As soon as Parquet Courts dropped their new album in 2018, I was all ears. The New York band have always been prolific, and political, but this album more than any other was responding very directly to the times. When frontman Andrew Savage joined me for the Take 5, I knew what to do. Spouting strong messages throughout his own music, I gave him the theme “songs to rally around”. Music that, lyrically or sonically, conjured a sense of activism, agency, and creativity in him. From Crass to Tyvek, Funkadelic to Fela Kuti, you can hear the spirit of Parquet Courts in all of these brilliant choices.
Crass - 'Banned From the Roxy'
Funkadelic - 'Standing On The Verge of Getting It On'
Tyvek - 'Buildings Burning'
Melvin Van Peebles - 'Come On Feet'
Fela Kuti - 'Unnecessary Begging'