As Deaf Joe, Irish musician Joe Harney hovers somewhere between electronic and acoustic, between beats and ambience, songs and moods, Joe deftly moves between genre, exploring new sound-worlds on each new release.
ABBA - Lay All Your Love On Me
The only music that was ever on repeat in our house as kids. So those big choruses and glorious layers of vocals are beyond words for me. <3
Panda Bear - Bros
Brain melting, the way it becomes too much at times, but it's about the feel, it's just like one big warm hug. More big harmonies. I hope he's sent some royalties to Brian Wilson though...
Daft Punk - Da Funk
This popped up on an early Laurent Garnier mix that my cousin gave me to listen to, well before Homework was released and as a kid I was like WHAT is this alchemy...
Alva Noto - Xerrox Monophaser 2
A high watermark in ambient music, mixing acoustic and electric to create something that feels like an infinite space
Katie Kim - Pause
My dear friend wrote this gorgeous plaintive melody that has everything it needs in there. Serenely beautiful.
Stevie Wonder - If It's Magic
I love the way Stevie goes from conscious funk and soul to saccharine-sweet, super-cheese. It's all good. I wish more musicians would try to make genuinely sincere moments like this, instead of always turning it out or trying to be cool all the time. My favourite singer of them all and one of his mostly plainly beautiful vocal takes, I might have shed a tear of two to it...
Susumu Yokota - King Dragonfly
A moment in time for me, the piano sampling on this is so pretty. His music has this beautiful playfulness, sense of wonder.
The Necks - Open
An hour of instrumental joy, deceptively simple sounding but I've no idea how they made this thing. It's a masterpiece of studio work, to nerd out for a wee minute...
Frank Ocean - Skyline To
I can't tell you how many times I've listened to this... I love how free he is in the way he tells stories, and the music just follows.
Nina Simone - Stars
Every now and then I'll watch this just to see what the extremes of singing and storytelling can go to in terms of emotion. She gets lost halfway through the song it gets so intense.