hoto A week into 2021 and it already appears to be as calamitous as 2020. However, anyone working toward new year resolutions and goals can tell you that old habits die hard. Where there’s change, there’s a celebration and where there is a celebration there’s dancing. Your favorite night club is closed, but that shouldn’t stop you from cutting a little rug on your own carpet. No worries though, 303 has the playlist to do just that. This week we asked Denver synthpop band, Retrofette to curate a playlist that inspired their latest release, “Photogenic” — and it does not disappoint featuring songs from Tears for Fears, Daft Punk, Little Dragon and more. So, turn your speakers up and let loose.
Be sure to check out their playlist below and don’t forget to follow 303 Magazine and like our #NowPlaying playlist on Spotify:
Kazy Lambist – “Headson (feat. LC Elo)”
Sean Culliton: I wanted to go for Kazy Lambist’s, laid-back-but-still-danciness, because everything we’ve released before was so no-chill-dance-synth-pop-right-now. Also the nonsense lyric is something I aspire to.
L’Impératrice – “Agitations Tropicales”
SC: Just great laid back vibes. French dance music is 10/10.
Hot Chip – “Spell”
SC: Hot Chip is the model for what we do with Retrofette. All the music sounds different but it’s all tied together by this love of electronic music and production. It’s very important to me that everyone who reads this watches their 2013 Pitchfork Paris set. Go ahead, I’ll wait — you’re welcome.
Timber Timbre – “Hot Dreams”
SC: He nails this spooky, nostalgic, chill vibe so well. I wanted to channel that but with a house beat.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Deadly Valentine (Soulwax Remix)”
SC: I just love this song.
Little Dragon – “Strobe Light”
SC: She’s the best melody and vocal inspiration there is. We all love this band.
Lescop – “La Forêt”
SC: I love that it’s simple but every part has an impact. There’s no wasted space in a Lescop song.
Grace Jones – ” On Your Knees “
SC: Grace Jones is the biggest visual influence on Retrofette currently. I love her.
Yaeji – “Raingurl”
SC: Dark, dancey, and perfect production.
Channel Tres – “Topdown”
SC: The vocal sample in the chorus/throughout is dope.
Tiger & Woods – “The Stopper”
SC: I’ve been obsessed with how they sample music and I would’ve never added that vocal ‘oh’ sample without that inspiration.
Agar Agar – “Prettiest Virgin”
SC: The verse melody was the first thing I wrote for Photogenic, and it came from me humming to the beat in this song.
Parallel Dance Ensemble – “Turtle Pizza Cadillac Yam Who? Remix”
Xavier Provencher: This was my #1 Doordash order of 2020.
Daft Punk – “Around The World”
SC: I always love the dance music trope where they use a low pass filter to make it sound like the music’s coming from the room next door. It’s at the beginning of this song and we used that idea after the first chorus of Photogenic.
Tears For Fears – “Mother’s Talk”
XP: Sean and I used to play ‘Songs from the Big Chair’ on repeat in our Cap Hill apartment which I think has had a lasting impact on the tonality of our songs.