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Playlist: Hong Kong – Summer Mixtape
We featured the beautiful acoustic of Phillipines-based Hong Kong recently here and liked him so much that we asked him back to run a playlist for us – check out his choice of summer tracks here:
1. New Order – Your Silent Face
– To me, the most pleasant New Order song. Bernard Sumners songwriting gets a lot of stick out here but he is at his peak here. Off of my favorite album by New Order, “Power, Corruption and Lies”. Lovely synths as well!
2. Morrissey – Suedehead
– Great track from beginning to end. I first heard this on my friends record player long ago and was floored.
3. Happy Mondays – Kinky Afro
– I was never a huge Happy Mondays fan but this song in particular stood out. Dance music for people that can’t dance.
4. Cleaners From Venus – Corridor Of Dreams
– I don’t know why Cleaners From Venus never got popular back in the day. Maybe it was the lo-fi recording. In this day and age it still sounds fresh, and the sax is great!
5. William Onyeabor – Something You Will Never Forget
– Big fan of this guy. I’m not usually into music like this but Onyeabor is spontaneous and his song structures are freewheeling yet so smooth. It seems like he never runs out of ideas. Fun guitars and synths on this one.
6. Steely Dan – Time Out Of Mind
– Listened to this a lot after I was in college. Steely Dan always sounded so precise and perfect and neat to me. I can’t help but feel happy when I hear this song. The title says it all.
7. David Bowie – A New Career In A New Town
– My dad teases me for liking Bowie but I think he’s great. “Low” in particular stands out since I went through a long krautrock phase, and it’s evident that he did here too. I think he went to germany to record that album with the dudes from Cluster? I might be wrong though. This is an upbeat instrumental and he uses what sounds to me like a harmonica and thats always cool.
8. Donnie & Joe Emerson – Good Time
– This has a pretty straight forward title. I love the guitar and the soulful vocals that go along with it. I believe this was reissued recently by light in the attic for the first time ever since it was recorded. I’m glad it’s available now because it still sounds so good!
9. Lou Reed – Charley’s Girl
– Always been a big Lou Reed fan (RIP!). It’s one of his more upbeat tracks. Taken off Coney Island Baby, one of his albums that is just very easy to listen to.
10. Neil Young – Unknown Legend
– Not quite a summer type of song, but I made this the last track because i always like to end the night with a Neil Young song. I’ve been listening to this lately, too. off of “Harvest Moon”, which was his supposed “return to form” in ’92.
Hong Kong releases his debut LP ‘High Noon’ via Thumbs Off Records on 25th August 2014