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The Pick: Cardinal Sons’ Mixtape

Jun 02, 2015 • Uncategorized

You love a band and you love their music, but don’t you wish you knew the music the band loves? “The Pick” is NolaVie’s guest music mixtape series, in which local musicians, artists and makers of sorts share favorite works in their respective field.

For this installment of “The Pick,” the brothers of Cardinal Sons chose a few songs that have influenced their unique style of pop-rock and shared some words on what each song means to them. You can catch Cardinal Sons in action at one of two local shows this week: Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Saturday at 10:00 p.m. at Gasa Gasa.

Listen to all the songs here and read through for the band’s comments about each selection.

John’s Picks

1. TV on the Radio – “Careful You” – They’re one of our favorite bands and a big inspiration for certain sounds. They use the same synth that we use for bass (Moog little fatty) so I think we could copy them pretty easily (joking…) I really like their latest album and this song in particular. The message and the mood of the song hit home.

2. Native America – “Naturally Lazy” – This is an incredible album and this song is a standout. The bass pedal in the bridge is a freakout moment for me. A great song for anyone who frequently tells him/herself to get his/her shit together. I think songs like this are really important – similar to any blues song, it’s comforting to know that the songwriter feels shitty and lazy sometimes too.

3. Rooster Blues – “012 @ :26” – These are our boys from Mississippi. Two brothers – Judson and Joel. Judson doesn’t wear shoes. They’re the real deal. We’ve played a show with them for the past few years the night before Thanksgiving, so seeing them is always a family affair. I think they would do well in New Orleans if they were able to get down here more often. I’m just a big fan and wish I had more riffs like this one.

Joe’s Picks

4. Elton John – “Bennie and the Jets” – We covered this song at Jazz Fest since we played the same day as Elton and wanted to challenge him. But as I was learning it, I was thinking that this could be a song that we might write — lots of major 7ths and what not. I know John has said that this is one of his favorite songs of all time, so it makes sense that it would be an inspiration to us.

5. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “Swim and Sleep” – I know they have a new album coming out soon, but I really like this song because it’s like modern-day Bach.

Dave’s Picks

6. Spoon – “Inside Out” – This is one of my favorite songs from the last album and Spoon is one of our favorite bands. This song is a bit of a departure from how they usually play and it works really well.

7. Blake Mills – “Like It’s Something” – I’ve been listening to a lot of Blake Mills lately. He’s a genius. His latest album is good but this is one that has always been one of my favorites of his.