You’ve had plenty of opportunities to catch Dawes on the road recently. They just wrapped up a string of dates on the second Daytrotter Barnstorming tour, and are currently on the road with Langhorne Slim that just played Madison last weekend. Their new album North Hills is one of the best albums of the year and I look forward to seeing these guys grow their fan base as a result. We caught up with Dawes who gave us a collection of 5 albums that they enjoy and wanted to share with our readers.

Taylor Goldsmith:

Sail Away – Randy Newman
This record is one of the best examples of a record depending on itself that I’ve ever heard. While every song is essential, no song stands out more than others. Each gives another quick example of Randy’s range and his consciousness of how to keep fresh his perspective as a writer. And yet he only gives you just enough to merely show what he’s capable of, rather than exhaust any of those talents by the end. This way, the record becomes yet another example of how much command he has over his craft, and also how much he likes fucking with his listeners. Along these lines, in every song, you find yourself doubting his honesty as a narrator. Each time you sense any sort of sentimentality or vulnerability, he makes sure to turn it on its head and make you feel like a fool for entertaining any of these loftier thoughts that Randy Newman only intends to play with and accept for their trivial nature.

From The Mars Hotel – Grateful Dead
Whenever I bring up how much I love the Grateful Dead, I tend to get laughed at. To a small extent, it’s starting to feel like ‘American Beauty‘ and ‘Workingman’s Dead,’ are finally being recognized as classic records by all these young roots-rock-loving-indie-kids, but even then, they treat it like it’s some kind of fluke in an otherwise typical tie-dyed psychedelic jam band’s career. It can be really frustrating for a fan like me. Despite the reputation that precedes them, they have a respect for the ‘song’ that equals any of the greats, in my opinion. While this is particularly clear on ‘American Beauty’ and ‘Workingman’s Dead,’ I’ve been listening a lot to ‘From The Mars Hotel’ recently and have been so blown away that even after 7 years after their first release, they’re still able to write some of their best material and stay true to their sound. A common criticism of the dead is that they tend to play a little too loose or a little too sloppy, and yet have one the greatest reputations as a live band in music. My theory on this contradiction is that their focus as a band (maybe consciously, maybe a product of the drug use) has been on simply the enjoyment and the expressive capacity of playing their instruments. And a phenomenon like that can be infectious. Rather than treating each song as an opportunity to prove to the listener how good he is at his instrument, each performance on ‘from the mars hotel’ seems to be a means for each member to explore his relationship with the rest of the band and how all together they can make the whole thing get up and go.

Griffin Goldsmith:

Drum Suite – Art Blakey
I have been thoroughly enjoying an album by Art Blakey called Drum Suite. You don’t have to be an avid jazz listener to enjoy this album. It is full of sick drumming and memorable melodies. His heartfelt intuitive groove is heavy in every track. His technique is lopsided which in my opinion is responsible for his unique charisma. It’s a good album to put on if you’re trying to groove, which is always a top priority.

Alex Casnoff:

Graceland – Paul Simon
Paul Simon’s album Graceland is cemented to my memory of childhood. I am an Alexander by birth; and while my name since has been shortened to its current state of Alex by my friends and most of my family, it is not uncommon for my Mother and Father to call me Al. I remember being slung over my Dad’s shoulder in the living room of our New York apartment and my Mom and him shouting the chorus to “You Can Call Me Al” at the top of their lungs. This usually continued until someone above or below us had had enough and stomped on the floor or hit the ceiling to let us know. I didn’t really understand the meaning of the song when I was Four, but I could feel its energy. Not a lot makes me feel as happy as that song does. Now at Twenty Two, I still don’t really understand what the song means, but I’m not sure that Paul does either, and I am sure that it doesn’t make a difference. In essence the song is nonsensical. He’s asking “Betty” if she’ll be his body guard, telling her she can call him Al, all while the verse is being narrated by some man seemingly concerned with growing old, getting a “beer belly”, losing his role models, and afraid of ending up a “dead cartoon”. While the song still makes me smile, it gives me a sort of sweet melancholy nostalgia now. Whether or not Simon meant it, I relate to the “Man walking down the street” and his fear of growing old, his lost innocence, and his desire for a protector. The album is no doubt a product of the Eighties. 1986 to be exact. “Dated” might be the word, but I think both the quality of the songs and the addition of all of the South African influences transcend the decade. The Synths and the South African musician’s poly-rhythms and instrumentation add a lightness and sense of whimsy to it. I think the “cheesyness” actually adds to my nostalgia, and that feeling of childishness.

As with any great record my favorite songs have often shifted. “You Can Call Me Al” to “Diamond’s on the Soles of Her Shoes“, Simon’s account of an affair he had with a the Daughter of a Diamond Mine Owner, and the way she pretended to be normal when there was really no escaping the enormity of her wealth. Recently, my favorite song has been the title track, “Graceland“, which was inspired by a visit he made to Elvis’ Memphis Mansion. I think I just recently moved on to this track because it doesn’t really remind me of my childhood. It reminds me of right now. It reminds me of being Twenty Two. It reminds me of wishing I was child again. It reminds me of Women, losing them, having them, wanting them. It makes me think about my entire life. I’ve been travelling a lot recently. It seems to be part of the deal, when you decide to join a band. “Graceland” reminds me of that too; like a day when your driving in the middle of the country which sometimes seems so Alien and you see a lake or something as simple as that and it makes you feel comfortable again. “There is a girl in New York City, who calls herself a human trampoline, and sometimes when I’m falling flying tumbling in turmoil I say ‘whoa’ so this is what she means, she means were bouncing into graceland”. This line always gets me, there’s something I’ve experienced in it. The song itself is like the gospel for an atheist like me. A cry for fulfillment. Whether you’ve never heard this album, threw it aside because of its “Eightiesness”, or just thought “You Can Call Me Al” was a fun but insubstantial jam, I strongly recommend that you pick it up and give it a second chance.

Wylie Gelber:

“Donny Hathaway Live” (1972) – Donny Hathaway
This record is one of the most insane records I’ve ever got my hands on, and definitely THE greatest live record I’ve ever heard. Side 1 recorded in Los Angeles (the Troubadour) and side 2 in Manhattan (the Bitter End). When you throw it on you’re reminded of what it means to be a bad ass. The level of musicianship is other-worldly. Bass player Willie Weeks sits so deep in the cut it’s overwhelming. A perfect performance. “Voices Inside (everything is everything)” is a 13 minute masterpiece. With the freshest bass solo ever put to tape. Fred White holds it down on the drums like the beast he is. Hathaway has never come more correct, the vocals, piano, arrangements and re-arrangements couldn’t be better. Since the first time I heard it, Track 7 is the only “Jealous Guy” I’ll ever listen to. Cornell Dupree, Phil Upchurch, and Mike Howard on guitar. Earl DeRouen on congas. This record is one of the main reasons I need a new car stereo. Listen to it loud or not at all.

Buy: Dawes – North Hills
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MP3: Dawes – “Love Is All I Am”