Rock + Alternative

In October 2017, L.A.-via-Nebraska phenom King Leg released his debut album, Meet King Leg (Sire/Warner), a winsome collection of heartland power-pop and twangy balladry gilded by his Orbison-esque croon. Here, he lets us ride shotgun with a Dowsers playlist of favorite road tunes: “Here are some songs Ive enjoyed listening to while driving around: windows down on many; windows up on some. Some of these songs are perfect for neighborhood driving with plenty of four-way stops, while some are better for speeding under a yellow light. Open-road driving or bumper-to-bumper wallowing, this list has a song for me. Mostly, I just like to start the car and turn it up and let the tunes do the steering.”——King Leg Watch the video for King Leg’s “Great Outdoors” (co-directed by Dwight Yoakam!):

Seattle hard-rock supergroup Walking Papers——featuring Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin——recently released their second album, WP2. Here, the band’s singer/guitarist, Jefferson Angell, shares the music that moves him, either physically or mentally. “I divide my music into two categories: music for the neck up, and music for the neck down. I dont really prefer any one genre over another. This playlist has a little of both and was put together spontaneously as I listened along. I just allowed them to work their magic at the moment and let my mind lead me to the next one. All of these songs, at one time or another, stopped me in my tracks, and I became obsessed with them. Exclusively, or along with the album they are pulled from. Some are new to me, others have stuck with me since childhood.”——Jefferson Angell, Walking Papers

"Everybody hates a tourist," a wise, skinny man once sang. So lets leave "Wonderwall" at the karaoke bar and rediscover some quality overlooked choons from the Britpop era, which, in our unscientific opinion, begins with Suedes self-titled 1993 debut and stretches all the way to 2000, if only to remind you that Gay Dad and Elasticas The Menace werent all that bad. (Really!) Were also abiding by a fairly liberal definition of Britpop here, because tracks like Spiritualizeds "Lay Back in the Sun" and Shacks "Natalies Party" are as eternally splendorous as anything produced by their NME-mugging peers.After listening to this playlist, youll be left wondering why Oasis "Hey Now" wasnt as big as "Supersonic," why the Boo Radleys werent as big as Oasis, why Pulps "Sylvia" isnt considered Jarvis Cockers career-defining performance, and why the only way to experience Echobellys "Insomniac" on Spotify is through the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack. Youll also be reminded of that fleeting moment when Ride went mod-rock, The Stone Roses turned into Led Zeppelin, and Radiohead were just a bunch of alt-rock chancers who named their first album after a Jerky Boys sketch. And if 2018 brings us a Catatonia revival, then our work is done.

Hey! My name is Frank Hannon and I am a singer/solo artist, as well as the lead guitarist for the multi-platinum band TESLA. Our biggest selling (and some would argue "best" album) was an album recorded live in concert, called Five Man Acoustical Jam. It was an honest and raw recording.As a kid growing up and discovering music on FM radio in the 1970s, there was a trend of live albums that would fuel my passion for rock n roll. By 1976, FM rock-radio stations were playing live recordings that were huge hits. Peter Frampton had the biggest live album of all time, while he also previously had success with a live album in 1971 with Humble Pies Performance: Rockin the Fillmore!The 70s decade would produce and capture some of the best recordings of the greatest concerts by legendary artists. The albums that captured the purest, most raw and honest performances are the ones that grabbed me the most. It was the sound of screaming electric guitars mixed with an enthusiastic audience that created the interplay that would inspire me to want to play music the rest of my life.

Whats This Playlist All About? The NIN mastermind cherry-picks from his own catalog to gift us with a soundtrack for soaking in the beautiful sadness of solitude. His only tip: "Darkness optional but recommended."What Do You Get? Reznors bleakest but most seductive instrumentals, mostly from his film scores with main collaborator Atticus Ross. Theres no shortage of minor keys, moaning drones, and endless black holes of white noise. The mood is not all nihilistic, though; in fact, the way the songs flow—patiently, almost placidly—allows for ample moments of blissful reflection. Darkest Moment: Theres something truly disorienting about the weirdly pitched drones weaving through Reznors soft piano jabs on "Soft Trees Break the Fall" from The Social Network. Its even more terrifying to think about listening to this while scrolling through Facebook.What Did He Forget? While a few tracks from the underrated Still are here, that releases glistening finale "Leaving Hope" would have been a fine addition. But perhaps that ones better with the lights on.Should You Dare Play This in the Presence of Others? We wouldnt. This stuff can take you to dark places you never knew existed.

Since their 2005 debut, San Diego power trio Earthless have been pushing stoner-rock to new extremes in cosmic exploration and rhythmic intensity——and mostly without the use of vocals. However, on their upcoming release, Black Heaven (out March 16), guitarist Isaiah Mitchell steps up to the mic on a full-time basis. To celebrate his graduation to proper frontman, we asked him to curate a playlist of inspirational voices. Thin Lizzy, “Honesty is No Excuse”: Phil Lynott has one of my all-time favorite voices. His phrasing is wonderful. The longing in his voice.....Andy Irving and Paul Brady, “Lough Erne Shore”: Paul Brady has one of the most unique voices I’ve ever heard. Absolutely beautiful. I wish I could sing like that.Bad Brains, “Banned in D.C.”: H.R. is my favorite all-time punk vocalist. An incredible force of nature. Power.Charley Patton, “High Water Everywhere - Part 1”: Patton also has one of the most unique voices I have ever heard. When I close my eyes and listen to his recordings, I see an old man with a few teeth. Gritty and gravelly. Not a cooler voice in the world. Such an old sound. I wish I could sing like him, too.Freddie King, “Same Old Blues”: One of my all-time favorite vocalists and guitarists. The sound that comes out of him is one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. He sounds big because he is big. Belts it.Traffic, “40,000 Headsman”: Steve Winwood is another all-time favorite. So much soul. There’s this brassy sound to his voice that I love——like Sam Cooke.Sam Cooke, “Cupid”: One of my favorite songs of all time by one of my all-time favorite singers. Sams voice was one of the smoothest and velvetiest sounds to come out of a human.Townes Van Zandt, “Rake”: His voice, phrasing, and lyrics are unmatched. How he can keep all that together and play guitar the way he does to accompany what he has to say, I still don’t know. Another great example of Townes’ mastery of voice and guitar is “Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold.”Warren Zevon, “Lawyers, Guns, and Money”: Warren Zevon is pretty new to my life. A good buddy introduced me to him and now I’m hooked. Just a total bad-ass. The voice and lyrics fit together just right.Muddy Waters, “Long Distance Call”: Muddy is one of my earliest heroes. Such an animated voice. One of the most imitated singers of all time.Howlin’ Wolf, “Spoonful”: Wolf is as important to me as Muddy is. Big man with a bigger voice. He was the full package on stage, playing great slide guitar and blowing harmonica, backed up by one of the greatest voices of all time.Fleetwood Mac, “Jumping at Shadows”: Peter Green is another one of my hands-down, all-time favorite voices. He bears it all.Cream, “We’re Going Wrong”: Out of all the singers I’m into and try to imitate, I think I approach my vocals with a Jack Bruce filter. It’s not obvious, but I hear his voice while singing songs I’ve written. I don’t always go the Jack Bruce route, but I’m glad the path is there when I need it.Stevie Wonder, “I Was Made to Love Her”: He gave it all. Pure joy. Arguably the greatest male voice of all time. It doesn’t need explaining.Peter Tosh, “No Sympathy”: Solid as a rock. Such a bad-ass. Preaching.The Band, “It Makes No Difference”: Rick Danko is up in my top five favorite vocalists. He sounds like he’s singing the last performance of his life and absolutely gives it everything he’s got and doesn’t hold back. Everyone on this list does that, but Danko hits me in a different way.The Four Tops, “Reach Out, I’ll Be There”: Levi Stubbs, to me, has one of the defining voices of Motown. When the verse kicks in on “Reach Out,” the power that comes through the speakers floors me every time.Sandy Denny, “Late November”: Beautiful and powerful all rolled into one. Music is the healer. You have to give in completely if you want it to heal you. She gave it all.ZZ Top, “Just Got Paid”: One of my all-time favorite bands and guitar players. Billy Gibbons has a voice that doesn’t fit with the way he looks… at least in his early days. Great lyrical content. All hail the Reverend. The real deal.Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, “City Slang”: Fred “Sonic” Smith has a voice I wish I had. Cool as hell. Deep. Another person whose sound is the epitome of cool. One of my all-time favorites.

Chances are it will never become a national holiday unless Jack White is elected president, a possibility that may not be so far-fetched given the universe we now live in. Regardless, Record Store Day has fast become one of the most cherished events on the calendar for a growing swath of music lovers. Back when it began in 2007, the event’s humble ambition was to celebrate the musical ecosystem fostered and sustained by the nearly 1,400 independent record stores in the U.S. But little did the participants know that vinyl sales were about to boom, making an unlikely climb from 1.88 million units in 2008 to 13.1 million last year. So what if the top-selling vinyl LP last year was by Twenty One Pilots? Nothing can spoil the sweetness of this comeback, not with new record stores becoming the surest sign of a gentrifying neighbourhood.Meanwhile, the number of special releases for Record Store Day has grown nearly as dramatically. Ranging from instantly covetable seven-inch singles to ridiculously lavish box sets—and from long out-of-print albums by heritage acts to obscurities by new favourites—the massively diverse slate for this year is another embarrassment of riches. To whet your proverbial whistle, here’s a selection of tracks from this years Record Store Day releases that can be yours. That is, of course, if you happen to be in the right store at the right time. Quantities range from the 5,000 copies for the new edition of David Bowie’s BOWPROMO—a long AWOL EP originally released as a teaser for Hunky Dory—to the mere 200 copies for an exclusive split single on Captured Tracks by Alex Calder and Homeshake, all proceeds for which go to the International Refugee Assistance Project. It’s up to you how to spend those dollars on Record Store Day, but make ‘em count.

With each new Gorillaz album, more attention is paid to the number of guest collaborators invited to perform than to the group’s only consistent musical member: Damon Albarn. Humanz, which arrives this week, is no different. The songs released so far center around performances from Benjamin Clementine, Popcaan, Vince Staples, Jehnny Beth, D.R.A.M., Pusha T, and Mavis Staples, with Albarn happily orchestrating things from behind the curtain. But he’s a strong performer and highly sought-after collaborator in his own right, one completely worthy of the spotlight he avoids. His selfless attitude, which foregrounds other performers in his own work, makes him such a great songwriting partner.Taking cues from The Kinks and XTC, Albarn’s early work in Britpop act Blur focused on couching his biting social commentary in character studies, a theme that continued even after the band’s influences drifted further and further beyond the white cliffs of Dover. As the band began to pull apart in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, Albarn walked away, melodica in hand, and started the horror film-loving, The Specials-aping, cartoon outfit Gorillaz, beginning a lifetime of long-standing—and very fruitful—collaborations with the eclectic and diverse likes of Bobby Womack, De La Soul, and Tony Allen, among many others.He’s had countless other projects, including Mali Music, Rocket Juice & The Moon, and DRC Music, as well as his Honest Jon’s label, all of which show the songwriter using his visibility in pop music to give credit where credit is due, and to highlight the work of incredible musicians who have inspired him.This playlist goes deep into Albarn’s discography, putting his songwriting talents front and center and focusing on the not-so-guest-heavy songs that form the bedrock of Gorillaz’s nearly 20-year career. It also contextualizes his work with Blur, the band that put him on the map, and any and every collaboration he’s been involved with in between.Click here to follow this playlist on Spotify.

The age of the rock ‘n’ roll shaman is nearly gone. As far as frontman archetypes go, David Bowie’s cool and detached postmodernism won and Jim Morrison’s fiery and passionate romanticism lost. The idea of rock as something sacred and visionary has gradually gone out of fashion. This makes a singer like Mark Lanegan, who just released his 10th full-length, Gargoyle, a dead man walking. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.Ever since the longtime cult artist was a young underground rocker—one clearly inspired by Morrison and haunted punk-bluesman Jeffrey Lee Pierce, whose performances were regularly described as séances and possessions—Lanegan and his dark, cavernous, graveyard groan have been evoking spirit images of archaic apparitions and the underworld. In particular, the singer’s rendition of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” (which predates Nirvana’s) sounds like a transmission from hell. Meanwhile, his lyrics come littered with Jungian imagery and references to religion and altered states of consciousness: In the 2004 single “Hit The City,” a sublimely ominous rocker featuring PJ Harvey on backing vocals, he sings about darkness, the promised land, ghosts, and kingdom come—that’s some grade A esoterica.Shamans are loners, people who participate in village life yet largely live outside of it, and that’s Lanegan to a tee. While he spent a good deal of his early years with Screaming Trees—a Pacific Northwest band who were always more in tune with the otherworldliness of ’80s psychedelia than sweaty dude-grunge—he started his solo career way back in 1990 with The Winding Sheet. Since then, the 6’ 2” brooder has cut a labyrinthine path: In addition to a slew of solo gems blending mountain folk balladry, gothic-tinged blues rock, dream pop, and even electronic, he’s racked up short-lived collaborations with stoner rock gods Queens of the Stone Age, Scottish chanteuse Isobel Campbell, fellow alt-rock icon Greg Dulli, avant-garde guitarist Duke Garwood, and electronic producer Moby. Lanegan loves working with other musicians, he just never sticks around for very long. Perhaps that’s because the vocalist, like any shaman, ultimately feels more at home in the spirit world than our own.Click here to follow this playlist on Spotify.

When members of Midlake, Franz Ferdinand, Grandaddy, Travis, and Band of Horses started exchanging ideas via email in 2013, they probably didn’t care that they were taking part in a long, if sometimes neglected, tradition in the music world. Nor should they—the idea of putting together a supergroup for its own sake is pretty dumb, unless you’re Sebastian Bach. This motive tends to be secondary to the usual reasons that musicians get together, like playing with others whose company they enjoy or taking a break from the pressures of maintaining a major act.That this particular congregation of musicians savored the chance to play together and socialize is reflected in the title they chose for the project: BNQT, pronounced “banquet.” The nods to the Traveling Wilburys in both the album title and the jangly folk-pop sound of BNQT’s debut release, Volume 1, suggest that they’re well aware of the historic code of the supergroup. We can only assume that the question of who got to be Roy Orbison was determined by rock-paper-scissors.They’re hardly the only example of a group in recent years who have abided the same code, one that gave us Blind Faith and CSNY at the best of times and Damn Yankees at the not-so-best. Certain musicians, such as Jack White, Damon Albarn, and Dave Grohl, have been repeat supergroup-participators, evidence of their many musical interests and extrovert tendencies, and the century has also seen a boom of free-floating collectives whose members have many extracurricular activities—Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, UNKLE—but who nevertheless swagger like a supergroup whenever they deign to convene.Contemporary definitions of a supergroup can also stretch to contain side projects like EL VY, fronted by The National’s Matt Berninger, or Nice As Fuck, featuring Jenny Lewis, though traditionalists may reserve the term for more conventional matchups between musicians with equally illustrious resumes, like Divine Fits (Spoon + Wolf Parade + New Bomb Turks) and Minor Victories (Slowdive + Mogwai + Editors). Even if these equations don’t always result in the irrefutable chocolate-and-peanut-butter deliciousness we hope for, supergroups can still be super, as these choice cuts prove.Click here to follow this playlist on Spotify.