all heard of French. Remember, don’t take it all too seriously. We still have to get up and shake it sometimes.
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Shenyah Webb, Arts Editor of NAILED:
“I Don’t Wanna be Funny Anymore” – Lucy Dacus
I dedicate this song to me.
I discovered this song on XRAY.fm while stuck for hours in snowstorm traffic. It’s catchy, charming, and familiar. It completely resonated with how I had been feeling about myself: like I’m not taken seriously. When I paint, make music, or write, I often feel that the acknowledgment I receive is out of sympathy. Encouragement, but with an underlying current of, “you’re doing great for what you’ve been through,” or like I’m artistic but not an actual artist.
This song serves as an important reminder: to let go of this craving for esteem, and to continue to hone my craft – a reminder that what I create isn’t for validation. It’s for the mere process of creating and sharing meaningful art.
Shortly after discovering the music of Lucy Dacus, I purchased her newly released debut album, No Burden. I highly recommend adding it to your vinyl collection. Full of surprises, powerful, and most of all – comforting.
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Check out Songs of the Week #49 for even more great music from the editors and contributors behind NAILED.