Every August it seems like half of us are a little sad to say goodbye to the summer, while the other half looks forward to crisper days and the coming of autumn. This edition of Pandora Picks straddles a similar line with new and old songs, both warming and chill. What songs soundtracked your end of summer?
Press play to listen to Pandora Picks – August 2024
My August pick is “Karma Queen” from New Orleans, all-women, brass band, Brass Queens. They have an album coming out in October called Hot Tub Sessions, Vol 1. I love to see a band full of women. I love to see women on stage performing music, no matter what. And I love to see women supporting women. So, enjoy Brass Queens.
-Jamie
Callahan & Witscher is the duo of Jack Callahan and Jeff Witscher – two people that I know from kind of experimental noise music – and together, they decided to make like a Sugar Ray type album and it's a bit baffling. The album is called Think differently. And this is one of the singles, vocals by someone named Sedona. Always baffling, Callahan & Witscher.
-George
I usually try to pick new music every month, but I just discovered this, so it's basically new to me and hopefully new to you too. Besides having one of the best band names ever, Spain's The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness delivers laid-back heartfelt bright and shiny pop. And while I feel like I could have picked any song on the record (because I love them all), I picked a song with one of those rare chord progressions that instantly sears itself into your brain. “Can't You See?” is a short, sharp, ultra humble chunk of woozy jangle pop, replete with a falsetto bridge, an a cappella break, and a verse that's somehow even catchier than the chorus. There's some alternative timeline out there where this band is as popular as they should be in this one. So, check out The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness from 2021’s Songs From Another Life.
-Andee
My pick for this month comes off the new Vampire Weekend album. I had the pleasure of seeing Vampire Weekend at the Greek Theater in Berkeley on Father's Day of this year and we decided to go, kind of last minute. But it was just one of those amazing, beautiful days where it was sunny out, the band was incredible, and it really turned me into a Vampire Weekend super fan to see them live and playing this album. So, I hope you like it – if you do, I definitely recommend checking out the rest of the album. It's “Capricorn” by Vampire Weekend.
-Noel
So back in like 2011 somebody uploaded some amazing VHS footage of Stevie Nicks from 1981. She’s sitting in the makeup chair at Annie Leibowitz’s studio during a Rolling Stone photoshoot and she’s singing along to a demo version of “Wild Heart,” the title-track to her 1982 sophomore solo album. A lot of people commented about how they preferred the simplicity of this version over the finished studio mix. And I totally agreed with them, wondering when would someone smart enough record a cover of this version? Thirteen years later, I see posts on John Strohm’s socials championing Abigail Rose for doing just this. And while I wish Stevie could release that original demo version, this is really the next best thing because it also introduced me to the gorgeous voice of Abigail Rose as well as her own music.
-Eric S
My pick for August is “And Through The Wire” by Peter Gabriel. This is from the wayback machine(ish). I believe it was 1980. “And Through the Wire” features Paul Weller of The Jam on guitar. The Jam was recording in a nearby studio and Peter was a Jam fan and the pieces came together. Weller's aggressive Rickenbacker rhythm style, presumably through a Vox amp, was just perfect for the song and it sort of brings together the post prog rock world of Peter Gabriel and his history with Genesis and whatnot with the very active new wave of the time as personified by Mr. Weller.
-Eric D
My pick this month is “Image” by Magdalena Bay. I'm a big fan of their 2021 album Mercurial World and their new album Imaginal Disc is equally far out. I really admire their production and interpretation of psychedelic pop music. There's a lot of twists and turns, plus it sounds fantastic with headphones on.
-Chris N
My pick for this month is coming straight from Japan with the song “Feel My Pain” from HEY-SMITH. I never considered myself a ska fan, but this song is making me rethink it all. It's some sort of ska-punk. Maybe it's ska/skate punk. The instrumentals can almost feel like metal. There's something pretty magical about Japanese punk rock – it's so fast and fun. It just makes me want to run really fast in a circle. This song was also used in the new season of Kengan Ashura, the anime on Netflix. HEY-SMITH are touring the US in September with The Suicide Machines and I cannot wait to check them out. I hope you like it.
-Julien
In 1998 I was walking up lower Haight Street on my way to my job at a record store. I saw a guy selling records. So, of course, I had to take a look and one of them was the Rough Trade Records sampler, Wanna Buy A Bridge, which had on the A side all the best early Rough Trade singles. I have the green cover variant with the Grant Street Address for Rough Trade, San Francisco. Anyway, one of the standout cuts on that is “Part Time Punks” by Television Personalities. Oh, what a humorous punky cut! Now, I know what you're thinking: “Chris! You know, all about punk!” And yeah, I pretty much do, but I don't know everything. And it took me decades to investigate Television Personalities more. I should have done this years ago. Anyway, I've been going down that rabbit hole deep, and the cut that's really standing out to me is “Three Wishes” off their album, They Could Have Been Bigger Than The Beatles. It’s a really great, weird, haunting song of early punk jangle.
And I'm just getting into it now. So, who's the part time punk now?
-Chris D
In the dog days of summer, I’ve been enjoying an album by an unlikely collaboration: Six Organs of Admittance and Shackleton. Ben and Sam somehow blend their disparate styles into a heady mix of dubby bass lines, finger picked guitar, and hushed vocals is a perfect soundtrack to a warm evening on the deck with a frosty beverage in hand. Check out “Stages of Capitulation” for a taste!"
-Diego