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CMU Playlists
Playlist: Is Tropical
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 19 June 2013
Kitsuné-signed indie trio Is Tropical released their debut album, ‘Native To’, in 2011. Last month they returned with their second, ‘I’m Leaving’, which was preceded by the single, ‘Dancing Anymore’ – the Megaforce-directed video for which they managed to get just sixteen seconds onto YouTube (you can see the full thing in all its teen fantasy glory on the less scrupulous Vimeo).
As well as that, earlier this year the band became one of the first Western bands to tour Mongolia (or perform there at all). Something Noisey was on hand to document, following them as they explored the country. With all that out of the way, we asked the band’s Dom Apa to put together a playlist for us.
DOM APA’S TEN
Subscribe to this playlist on Spotify, and then read on to find out more about Dom’s choices.
01 Neil Young – Heart Of Gold
Just an awesome song by the King. This track’s from ‘Harvest’, but Neil’s best album is ‘Trans’ – which he wrote for his young autistic son because he seemed to respond to electronic noises more than Neil’s usual style. Apparently he still didn’t like it. The label didn’t either, but we do. A lot.
02 Jeans Wilder – Sparkler
Jeans Wilder [aka Andrew Caddick] is a friend of ours who lives in San Diego. Last time we were in California I rented a Dodge and drove from LA to San Diego with an old friend of ours, Brent Wingen, who’s one of our band heroes. We got stupid drunk at a friend’s bar and had to sleep it off at Andrew’s house. Thanks dude.
03 Wolf Alice – Every Cloud
Went to see Wolf Alice live last night, her stage presence is quite affecting and her band are all super tight. Her songs reminded me of a sort of cross between Mazzy Star and Pale Saints at the time. Recommended.
04 Sinkane – Warm Spell
Sinkane is another live discovery, he’s a very talented musician and well worth checking out. This song is summery and has entered the Skate-Jam-BBQ rotation.
05 Big Deal – In Your Car
One of the summer’s anthems, probably. The chorus is so hooky and the male/female vocals tell a story. This is one from Macks, our friend from the band MT.
06 Cousins – Speech
Cousins are two cool dudes from Canada who played a tiny show in The Shacklewell Arms the other week. They remind me of The Evens a little bit, who are one of my all time favourites. Their songs have the right amount of blues-tinge to sound like they could last forever on God’s jukebox.
07 Nu Sensae – Spit Gifting
Nu Sensae are another band that have been TM’ed by Brent, mentioned before. They are just a straight-up punk band, no bullshit. Their songs are really fucking powerful and they should be way more popular than they are.
08 The KVB – Always Then
The KVB were first played to me by Kiko, who’s another close friend. They have a really good grasp of the gothy electronic sound that got totally banded around in the last few years. They are super young guys, but they sound like they’ve been doing this since before ‘Warm Leatherette’.
09 Schwefelgelb – Zu Zweit
Schwefelgelb are friends of ours from Germany who make amazing Teutonic dance music. Sid’s musical philosophy is really pure and he avoids any kind of contemporary influence. He has a really good ear for melody, too, though he loves to claim he doesn’t. The Schwefelgelb remix of our last single ‘Dancing Anymore’ is a dancefloor fave.
10 Age Of Consent – Heartbreak
Old friends and squat/housemates for years, Age Of Consent are playing awesome gigs on the scene in East London. They have a really good balance between poppy hooks and emotional lyrics that make them sound quite unique.
