New year, new you, new tunes! But per usual, some of us dipped into our back pages. Either way, these are our 2024 walk-up songs. What were yours? You can listen to our Pandora Picks for January, 2024 right here.
Pylon Reenactment Society – “Fix It (feat. Kate Pierson)”
Hi, it’s Eric from Pandora. I used to imagine that the best band would be one with Fred Schneider from the B-52’s and Jello Biafra from Dead Kennedys. This band would be called the DK-52’s and would involve a lot of yelling and hollering. Lo and behold, this vision was upstaged by the recent reality of Athens, Georgia’s post-punk matriarch queens Vanessa Briscoe Hay of Pylon and the B-52’s Kate Pierson! “Fix It” is my favorite single (so far) from Pylon Reenactment Society’s upcoming album Magnet Factory. This quirky, herky-jerky hit blends 20th century-era Pylon’s penchant for reinventing post punk with the Reenactment Society’s modern-day dip into melodic indie rock, garnished with the crystalline backing vocals of Kate Pierson. And if you think this song is as awesome as I do, check out the amazing video they made and be sure to catch Pylon Reenactment Society live on tour!
-Eric S.
What's up, you guys? It's Lisa for Pandora Music Analysis. This month I'm just gonna go for the straight-up obvious pick - at least in my world, as a huge Ariana Grande fan. So excited for her new record to come out and obsessed with her single “yes, and?” bringing the house vibes completely 100% back. It's been going on for a little while. I mean, Beyoncé's record Renaissance was full of these references. But it's back, baby. So, here’s a song to really pump you up and get you through January. Check out Ariana's “yes, and?” if you've been able to miss it somehow.
-Lisa
Hi, it’s George from Pandora Content Analysis. I kind of just stumbled on the new work by Frances Chang. I kind of dove into her other albums - she’s a New York-based artist and some of her stuff sounds very singer-songwriter. But some of it reminds me of Helium and Mary Timony’s band from the 1990s. And some of it reminds me of Lily Konigsberg’s new art pop stuff. Yeah, give it a whirl. Here is Eye Land by Frances Chang
-George
The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis – “Emergence”
Hey Michelle Solomon here, Operations Manager and Jazz Programmer at Pandora. So 2024 is already off to a fiery start with the announcement of collaborative album and tour featuring instrumental trio The Messthetics which features the rhythm section of DC punk band Fugazi (in case you didn't know) and jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. Keep your ears open for their self-titled album, which will be out on March 15th via the legendary Impulse Records, in which according to their label, they widen the reach of decisive instrumental music through their overlapping of jazz, punk, funk, aggression, and innovation. Sign me up - here's a bit of that magic on their lead single, “Emergence.”
-Michelle
Sorcerer & Pencey Sloe – “Strangers”
Hi, everyone, it's Julien. My pick for this month is one of my favorite songs of 2023 called “Strangers.” It's a collaboration between two French bands called Pencey Sloe and Sorcerer. I'm generally fascinated by this song which incorporates the dreamy and large side of Pencey Sloe and the anger and heaviness of Sorcerer. It truly feels epic and kind of unpredictable and the good news is that with one song you get to discover two essential bands from the very exciting Paris music scene. Bon écoute!
-Julien
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – “Murder On The Dancefloor”
Hey, this is Jamie from the Creator Services team at Pandora and it is so delightful that “Murder On The Dancefloor” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor is trending because of its being in Salt Burn. What a fun track - 20 years ago, guys…20 years ago! Anyway, enjoy.
-Jamie
You know, normally I don't get too riled up over guitar players. I mean, guitar…come on, who doesn't play a guitar? Even I play guitar. Give me a break! But this dude Raphael Roginski who hails from Krakow, Poland - he does something pretty neat because you kind of can't tell if it's a guitar or what he's doing. And I'm almost upset that I even know the guy's name because sometimes I don't like knowing anything about this stuff - and it adds to it, an air of mystery! And who doesn't love a good mystery now and again? This is Chris in content curation with my Pandora pick by Rafael Roginski and it's called “Electron”
-Chris
SLIFT – “The Words That Have Never Been Heard”
Hey everybody, this is Andee. I manage the Catalog and Crater Services team at Pandora. My pick for this month's Pandora Picks is from the band SLIFT - a modern, psychedelic, space rock, math rock, power trio from France. Their latest record is called ILION – loads of cyclical Kraut rock structures, sprawling prog rock arrangements, soaring, almost operatic vocals, tangled mathy rhythms, swirling ambience and grooves for days. This is the first half of a two-part song suite that takes up the bulk of the new record. This is “The Words That Have Never Been Heard” from SLIFT
-Andee
Grateful Dead – “One More Saturday Night (Live at the Fox Theatre) (St. Louis) (MO 12/10/71)”
Hello - Diego here ringing in the new year with a staple of Grateful Dead New Year’s Eve shows: the song “One More Saturday Night.” This one’s from St. Louis, 1971. Have fun and stay safe!
-Diego
100 gecs, Laura Les & Dylan Brady – “stupid horse”
This is Eric Din, Curator at Pandora. And my pick for this month is one of the weirdest things I think I've heard in a long time: “stupid horse” by 100 gecs, 100 gecs, Laura Les & Dylan Brady. I hope I pronounced these entities correctly. The YouTube video has some hilarious comments. One of them is, “‘God, this is awful,’ I say as I replay this for probably the 40th time in a single day.” And I get it… there's so many things about this that normally would just not be on my radar, you know? But it's just so bizarre and wonderful and then they come in with this, pick-it-up ska thing out of nowhere. It's just… it's frying my brain. I hope you enjoy it. Stupid horse.
-Eric D
Common Hymnal, Jalen Seawright & Royce Lovett – “God Of Color (feat. Bianca White)”
Hey everybody. Melissa Chalos here, Curator of Gospel and Christian for Pandora. You know, people of the Christian faith hear a lot about deconstruction these days. And for good reason, it's difficult to find your footing in the culture at large. There's a lot of stuff happening and it's just difficult. So that's probably why I'm so drawn to Common Hymnal. A creative ecosystem of artists who explore praise and protest of the spiritual underground. Common Hymnal is doing a completely new thing in this space. They fuse gospel, hip-hop, reggae, R&B, and spoken word. And if it lived in the Church, you might see more people return to the Church, but it doesn’t. For the most part, they focus more on racial justice, gun violence, compassion, survival on the fringe…and it gives me great hope for the future of Jesus culture. So, listen to their latest, “God Of Color.” Go check out their socials. This is “God Of Color” by Common Hymnal, Jalen Seawright & Royce Lovett
-Melissa