Best Covers: Cat Power ‘Pa Pa Power’

Set for release on 14th January via Domino, Cat Power is previewing upcoming album ‘Covers’ by sharing her reworking of ‘Pa Pa Power’ by Dead Man’s Bones.

Introducing…Nightshifts

Nightshifts is the recording project of Toronto-based songwriter Andrew Oliver. Oliver has worked magic across vintage synths, groovy guitars, and drum machines during late-night recording sessions to create soulful and cosmic pop tunes.

When he was 9 years old, Andrew Oliver—a.k.a. Toronto-based songwriter and producer Andrew Oliver—met his hero The Game outside a hotel and got a pic with the MC as a memento. Now, two decades later, he’s recruited the West Coast rap icon to spit bars on his new single, “20s.”

The full-circle track is breezy slice of funk-pop with shades of Tame Impala, featuring a hushed hook by Nightshifts and some slick, party-ready bars by The Game. It’s a feel-good tune with a feel-good backstory.

4Ever Songs: Nena “99 Red Balloons”

In 1983, the musical world was taken with Nena, a German band whose one hit had an infectious synth bass line, changing tempos and mysterious lyrics about balloons accidentally causing World War III.

“99 Luftballons” and its English-translated counterpart, “99 Red Balloons,” was a monster smash for the pop group, hitting No. 2 on the U.S. Hot 100 behind Van Halen’s “Jump” — the highest position for a West German band since “Fly, Robin, Fly” by Silver Convention spent three weeks at No. 1 in 1975.

The muses of La Musa: Deap Vally

Deap Vally are a rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California, USA in 2011. The group consists of Lindsey Troy (guitar, vocals) and Julie Edwards (drums). In the heart of Silver Lake, California, Edwards met Troy at a needlework class. They bonded over their love of music, specifically the blues and hence, Deap Vally debuted in 2011 with a primal mix of hard rock and greasy blues riffs, like The White Stripes colliding with the The Black Keys.

After releasing their Digital Dream EP in February, Deap Vally are back with their new album MARRIAGE.

Divus Julius presents: Bloc Party

East London art punkers Bloc Party mixed angular sonics with pop structures and helped shape the sound of British indie rock throughout the 2000s. Tense post-punk rhythms and dissonant guitar hooks took their cues from Gang of Four and Joy Division on the band’s 2005 debut Silent Alarm. 

Bloc Party haven’t released an LP since Hymns way back at the beginning of 2016, but they’re set to change that in 2022. The band will release their sixth album Alpha Games in April.

Hit of The Week: FKA twigs feat. Central Cee “Measure of a Man”

FKA twigs and Central Cee have shared “Measure of a Man,” a track teased by twigs in an Instagram post last week. It will appear on the soundtrack of The King’s Man, the third instalment (and prequel) of the British-American action-comedy series Kingsman, coming to theaters December 22.

Music by Bergman: The Wombats

The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003. The Wombats have dropped their new single, ‘Everything I Love Is Going To Die’.

It’s a track from their upcoming fifth studio album ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’, which is set for release on 7th January via AWAL and sees them tour the UK next spring.