If you’ve worn your Spotify playlists down to the bone, Dan Fauzi’s variegated isolation selection has you covered…
Lockdown has triggered a whole range of drastic emotional changes – from the isolation from the outside world to the fear of the future. I’ve picked ten albums for you to enjoy from the confines of your home. There’s something here for everyone, some will help ease the mind, some will help inspire your creativity and others may just broaden your musical horizon; we may be stuck indoors but it’s the ideal time for some phonic exploration.
Manu Dibango, Cuarteto Patria – Cubafrica (1998) · Afro-Cuban Jazz / Son Cubano
Afro-Jazz legend Manu Dibango introduced the world to a style of music that had long been kept behind closed doors. In 1995, he told New York Times: “African music was in a museum for a long time”; his career, spanning over six decades, revolutionised the world’s perception on African music and brought it to influence, with artists such as Kanye West, Michael Jackson and Jay-Z sampling his work.
In a collaboration with Cuarteto Patria, Cubafrica celebrates how beautiful art can be forged by bringing together different cultures. Sadly, he fell victim to COVID-19 on March 24th, but his legacy is more prevalent now than ever. The world could learn a lot from Dibango’s universal message, and even when we’re confined to our localities we shouldn’t have to limit our cultural appreciation. Rest in power, Manu.
Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising (2019) · Art Pop / Baroque Pop
A Lot’s Gonna Change, the album’s opening track, sets the precedent for the entire concept of this album. Weyes Blood (aka Natalie Mering) wrote Titanic Rising as a critically self-aware conversation regarding the world we are creating as a species. A burning question lingers for the entire duration: how am I supposed to find love in this world of individualism, unpredictable environmentalism and competitive capitalism? She dances around this theme with an ethereal elegance, often rooting herself in the realism of contemporary society and what that means for the individual.
Addressing her fans on Instagram after her shows were cancelled from coronavirus, Mering said: “wow, NOW a lot has changed indeed, more than I ever could’ve imagined”. The narrative she constructs here is eerily relevant to our present day situation – and can help anybody come to terms with the drastic changes to our personal lives.
Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015) · Indie Rock / Garage Rock
Sound familiar? If you were to ask for a ‘lockdown soundtrack’ – something to encapsulate our current situation – you wouldn’t expect it to have been made five years before anyone had even heard of self-isolating.
Sometimes I Sit shows off one of Barnett’s most desirable traits: her ability to be content with ordinary life. Not to say that she is complacent, but rather that Barnett makes her situations interesting from the way she perceives them. She effortlessly seeks out the extraordinary living within the ordinary, singing with a deadpan and confident looseness that, when paralleled with the exhilarating ‘90s grunge and ‘60s garage rock influences, creates an aura of energetic wisdom.
Bonobo – Migration (2017) · Alternative Electronic / Downtempo
Simon Green has channelled a lot of creative energy into his two-decade-long career as Bonobo. Migration is his most ambitious and self-assured work yet. While the title may seem like cruel irony from the confines of your home, Green makes sure to take you to every new corner of the genre he’s discovered, drawing from influences all over the world to create a sophisticated and progressive-thinking record.
His songwriting is defined by vast arrangements of subtle electronic synths fused with culturally traditional instrumentals, where he builds on his songs slowly, letting you appreciate every layer before introducing you to the next. Here, Green has pushed downtempo into a more universal and versatile direction – where you don’t have to be a fan of electronic music to become completely immersed.
Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow (1967) · Psychedelic Rock
If you envision the psychedelic era of the 1960s – the drug-hazed, hippie counter-culture advocating peace and love across the world – San Francisco band Jefferson Airplane were at the heart of it. Grace Slick’s inspiration for the boldest track, White Rabbit, came from the sounds of Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain and retells the story of Alice in Wonderland from the perspective of the era, bringing its hallucinogenic undertones to the forefront.
Listening to Surrealistic Pillow feels like taking a step into 1967’s Summer of Love, where people from every community, young and old, came together to celebrate just the very nature of being alive. Jefferson Airplane emulated these feelings, seamlessly transitioning from rock’s impactful and intoxicating sounds to the mellow, entrancing lows of psychedelia.
Bruno Pernadas – Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles Will Be Asked to Retrieve Them (2016) · Jazz Pop / Art Pop / Neo-Psychedelia
In Those Who Throw Objects, Pernadas expresses his pure, undivided devotion to the art of producing music. An album where every track is crafted meticulously to perfection is rare, but the Portuguese artist has successfully produced a genre-blurring album with synths and melodies that will stay with you a long time after you stop listening. Galaxy, the most jazz-orientated track on the album, never gives you a chance to breathe: as soon as it calms down, it thrusts you back into the fast-paced brass-scape.
Pernadas’ eclectic mix of sadness and optimism, mellow sounds and fast-paced jams fit together so flawlessly that every note feels like part of a mathematical pattern he has spent his life masterfully perfecting.
Talking Heads – Remain in Light (1980) · New Wave / Post-Punk
“Last time to make plans! … All I want is to breathe”. Who would’ve thought that David Byrne’s lyrics on this album would be resurfacing 40 years after its release? Remain in Light is an essential album for the advancement of rock/pop music in the 1980s. Experimental pioneers Talking Heads team up with producer Brian Eno to create a hypnotic yet chaotic album, comprised of chopped up instrumentals and quirky vocals arranged into masterful compositions.
Themes of oppressive government control offset alongside grooves borrowed from funk, disco and afrobeat allow for one of the most forward-thinking albums of the era: both challenging and danceable, experimental and accessible. Eno’s plan was to test the limits of Talking Heads, only to find out they have none.
Faye Webster – Atlanta Millionaires Club (2019) · Indie Pop / Folk-Pop
Atlanta Millionaires Club is a romantic album to its core. It plays like a series of unsent love letters from different points in her relationship, balancing heartbreak and untethered affection into a soothing, comforting listen. Webster’s wisdom when singing of her deepest emotions seem to flow naturally, suggesting that musical expression is her method of introspection – to fully understand how and why she feels the way she does.
“This wasn’t supposed to be a love song, but I guess it is now”: Webster’s romantic ramblings could help anybody feeling isolated in lockdown to look inward, clearing the skies from an otherwise hazy view on their romantic and social lives.
OutKast – ATLiens (1996) · Hip-Hop
Something about this album is so infectious that it makes it hard to turn it off. Is it the minimalistic yet deep, soulful production? Or is it the tightly defined tag-team vocals from André 3000 and Big Boi trading places in the spotlight?
ATLiens is the kind of record that hits the right note at every possible turn: the beats never grow stale, the lyrics playfully comment on their societal position while avoiding becoming too overbearing, and the rapping style is so determined and creatively focused that it inspired an entire generation of rappers after it. This is OutKast at their purest, relying solely on their vocal ability to carry this album into critical acclaim.
Durand Jones & The Indications – American Love Call (2019) · Soul
This band’s authentic style makes you feel as if you’re listening to a classic soul record from 60 years ago. Durand Jones has captured the spirit of the genre, blending sweet string arrangements with punchy hooks to create a record as diverse as it is pleasant. While the band looks backward to draw their main influences, they gaze onward into the potential of combining nostalgic sounds with the advances of modern music.
American Love Call warms you with the sound reminiscent of a sunny summer’s day in Chicago, without ever having been there. Jones’ voice is one you won’t forget after this, his falsetto and booming bellow both shining as bright as each other.
By Dan Fauzi