ListenUp
Dave Grohl’s new project, Miriam Makeba remembered, Beach House’s “Wishes” and more in our weekly music recap
Miriam Makeba: Soweto Blues
Google Doodle paid homage to the late Miriam Makeba on Monday, who would have been celebrating her 81st birthday. The South African singer will be forever remembered for speaking out against apartheid and delivering protest songs with majestical prowess, such as “Soweto Blues,” which was written by her former husband Hugh Masekela after a student rally went majorly awry in 1976.
Bibio: A tout à l’heure
Better known as Bibio, English producer Stephen Wilkinson debuted the eclectically charming “A tout à l’heure” on Tuesday, giving us a glimpse at his forthcoming album Silver Wilkinson, to be released on Warp Records 14 May 2013. The experimental musician explains on the label’s website, the album is the upshot of time spent outdoors on a sunny afternoon, where he “drummed on objects in the garden, like a plastic watering can and ‘snipped’ garden shears for percussion parts.”
Sound City: Real to Reel
Sometimes it seems like Dave Grohl can do no wrong—as if Nirvana wasn’t enough, he went on to create the Foo Fighters, and a recent stint hosting Chelsea Lately proved his enduring rock’n’roll spirit can even successfully pervade late night TV. Now he’s directed a documentary about life in the fast lane of music, which is backed by an exciting soundtrack featuring artists like Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney, Trent Reznor and more. NPR gives us a first listen at “Real to Reel
,” and we’re sure it’s one of many more to come.
Laura Mvula: Diamonds
On the heels of her recently-released album Sing to the Moon, British songstress Laura Mvula gives Rankin’s Hunger TV an exclusive look at her emotional ballad “Diamonds.” With nothing more than a microphone, keyboards and a violet-hued filter casting light over the award-winning newcomer, Mvula keeps it simple but with striking effect.
Beach House: Wishes
Eric Wareheim—one half of the hilarious sketch comedy duo Tim and Eric—takes Beach House’s perfectly sedated “Wishes,” off their 2012 album Bloom and turns it into a psychedelic anthem about high school dreams, in a video that feels like Friday Night Lights meets the circus. Just when we thought that song couldn’t get any better, Wareheim gives us even more reason to keep it on repeat.
