REC [Track]: ‘Funnel of Love’ – SQÜRL ft. Madeline Follin

Today’s recommendation is a wonderful cover of Wanda Jackson’s ‘Funnel of Love’ by SQÜRL, the band led by director Jim Jarmusch and recorded for his film Only Lovers Left Alive. The track is considerably slower than the original, but the pulsating music and the gritty guitars complement the song perfectly and set the sensuously laid-back pace for the film. Follin’s voice captures Jackson’s mischievous snarl perfectly but with a contemporary bite. Jarmusch would be hard-pressed to have chosen a better opener to the film. It’s also a great song to put on when you’re kicking back on the couch with your precious vial of O-negativa in a century-old dressing gown – if you’re an ancient vampire like Adam, that is.

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REC [Single]: ‘Lionhearted’ (ft. Urban Cone) – Porter Robinson

GIFs from the action-packed video to this single have been circulating on social media sites for a while since its release, but let’s not forget about the music, first and foremost. Porter Robinson, an electronic music producer from North Carolina, delivers an electro-house track with an immensely uplifting crowd-sung chorus (‘We’ll finish what we started!’) and an irresistible synth riff that dances all over the place – as you would, after listening to it. A worthy track for anyone in need of courage in the form of decent electronica. The bad-ass video certainly doesn’t hurt, either.

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REVIEW [Single]: ‘Home’ – Leah McFall

REC [Single]: ‘Brooklyn Baby’ – Lana del Rey

She’s already everywhere, music-press-wise, but oddly enough Ultraviolence still seems to be somewhat under-mentioned by the people that I know. What I don’t understand is, why aren’t they as crazy about the album as I am?

‘Brooklyn Baby’ is, for instance, a brilliant piece of work where the dreamy, hazy mush of instruments and LDR’s usual hypnotic voice belies the fact that she is in fact subtly making fun of the Williamsburg hipster archetype ‘who gets high on hydroponic weed’. Just one of the many tracks on Ultraviolence that pay tribute – with tongue in cheek, naturally – to LDR’s beloved ‘merica.

Highlight of the track: when she mischievously slips into an emphatic New York accent, singing, ‘twalking ’bout that newer nation’.

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