Rebounder songs for every time of day

Dylan Chenfeld is the frontman of New York indie rock band Rebounder. The band just released their latest single “Sunset Vision” and to celebrate they sent us a playlist of their favorite songs that sound just as good at midnight as they do the morning after. Their EP, Summer dress songswill be released on August 15; in the meantime, you can stream Dylan’s selection below (and catch the band in the first issue of Talkhouse readers!).
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-Chief, Talkhouse Music

Some songs only work in certain situations, some music you love, but maybe you wouldn’t play it at lunchtime when you’re still in the middle of the stress of everyday life.

It’s funny – my favorite songs and sounds are for late night. This leaves me in a weird situation in the morning: what works that doesn’t just serve as audio wallpaper?

In recent years I have become very interested in the soul revival coming out of Diamond Mine Studio in Long Island City and the various labels associated with it – Big Crown, Daptone, Colemine and others. I realized that this was the only music that worked for me both at night and in the morning. Now I can’t get enough of it. I can’t imagine a situation in which I wouldn’t want to listen to El Michel’s Affair, although I can name you many situations in which I wouldn’t want to listen to anything else.

Rebounder were lucky enough to be able to record some live elements of our album in the studio. Here are some of the more recent soul recordings that have inspired me at times but always sound good.

Brainstory – “Listening”
I met these guys one night at a party in deepest Brooklyn. Their singer, Kevin, was wearing a very special, giant Mickey Mouse sweater – one of those sweaters you never forget. Many hours later, I was at a party in Chinatown and saw him again. I couldn’t believe it. Had we both been to the same, very special parties on opposite sides of town? We could have shared an Uber. We got talking and he mentioned that he was in this band. I was immediately hooked on their record. They are also a brother band. The album is called Sounds goodwhich is funny.

El Michels Affair/The Shacks – “Tearz”
A cover of the classic “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” by Wendy Rene. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but you can repaint it.

Holy Hive – “This is my story”
This is one of my favorite recordings, period. It’s originally by Dave Richardson. The pianos are heavy and the drums are soft and brushed. It’s hard to get the balance right.

Lady Wray – “Guilty”
With lyrics like “Don’t make me feel guilty and suffer the pain (that’s the sound of the chain)” and its theme of passing the time while your lover is locked up, this song hits you with its devastating story while somehow sounding vaguely uplifting. It’s a triumph. I saw Lady Wray perform it and was instantly converted.

The Arcs – “Heaven is a place”
When a band puts together a setlist, so much depends on the ending. Should it be epic? Should it be small? How do we create the feeling that you’ve just seen The Final Thing, that after what you’ve just experienced, nothing more should come? I want to play a show and make the house music sound silly; I want the rest of the night, whatever you’re listening to, to sound like a joke. That’s the feeling this song creates. Maybe it’s because the word “heaven” is used so often that it blows your mind. I was never particularly familiar with Dan Auerbach before, but it was my introduction to him and the Black Keys, who have a lot of great stuff. “Heaven is a place I know where all lovers go.”

Homer (ft. KIRBY, Hether & Girl Named GOLDEN) – “Racer”
A song that feels equal parts reggae and soul, it evokes the feeling of a taxi by playing something really hot that you can’t quite place and don’t have time to Shazam. It sounds like something Lee “Scratch” Perry would put together from a few different singers into a reggae track. If this song had been written many years ago, The Clash would have covered it (or claimed it as their own), or RZA would have sampled it for his Crypto album.

Lee Fields & The Expressions – “All I Need”
In Kill Billthey have all these great 10-minute disco-funk versions of classic songs. This one feels like that, but it’s not a cover; it’s just a great, mostly instrumental song that grooves. People will recognize that the early Travis Scott hit “Antidote” is based entirely on a sample of the first four bars of this song. It’s awesome. I have to collect myself.

Bruno Mars – Excluded from Heaven”
Honorable mention, but I think, unironically, that this is one of the best recordings of the last few decades. Many of the players from the above mentioned pieces/bands are right up there here: Nick Movshon on bass, Homer Steinweiss on drums. The other guys in Rebounder often make fun of me – no matter what instrument I pick up, I tend to play the relevant part in “Locked Out Of Heaven”. Sue me… it’s something spiritual.

(Image credit: Phoenix Johnson)