So. The name of this website is “Frederick Playlist.” It took more than two years, but we were sitting around recently and got to thinking: Well, why don’t we ever focus more prominently on actual playlists? And then it was brought to our attention that Fractal Cat was coming back to town. And then we thought this: Wait. Here’s an idea …
Why don’t we ask some of these fine musicians what they’re actually listening to these days and then why don’t we publish those lists, fully equipped with YouTube clips so you – yes, you! – can experience some of this music yourself? Thus, boom: The Celebrity Playlist was born.
Behold entry No. 1, which comes from Miles Gannett, who fronts the Baltimore band Fractal Cat. In addition to working on some brand new music that will be hitting the universe sooner rather than later, they will be taking The Blue Side stage on Friday, and there isn’t a single gosh darn reason you should miss it. There’s a lot of good, interesting stuff in here (and if you ask us, be sure you make it, at the very least, to Professor Longhair’s “Tipitina” because … well, because it’s Professor Longhair, duh), so be sure to press play on a few things. They are set to rock it and roll it around 9:30 p.m and who knows – maybe you’ll hear one or four of these if you stick around long enough.
Enjoy!
13th Floor Elevators: “Slip Inside This House”
The first two Elevators albums are trail-blazing psychedelic rock revelations. This song, from their second album, “Easter Everywhere,” is an epic work of acid exegesis.
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The Seeds: “Evil Hoodoo”
I’ve been on a big proto-punk garage psychedelia kick – so much so that I had to exercise restraint to not fill this entire playlist with artists from the “Nuggets” box set! It was hard to decide which Seeds song to feature, but in the end, it’s all about the fuzz bass.
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Morgan Delt: “I Don’t Want to See What’s Happening Outside”
New modern psych from the Sub Pop label. Find out what’s happening outside … .
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Jimi Hendrix: “Izabella”
I listen to Jimi pretty much anytime I want to hear good electric guitar. I really like the funky direction he was going in during the last couple years of his life. Here’s Jimi in 1969 playing live with the Band of Gypsies.
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Holy Modal Rounders: “Random Canyon”
I would like to visit this canyon where “the psychedelic sage puts the cattle in a rage, and the changing range is getting pretty strange.”
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The Incredible String Band: “Waltz of the New Moon”
The Incredible String Band’s “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter” is an essential work of British psychedelic folk music, combining weirdo-eclectic instrumentalism with cosmic-comic lyrics: “We are the tablecloth and also the table, also the fable of the dancing leaves.”
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Twisted Vines: “Pretty Polly”
A dark traditional murder ballad done in a folk rock style that sounds like an updated version of classic Fairport Convention. It’s got beautiful male and female vocals, and really great electric guitar.
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Professor Longhair: “Tipitina”
There was about a two week period recently where all I wanted to listen to was Fess. There’s no greater music in the universe, I say!
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Kevin Ayers: “Singing a Song in the Morning”
Kevin Ayers is another artist who has been in such constant rotation for me the past couple years that I had a terrible time trying to decide which song of his to include. You should listen to this single (famously rumored to feature Syd Barrett, though he may have just stood there without playing), and then immediately listen to the entirety of his 1969 masterpiece “Joy of a Toy.”
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The Flying Burrito Brothers: “Sin City”
Fractal Cat will be dipping its claws in a bit of psychedelic country this Friday, so here’s a hot burrito to get you in the mood!
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Bertling Noise Laboratories: “We Have Each Other”
Nick Bertling is the drummer for Baltimore’s Andy Bopp, and he’s also the brains behind Bertling Noise Laboratories. Nick and I connected immediately over music, and he ended up helping me produce Fractal Cat’s “Lovingkind” in 2014. This track from his new album, “The Flehmen Response,” will make you feel stuff.
