A new feature here on Art of the Mixtape is Small Stack Tuesdays, an ode to those good old 45’s and 78’s from back in the day. The inaugural edition features a great duet from two unlikely sources as well some great other bands recent releases. Stay tuned and enjoy the music.
1. Representing Memphis (featuring Matt Berninger & Sharon Jones)- Booker T. Jones
Yes indeed, that is the very same Booker T. that led the Stax houseband behind such hits like “Green Onions” and every single track Sam & Dave and Otis Redding ever made. Here, Jones leads the inimitable Sharon Jones and Matt Berninger (of The National) through a soulful melody that truly does represent Memphis.
Representing Memphis (Feat. Matt Berninger Sharon Jones)- Booker T. Jones
2. Can’t You Tell- Vetiver
This isn’t the same Vetiver that came out with the sweet and breezy “Everyday” last year, rather this is a hazy trip through city streets (Andy Cabic, the head singer/songwriter himself said he wrote this while wandering through San Francisco) think of it as a more mellow MGMT, with a melody thats as equally trippy as it is catchy.
3. Greenleaf- The Generationals
The retro styled band from New Orleans has no intentions on letting up on its simple flavored melodies with its sophomore effort, Actor-Caster. While “Ten-Twenty-Ten” features more of a lively rhythm section, “Greenleaf” is a great piano led number with an arrangement appropriately drenched in sunny reverb and flashes of the bass line from Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness”. Few bands can intermingle retro and modern as well as this duo.
4. Montezuma- Fleet Foxes
With Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes are back to their bucolic harmonious ways. “Montezuma” is a builder, featuring mostly sparse instrumentation, and great backing vocals.
5. Til The Sun Rips- Woods
Chances are you haven’t heard of the lo-fi Brooklyn band Woods, who produce their music from their own record label Woodsist, and feature an eclectic mix of tape-loops, campfire acoustic folk and blended vocals, definitely a band worth checking out.
