The
shuffler: Leigh
Watson, who, along with her identical twin sister Chandra, rose to prominence
singing backup vocals on Jenny Lewis' solo outing Rabbit Fur Coat. Years before that,
though, the Louisville-born Watson Twins established their roots in Los
Angeles' Silver Lake music scene, performing as part of the local group
Slydell, then as a duo. Following the success of 2006's Rabbit Fur Coat, the sisters released the
well-received Southern Manners EP later that year. Their first full-length, Fire
Songs, followed
earlier this summer.
Wilco,
"Shake It Off"
Leigh
Watson: I'm
a big Wilco fan, I think ever since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I think they're a band
that is constantly evolving and creating. I think with Nels [Cline's] addition
to the band, they've become more of an experimental rock band, kind of pushing
boundaries. I think they're great. I love Jeff Tweedy's lyrics, I think he's a
talented lyricist. There's another song called "Impossible Germany" which is my
favorite off that record. I would say Wilco is for mostly summertime, like
right now. I think it's a great soundtrack for the summer, and for drives, too.
It's a little rock 'n' roll and mellow at the same time.
Gram
Parsons, "In My Hour Of Darkness"
LW: With Gram,
I became a fan through being a fan of Emmylou Harris and going through the
projects she's been involved in. She's really one of my heroes, I guess you
could say. Or an inspiration. She's sung backup vocals with so many amazing
people, and that's sort of where my sister and I come from, singing backup
vocals. So she's definitely someone I look up to. And I feel like she and Gram
had such great chemistry, and that's really where she started honing her
skills, singing with him. But the song "In My Hour Of Darkness" is just a great
little country jam. And Grievous Angel, that album is really good.
The
A.V. Club: Did you pick up that track specifically for Harris' involvement, or
did you come across it as you were exploring Parsons' discography?
LW: I think
it's a combination. I really like Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers.
I like his voice, and that record in particular is one of my favorites. But you
know, I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan as well, and I feel like Desire is one of my favorite
records of his, and I think that's because she's on it. [Laughs.] Maybe I'm a
little biased, but I think Gram has an interesting story as well, and that sort
of adds dimension to him being this California-country-brother.
Goldfrapp,
"Clowns"
LW: This song
is so funny. It probably came up because I've been listening to it a lot. I've
never really been a Goldfrapp fan, and then a friend of mine made me a mix-CD
and put this song on there, and I just totally was drawn to it. You know,
trying to sing along. She doesn't really enunciate any of the words she's
singing, and my sister and I were talking about this song, so we ended up getting
online and looking at the lyrics and finding out that it's actually about fake
boobs. [Laughs.] And one line is, "Only clowns will play with those balloons /
What do you want to look like Barbie for?" So we just have the funniest
relationship with this song, because it's so beautiful and amazing, and it's
about this pretty insane subject matter. But it's definitely worth a listen.
And I was never really into Goldfrapp and her more dancey stuff, but this
record, I really, really like.
Palace
Music, "Arise, Therefore"
LW: Being
that we're from Louisville, Kentucky, they're sort of a staple in our musical
scene, and have been for a long time. Palace was actually, oddly enough,
brought to my attention by a friend in Chicago. I mean, I knew who they were,
but I had never really been into them. And then we started listening to this
record [Arise, Therefore]. So we got into them, and it's made me sort of a lifelong
fan of not only Palace and Palace Brothers, but also Bonnie ["Prince" Billy]
and the collaborations he's done with different people. I feel like for Palace,
his writing is so creative and metaphoric—he's like a poet, you know?
He's definitely one of those musicians that I completely look up to and
respect. And I think he doesn't really care, you know what I mean? He's going
to continue to do whatever he wants to do, and go to Iceland and make weird
records. He's kind of, I think, an honest musician. He's not making music to
please the scene, but more to please himself. I love him, because he always shows
up wearing something insane, like an entire outfit of hospital scrubs, or a
pair of overalls and no shirt. [Laughs.] And his beard in braids, or something
insane. He has his own set of rules, and that goes for musically or personally.
And he's a nice dude.
Band
Of Horses, "The General Specific"
LW: I got
turned on to Band Of Horses by their first record [Everything All The Time], which I enjoyed,
definitely. This last one [Cease To Begin], there's a couple tracks like "Ode To LRC"—I've
basically broke my CD listening to that song over and over again. But the Band
Of Horses guys are super-awesome. We played in their hometown last fall on a
tour with our friends Magnolia Electric Company, and they were so sweet. They
had a big party at their house afterward for us. We ended up hanging out around
the lake, around their back porch, just kickin' it, ya know? They're really
great guys. I think musically, they're defiantly relatable. You can totally
relate to them, but they're also creating really great melodic changes. And
they're just a good live rock band too, which is, I think, really important in
this day and age. It's great to go see a band and actually see them deliver.
Cowboy
Junkies, "'Cause Cheap Is How I Feel"
LW: My mom
was a huge Cowboy Junkies fan, and I never really listened to them, but she
always was buying their records and playing them. I feel like as the Watson
Twins, our music sort of operates in the same spectrum, country-wise. It has a
twang to it, but it's not deeply set in country music. It definitely has
nuances of that, but it doesn't only operate in that scene. I think that their songs
are storytelling, which I totally relate to, and that's similar in how I write
as well. But I became a fan of them because of my mom. Thanks, mom! [Laughs.]
Chet
Baker, "The Thrill Is Gone"
LW: I've
always liked his music. You know, it's mellow, it's laid-back. Beautiful
singing voice. There's a documentary that was made about him in the '80s called Let's Get Lost,
and I kind of got obsessed with him for a while. There's footage in that
documentary of him, he's totally old and looking a little dilapidated, and he's
in a studio, and he opens his mouth, and this angelic voice comes out. And he's
telling stories about how he's gotten all his teeth knocked out because he was
involved in a deal gone bad, or whatever, just like all these crazy stories,
and he still continues to have this beautiful angelic voice that can melt an
ice cream cone. But that documentary is really cool. It's crazy, he's like in
the back of a convertible, riding around Los Angeles with Flea and Anthony
Kiedis and two really hot girls. It's pretty bizarre. But it's a good
documentary. Chet Baker is one for the books.
Modest
Mouse, "The Air"
LW: I believe
this is off Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks, which is my favorite
Modest Mouse record, actually. I remember the first time I heard them. My
friend Jen and I, once we got out of school, took a road trip across the United
States, and we just kind of drove around for six months. A friend made me a
cassette tape of The Lonesome Crowded West, and I kind of got obsessed with them and
became a listener. But Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks, I think that's just my
perfect Modest Mouse record. So this song is off that one.
Feist,
"How My Heart Behaves"
LW: This one
is so
good. My favorite song on her new record. I think Leslie's a great singer, and
I love her records, but there were certain songs that jumped out, like "1234"
and "My Moon My Man," but this track is at the very end of the record, and I
think it's just a really beautiful song. I think she's a great singer. The
first time I saw her, she was opening up for a band called Stars, which I'm
friends with, and I went to see them play. Torquil [Campbell], who sings for
Stars, told me, "Make sure you get there early, because this girl Leslie is
opening up for us, and she's really cool." And she does her whole thing of
looping tracks, you know? She would play a guitar riff and then sing something,
then loop that, and then all of the sudden, there was this full-blown
orchestra. And I'd seen dudes do that before, but I had never seen an awesome
woman do that. And also shred on guitar. She was owning it and just completely
killing it, and I was a fan from that point on. And that was before Let It Die came out. Like, right
before that. So I've been a fan since then, but I really like this song.