Fat Freddy’s Drop - “Ernie” - 2005, This is the first song since highschool that I have wanted my subs back in my car (thanks whoever stole them - and my first guitar). Crank this up and wait for the low range horns to blast in. Fat Freddy’s Drop is a seven piece New Zealand dub/reggae band that started out originally as a fun side project for all of it’s members. Over time they gained international popularity and eventually in 2005 the album that this song came from - Based on a True Story - was the first independently distributed album to reach first place in New Zealand record sales after release, and is the third highest selling album by a national artist in the country’s history.

Arjuna Oakes, Seribii - “One Way to Escape” - 2022, A second artist from New Zealand! Arjuna is a singer/songwriter, pianist, composer and producer. He has been releasing well received music since 2019. This particular song was a release with friend and co-producer Serebii. Serebii is known for blending elements of of serene soundscapes, soul, folk, electronic, and R&B music into his music. The combination of live and electronic instruments in this song make for a really well produced electronic/R&B feel.

Digable Planets - “Where I’m From” - 1993, This song is off of their debut album, and earned them a Grammy for Best New Duo or Group. Digable Planets is known for mixing in jazz and soul music into their samples, which is where they caught my attention. The sample from this song is from KC & the Sunshine Band - “Ain’t Nothing Wrong”.

The Waterboys - “The Whole of the Moon” - 1985, The Waterboys are a British folk rock band started by Scotsman Mike Scott. It has had a rotating cast of musicians, with Mike being the mainstay, most of which are from England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. They are known for their anthemic sound which was dubbed “The Big Music” and described by Scott as, “a metaphor for seeing God’s signature in the world.”

The Sweet Inspirations - “Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream” - 1967, This is one of the most prolific bands on this list. The Sweet Inspirations were founded by Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston), and Lee Warwick (Cissy’s sister and mother of Sweet Inspirations members Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick), and also included Doris Troy. They started as a backup group and were in extremely high demand for their talent, singing for stars like Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield, Elvis Presley, and Esther Phillips. Some songs that they have been featured on are Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”, Jimi Hendrix’s “Burning of the Midnight Lamp”, The Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody”, Frankie Valli’s “Grease”, The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done” (that one was a surprise).

The Budos Band - “Budos Theme” - 2005, The Budos Band is from Staten Island, NY, and described as a “doom rock Afro-soul big band with a ‘70s touch, that joins musical universes from trippy psychedelia and Afro-funk to “70s hard rock and late ‘60s soul.” So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

J. Roddy Walston & The Business - “Don’t Break the Needle” - 2010, Good old piano rock n roll is hard to come by these days, but J Roddy Walston has it covered. I first heard of him from the band, Houndmouth, who had recently played some shows as the opening act. J Roddy’s albums are really good, but his live shows are great.

Elliott BROOD - “Write It All Down for You” - 2008, Shout out to the Canadian cousins for turning me on to Elliot BROOD quite a while ago. This is one of my favorite songs by them, and one of the first that I heard.

Guts, Leron Thomas - “Man Funk” - 2014, Guts is a beatmaker, producer, and DJ from France, that is big in European hip hop as well as the European club scene where he DJs. For this song, he collaborated with Leron Thomas, a Jazz trumpeter and vocalist from New York by way of Houston (Htown represent).

Betty Davis - “He Was a Big Freak” - 1974, I had to follow “Man Funk” with some Lady Funk. If George Clinton is the Godfather of Punk, then Betty Davis is the Godmother. As a fun fact, she was briefly married to Miles Davis, but that is beside the point. Her brand of funk is raw and sexual. She has been noted as an influence by famous artists like Prince, Macy Gray, and Beyonce. Religious groups protested many of her concerts, and radio outlets refused to play her more extreme music - that’s how you know it’s good.

Eddie 9V, Lane Kelly - “Chamber of Reflection” - 2023, Eddie 9V is young (only 28), but he channels classic R&B with the best of them. This song is a modern R&B style cover of Mac Demarco’s “Chamber of Reflection”, however the main theme was originally written and recorded in the 70s by Japanese musician, Shigeo Sekito.

Diplo, Sturgill Simpson, Dove Cameron (Johnny Blue Skies), DJ Fudge - “Use Me (Brutal Hearts)” - 2023, On this month’s episode of Sturgill Simpson does whatever he wants, we pair him up with Diplo of course. Diplo made his name as a producer and DJ in the 2000s electronic music craze and I think has collaborated with every musician. Like all of them. Dove Cameron and Sturgill Simpson (credited as Johnny Blue Skies of course) are the vocalists on this song.

Primus - “Those Damn Blue Collar Tweekers” - 1991, Primus is one of the most interesting - and talented - bands from the 90s. You don’t have to like them. In fact, Primus sucks (or at least that is the credo that the band adopted while playing sold out shows across America). In a time when Alternative rock and Pop music were dominant, Primus went entirely in their own direction. This band is different in every way possible. The lead instrument is a bass, the guitar mainly plays noises over chords or solos, and the fact that the drummer can keep up with Les Claypool’s bass playing is an accomplishment by itself. It hurts my hand to watch Les play the bass, he is so percussive. Les’ vocals sound like he is a carnival barker for a side show. And despite all of these things, Primus wasn’t only successful, but generated one of the biggest cult followings of any band from the 90s. Like I said, you don’t have to like them, but the path they took, and the raw talent the band has, is incredibly impressive.

Deltron 3030 - “3030” - 2000, Deltron 3030 is the supergroup comprised of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, and Kid Koala. Del probably has the most wide recognition by being the featured rapping vocalist in the Gorillaz “Clint Eastwood”. Dan besides being a world class producer, was also a member of Handsome Boy Modeling School (featured on the July 2023 and August 2023 playlists).

Tash Sultana - “Pretty Lady” - 2021, Tash is a multi-instrumentalist singer songwriter from Melbourne, Australia that got their start busking the streets and honing their craft which is primarily looping live. They achieved the incredible feat to go from busking, to platinum records, and sold out shows world wide.

Hello June - “Interstate” - 2023, This song was released only a few short weeks ago, and when I heard it for the first time I was hooked. I had not heard Hello June before, and went through their back catalogue and enjoyed it equally as much. This song is some great guitar driven rock n roll with a singer songwriter quality to the lyrics. They are making their first album in five years, and I am looking forward to see what else they have written.

Joe Cocker - “Woman to Woman” - 1972, If you are a 90s kid like me, you probably will recognize the opening piano part. This song is the main sample of Tupac’s “California Love.” While the more played songs from Joe are along the lines of his version of “With A Little Help From My Friends,” this song really showcases his vocal range. This song almost has a falsetto R&B style to it, but way more raw sounding.

Jalen Ngonda - “That’s All I Wanted From You” - 2023, Jalen was a recent find that came out of nowhere and knocked me out. He’s not reinventing the R&B/Soul wheel, he’s just doing it really, really well. Naturally, Daptone records has picked him up and released a few singles in the last few months. Really excited to see where this guy goes.

Colter Wall - “Evangelina” - 2023, Colter Wall is a part of the Country/Folk scene that is making waves along with the likes of Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers. Even though he’s only in his late 20s, he sings with the depth of someone that has seen decades of practice. He is also from Saskatchewan, Canada - which I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of another musician from there, much less from his home town of Swift Current (population 16,604).

Tennessee Ernie Ford - “Goober Peas” - 1961, While Colter is a relative newcomer to the country scene, Tennessee Ernie Ford is an OG. This song is his version of a traditional folk song that the earliest publishing date is 1866 (and the composing credit went to P. Nutt - a Goober Pea is a peanut). It was popular in the south in the late 1800s and early 1900s.