Ever since my first job at MTV working as a music programmer, I can't stop trying to match people with music they might like. So, I wrote a book called Record Collecting for Girls and started interviewing musicians. The Music Concierge is a column where I share music I'm listening to that you might enjoy, with a little context. Get everything I've recommended this year on Spotify, follow me on Twitter or Facebook, and leave a comment below telling me what you're listening to this week.
HAIM "Summer Girl"
The Haim sisters return with their summer take on Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" with more than a passing nod to Luscious Jackson's entire Naked Eye album aesthetic (if you're not familiar with those but liked this song, I'll wait while you go check them out). It's a summer-in-the-city take on Hot Girl Summer just in time for August to blast us all into heat oblivion. Honestly, I love when artists drop a slower jam in the depths of the summer heat because they know it's too hot out to shake it fast. Put this one on and take everything else off, it's too hot to exist (this sentence brought to you by living in Texas).
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Angel Oslen "All Mirrors"
Angel Olsen is taking us all back to the strangest moments from The Hunger but with "Bella Legosi's Dead" vibes in black and white with her new song. The instrumentation is classic goth anthem, causing visions of The Sisters of Mercy to dance in my head while the screeching synths remind me of those creepy string parts in every Alfred Hitchcock movie. She's not on a different page from the rest of the streaming charts, she's in a whole different book.
Sabrina Claudio "Holding the Gun"
Sabrina Claudio starts this video with a Nietzche quote (!!!) and then slips into Bonnie and Clyde if they had Thelma and Louise's red convertible (watch it on YouTube), all on a song that is one of the softest, warmest grooves about a dysfunctional relationship I've heard since Sade fucked up my whole romantic life. The flip side of pretty is dark, and this is pretty dark as well as pretty phenomenal.
Snoh Aalegra "Situationship"
Listening to this song is like sliding down a waterfall except instead of water, it's the feeling of having a crush that's slowly crashing to the ground. Snoh Aalegra makes singing about realizing that you've been messing with a fuckboy into a bop with an incredibly catchy chorus full of red flags.
Violet Bell "Howl"
I swear this song would fit right into the Midsommar soundtrack . There's a thin line between traditional, indigenous folk songs and true bluegrass and Americana. It could soundtrack a campfire night or some frolicking while wearing a leafy crown — just stay out of the yellow building.