It’s Friday, which means it’s time for Spark’s music expert and legendary L.A. radio DJ Nic Harcourt to weigh in on what new music he’s got on repeat at the moment. Below, he shares his newest picks added to his Spark Radio playlist and shares a spotlight on his favorite earworm of the week.
New this week:
Parquet Courts: Walking At A Downtown Pace
The Clockworks: Throw It All Away
Deafheaven: In Blur
Paul McCartney: Long Tailed Winter Bird – Idris Elba remix
Remi Wolf: Quiet On Set
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Vortex
Caroline & Claude: Stir The Pot
Colleen Green: Someone Else
Jose Gonzalez: Swing
Hana Vu: Everybody’s Birthday
Bedouine: The Wave
SPOTLIGHT:
Brooklyn’s Parquet Courts have announced their new album, Sympathy for Life, due out October 22nd through Rough Trade records. The 11-track album draws inspiration from New York clubs, and artists like Primal Scream, and Pink Floyd. Produced with Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Hot Chip, David Byrne) and John Parish (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding, Dry Cleaning) and is the follow up to their widely acclaimed 2018’s Wide Awake. The lead single, “Walking at a Downtown Pace” is new to my playlist this week.
“Historically, some amazing rock records have been made from mingling in dance music culture — from Talking Heads to Screamadelica,” said co-frontman Austin Brown. “Our goal was to bring that into our own music. Each of us, in our personal lives, has been going to more dance parties. Or rather, we were pre-pandemic, which is when this record was made. That’s what life can be like here; a world of constant motion surrounds you while you’re just walking toward where you need to be,” co-frontman A Savage explained. “There’s a lot of beauty that can be missed, and it wasn’t until the streets were virtually empty that I did miss it.”
Two days before the release of Sympathy for Life, Parquet Courts will give fans the opportunity to hear the entire album through a livestream of 11 videos created by visual artists from around the world. You can purchase tickets here.
The band hired renowned street photographer Daniel Arnold to shoot a video for the song that captures the hustle and bustle of young New York City.
