Tag: EW Playlists (11-20 of 26)

Jul 23 2012 03:10 PM ET

In honor of her death one year ago, listen to our Amy Winehouse playlist

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It’s hard to believe it, but it’s only been a year since the talented and troubled British singer Amy Winehouse passed away at the age of 27.

The mark she left on the musical landscape is considerable (she helped usher the United Kingdom’s ongoing explosion of soul and R&B singers, and everyone from Patti Smith to Green Day have dedicated songs to her), and her absence has been felt more deeply thanks to string of posthumously released material, including a Grammy-winning duet with Tony Bennett and a collab or two with Nas.

There are many ways to remember Winehouse’s life. One great way is by donating to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which provides “help, support or care for young people, especially those who are in need by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction.”

Of course, another way to honor the singer is to listen to her music. She was only able to put out two albums (2003′ Frank and 2006′s platinum breakout Back in Black) in her lifetime, but she still supplied us with more than enough great songs. Combined with cuts from last year’s Lioness collection and a cameo on this year’s Nas album Life is Good, our playlist of Amy Winehouse favorites is worth a spin of three today.

Give it a listen with the Spotify player below:

READ FULL STORY »

Jul 19 2012 03:09 PM ET

EW’s Midsummer Playlist: Frank Ocean, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Killers and more — stream it here

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Are your favorite May and June jams starting to melt in the sun? We update your BBQ soundtrack with 10 fresh picks which you can listen to.

1. FRANK OCEAN, “Sweet Life” L.A. rich-kid oblivion never sounded so seductive. In his silky Stevie Wonder croon, the R&B wunderkind chronicles a “domesticated paradise” of palm trees, pills, and ever-replenishing exotic-fruit bowls: “Whatever feels good, whatever takes you mountain high.”

2. THE KILLERS, ”Runaways” Between Brandon Flowers’ Boss-y conviction, that surreal Las Vegas shimmer, and a chorus that flies high enough to make Icarus jealous, the opening salvo from the band’s September album is an oasis in the radio-rock desert.

3. FUTURE, “Same Damn Time” Summer presents a lot of choices: Hot dogs or hamburgers? Sandy beach or country-club pool? Shorts or short shorts? With its booming beat and Godzilla-size trap-star swagger, the white-hot rap anthem of these multitasking times says you can have them all.

4. USHER FEAT. PHARRELL, “Twisted” The typically super-modern R&B maestro goes retro, enlisting the Neptunes beat king to stir a little James Brown funk peanut butter into his Stax-style soul jam. And guess what? It’s delicious.

5. CARLY RAE JEPSEN AND OWL CITY, “Good Time” Soaring cheerleader-pop melody? Flirty boy-girl chorus? Magic pixie dust left over from Jepsen’s smash “Call Me Maybe”? Yes, yes, and… Wait, what did you say? We couldn’t hear you with our face pressed up against the speakers.

6. TANLINES, ”All of Me” The Brooklyn electro duo’s name says, “Oh! You missed a spot with the Coppertone.” But their airy synths-and-handclaps ’80s throwback sighs, “Actually, I’m too busy watching Pretty in Pink for the 93rd time to go outside.”

7. JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD, “Sixpack” Nashville stoner-rock bros Jake and Jamin Orrall know that all you need this weekend is a massively buzzed-out guitar, a few PBRs, and a choice mantra to shout at your rooftop pool party: “I wanna cool out/And get wasted!”

8. DEMI LOVATO, “Give Your Heart a Break” Don’t be frightened by Demi’s stalker intensity. Like all the best guilt-free summer flings, this unshakable single—all seesawing violins, pretty synths, and sweet pleas—simply wants you to put a Ring Pop on it.

9. MATT & KIM, “Let’s Go” Their buoyant indie-pop gem comes complete with instructions: Sing along to its bright hooks and softly crooned ooh-ooohs with your “windows rolled down.” With a decent stereo and a broken air conditioner, you’ll have no trouble obliging.

10. CAT POWER, “Ruin” You may not be leaving your zip code this summer, but indie rock’s recently returned siren will stamp your mental passport with her far-flung travelogue (Soweto, Calcutta, Chile, Mozambique). Just take care to listen to the cautionary message beneath the song’s tropical piano and gorgeous echo-chamber vocals.

Give our picks a spin with the Spotify playlist below!

READ FULL STORY »

Jul 4 2012 03:30 PM ET

Celebrate 4th of July with Katy Perry, Will Smith, and more in our Spotify holiday playlist

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Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Even though it awkwardly sits in the middle of the week this year, the Fourth of July remains the most ideal holiday: There’s no psychological trauma surrounding giving the right gift, you usually don’t have to travel to fully enjoy it, and there’s no somber occasion that makes you feel guilty about getting a day off from work. It’s simply an excuse to go outside, put meat on fire, and watch colorful things explode.

Of course, it’s also important to crank up some music as loud as humanly possible in order to fully enjoy the Fourth of July. That’s why EW has put together a special Spotify playlist for Independence Day, which features 29 killer songs sure to upgrade your backyard barbecue. There are odes to the summer months (Will Smith’s “Summertime,” Mungo Jerry’s “In the Summertime,” Flaming Lips “It’s Summertime”), hat tips to the home of the brave (Neil Young’s “Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World,” Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom), and some actual songs called “4th of July” by the likes of Aimee Mann, X, and Bruce Springsteen.

You’ll also find a handful of tracks about partying, one or two shout-outs to the backyard, and Sweet’s “Fox On the Run” (because you can’t have a party without “Fox On the Run”).

Check out the playlist below, and please remember to handle your fireworks carefully. Happy Fourth! READ FULL STORY »

Jun 21 2012 06:27 PM ET

Fly like GOOP: Gwyneth Paltrow reveals her ultimate travel playlist -- Hear it here

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Are you still catching your flights to Brian Eno’s Music For Airports? Pssh, that’s so last century.

Thanks to the consistent knowledge droppings we pick up from GOOP’s weekly newsletters, we now know how Gwyenth Paltrow likes to fly: fancily!

First of all, we learned that Mrs. Chris Martin boards planes with high doses of vitamin C to “ward off viruses and strengthen immunity.” Contagion taught her well! On top of that, she also makes sure to carry on fizzy quantities of magnesium (to calm her nervous system, of course), as well as bottles of “active silver.” That’s right, wankstas — active silver.

But despite all that GOOP-y goodness, we’re still more interested in what she dubs her “transatlantic playlist,” which she jams on her iPod/iPad devices during her frequent flights between Los Angeles and London. It’s quite long — 27 songs long, to be exact — and full of surprises. READ FULL STORY »

Jun 13 2012 03:15 PM ET

Usher, Grace Potter, Superchunk are all over this week's Spotify playlist

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Image Credit: Timothy Saccenti

This week in new releases, Usher’s latest finds the radio vet keeping up with the cool kids (hey there, Diplo!), much like the 68-year-old Bobby Womack does on his Damon Albarn-helmed 28th album. And speaking of cool kids, new releases from the likes of Waka Flocka Flame, Evans the Death, and Hot Chip also kept our headphones busy this week.

Plenty of stand-alone singles made the grade as well, including new ones from Lil Wayne, Kylie Minogue, Superchunk and more. Check it all out in the playlist below:

READ FULL STORY »

Jun 5 2012 06:26 PM ET

Beach Boys, Japandroids, Big K.R.I.T. crowd our weekly Spotify playlist

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Thanks to great new material from the likes of Liars, Japandroids, and Temper Trap, this week’s playlist goes heavy on indie rock. Underground hip-hop is also repped hard by Mississippi mixtaper Big K.R.I.T. And then there’s the obscure little garage heroes the Beach Boys, who recently reemerged for their comeback album That’s Why God Made the Radio. 

Also on deck this week: a new collaboration between Sean Kingston and T.I., a fiddle-heavy number from Zac Brown Band, and a downtempo howler from Swede garage monkeys the Hives. And if Wilco’s “Me Avivé” sounds a little familiar to you, it’s because they covered their The Whole Love standout “Dawned on Me” — in Spanish. Y se trabaja muy bien!

Find out what we’re talking about by giving this week’s playlist a spin in the player below:

READ FULL STORY »

May 29 2012 06:00 PM ET

Azealia Banks, Patti Smith, Haley Reinhart invade our weekly Spotify playlist

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What do a Harlem rapper, an American Idol runner-up, and a legendary French chanteuse have in common? They’ve all landed repeat-worthy songs on our playlist this week.

Hip-hop hipster Azealia Banks proved there’s more where “212″ came from with her long-awaited 1991 EP, while third-place Idol contestant finds her own style on her debut, Listen Up! Elsewhere, the soundtrack to Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom gave us an excellent reason to put Francois Hardy’s timeless “Le Temps de l’Amour” back in rotation.

Also here: punk poet Patti Smith unleashes her first new album in five years, indie-folk messiah Edward Sharpe (a.k.a. onetime Robot Alex Ebert) and his Zeroes bliss out on his second album, and Rick Ross and Usher joined forces to touch us with their hot new single.

Other artists on this week’s docket: Kip Moore, Travis Porter, Katy Perry, 2:54, Scissor Sisters, and more. Check it all out in the playlist below:

READ FULL STORY »

May 25 2012 01:57 AM ET

In honor of 'Moonrise Kingdom,' listen to a playlist of our favorite Wes Anderson soundtrack songs

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If you’ve already put on your finest camp gear and nonprescription black-framed eyeglasses, then you’re well aware that Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom – the director’s first live-action movie in five years — opens today. And you know what that means: a new Wes Anderson soundtrack!

By now, the filmmaker’s soundtracks have become more or less their own genre. Anderson is clearly a man of cultured (and very specific) tastes, and his curatorial chops shine on his soundtracks as brightly as they do in his obsessively detailed movies. The trailer for his latest, for instance, has Francois Hardy’s classic “Le Temps de l’Amour” basically woven into its DNA.

Yet the soundtrack to Kingdom, his seventh feature-length film, is the most unlike his previous ones. Anderson’s movies are usually supported by a mix of vinyl-era rock greats and British Invasion hipsters (think David Bowie, Love, the Rolling Stones, and especially the Kinks, which he originally wanted to be the only band soundtracking Rushmore) as well as Newport Folk Festival friendlies (such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez), plus original compositions from Devo vet Mark Mothersbaugh. This time around, though, the music comes largely from composer Alexandre Desplat; after him, Hank Williams is the dominant force, with three songs.

Of course, a lot of this probably has to do with the movie being set in 1965, before most of his favorite go-tos were hitting their stride. But that doesn’t mean we’re any less excited — if anything, we’re all the more intrigued.

To get further amped for Anderson’s latest entry, we’ve combed through sixteen years of his soundtracks — from 1996′s Bottle Rocket to today’s Moonrise Kingdom — and put together our ultimate Wes Anderson playlist. Give it a spin below and let us know if you agree with our selections:

READ FULL STORY »

May 22 2012 04:18 PM ET

John Mayer, Kimbra, Joey Ramone grace our weekly Spotify playlist

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Image Credit: Gari Lamar Askew

Last week, we saw a pair of Brits sneak their tracks into Music Mix’s heavy rotation. This time around, however, all sorts of other Commonwealth nations are coming out of the woodwork.

Two venerable New Zealanders of the female persuasion, Kimbra and Ladyhawke, have captured our attention with left-of-center pop songs from their respective new albums.

This week’s playlist also includes ’90s alt-rock survivors Garbage (fronted by Scotswoman Shirley Manson); rising indie-rockers Civil Twilight, who hail from South Africa; and veteran-rockers the Cult, representing England herself. The fun never sets on the British Empire!

Of course, a range of Americans also pleased our ears this week, including new treats from the likes of evolving, apologetic folkie John Mayer, NYC’s dearly departed Joey Ramone, Ohio lo-fi lovers Guided by Voices, and more. Check it all out in the playlist below!

READ FULL STORY »

May 20 2012 10:12 PM ET

Robin Gibb playlist: In memoriam

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It has not been the best week for disco. In just a few short days, two of the artists most identified with the era both passed away after battles with cancer: Donna Summer, and Bee Gees co-founder Robin Gibb.

Unlike Summer, though, Robin Gibb’s voice isn’t exactly front-and-center on the songs most identified with the genre: “Stayin’ Alive,” “How Deep is Your Love,” and “Night Fever” all feature vocal harmonies with brother Barry Gibb singing lead. It was the group’s earlier, pre-disco work in the 1960s and early ’70s where Robin’s tender voice was best on display, on songs like “Massachusetts,” “Lonely Days,” “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You,” “I Started a Joke,” and “New York Mining Disaster 1941.” (In fact, Robin’s perceived lack of support as the group’s lead singer led Robin to split briefly with the Bee Gees in 1969 and try for a solo career that led to moderate success.)

Check out our playlist below for some of the best examples of Robin Gibbs’ singing — including a classic, “Sesame Street Fever.”  READ FULL STORY »

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