Weyes Blood names her favourite albums
Weyes Blood, also known as Natalie Mering, has honed one of the most specific sounds in modern music. Blending otherworldly ethereality and lyrics infused with emotions just as intense as her instrumentals, Mering has become the voice of a generation.
Mering’s all-encompassing artistry has only elevated the experience of listening to Weyes Blood as she carefully hones a sonic universe that extends across her live performance and visuals. It’s a feat few of her peers have matched: total artistic immersion. But long before Mering curated the celestial world of Weyes Blood, she found her roots in a far harsher sound.
The singer-songwriter first found her love for music through the noise scene of Portland and her job in a record shop. Those early introductions to music shaped Mering as she grew to love and make music, as she once divulged to Tidal. Picking out six of her favourite albums that changed her life, her choices ranged from the soft jazz-folk of Joni Mitchell to the experimental Kraut sounds of Can.
A cult name in alternative scenes, Mering’s first pick came from Ween. Picking out their third record, Pure Guava, she declared the album as her “first exposure to noise and lo-fi recorded music” – a “big deal” for Mering. “It kind of opened my mind to expressing emotion in a way that wasn’t serious but was still just as effective and emotive,” she adds.
Equally beloved in alternative scenes are German experimenters Can. While Ween may have introduced her to noise, Can provided her with Kraut. Mering first stumbled upon the band while working at a record store, a time when everyone around her claimed that Radiohead were simply ripping them off, an opinion she concurred with when she listened more closely.
The singer picks out their underrated debut album, Monster Movie, declaring, “It’s kind of an unpopular Can record, which is funny because I actually loved Monster Movie the best… It was my first exposure to the underbelly of what rock and roll is or should sound like.”
Mering also shares her love for prog-rock by shouting out Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett’s solo record The Madcap Laughs, which introduced her to imperfect emotional expression. She deems him “sloppy, weird and internal,” but also one of her favourite songwriters. She also picks out a solo record from The Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed with The Bells, which she calls “so freaking weird”.
The list is rounded out by Skip Pence’s “intoxicating” only solo album Oar, which Mering had on repeat in her car for five years, and Joni Mitchell’s iconic Court and Spark. The latter brings Mering back to her youth, as she recalls, “That was played at my house when I was a child all throughout my young years. That was an earworm to my life my mom, who was obsessed with Joni. She’s fucking brillant.”
It’s an eclectic yet enchanting list, one that has clearly led to the unique stylings of Mering’s own musicality. Find the full list of albums below.
Weyes Blood’s favourite albums:
- Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark
- Ween – Pure Guava
- Can – Monster Movie
- Lou Reed – The Bells
- Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs
- Skip Pence – Oar
