When country legend Dolly Parton announced today that she's planning on releasing an LGBT-friendly dance album, it got me thinking about what other artists I'd love to hear dance albums from. Here are eight artists who should release dance albums, too.
1. Thom Yorke/Radiohead
Despite being heavily influenced by electronic music, there are only a handful of Radiohead songs that you can actually dance to ("Lotus Flower" is a great example). I know Thom Yorke is an enormous fan of dance music and has even done DJ sets on occasion, so an EDM album wouldn't at all be a stretch for him.
2. My Bloody Valentine
My Bloody Valentine has flirted with dance music before: its classic song "Soon" is basically acid house with swirling fuzz guitars, and the last section of last year's mbv was heavily inspired by drum and bass music. It would be great if the band's next album, which should be finished by 2055, could be a complete immersion into dance music.
3. The Flaming Lips
Don't think for a second that they wouldn't do this. The Flaming Lips' last album The Terror was very heavily electronic, but in an abrasive Nine Inch Nails sort of way. If they ever do decide to make that album with Kesha after all, that could be their chance to bust out the bass drops. Plus, their current live shows look a lot like an EDM show already.
4. Bob Dylan
I'm not saying that a Bob Dylan EDM album would be good. I'm saying it would be absolutely awful, in a Lulu sort of way, where you simply have to hear it to believe it. This needs to happen.
5. Steve Albini
It seems like the last thing he would ever want to do was make a dance album, but if Steve Albini ever dusted off his old Roland drum machine from his Big Black days, I think he could make a killer industrial dance album, similar to Suicide's second album. He wouldn't have to spare the noise or attitude one bit.
6. Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K.'s music already offers completely life-affirming expressions of joy, but can you imagine what would happen if he performed at the Electric Daisy Carnival in front of a bunch of kids on molly? Half the crowd would probably drop dead from a hysterical joy overload. I'd love to hear music with that kind of power.
7. Morrissey
Morrissey famously despises dance music (along with most other things), but I think it would be pretty funny if someone tricked him into recording a dance album. He could lay his vocals over some typical Morrissey backing tracks, but then his producer could go in at the last minute and replace everything with drum machines and synthesizers. He'd probably have a fit and quit the music business, but it would still be pretty funny.
8. Ed Sheeran
The cover of Ed Sheeran's most recent album already makes it look like an EDM or hip-hop album, and with all that rapping he's throwing into his songs, I'm thinking he doesn't actually want to be singing folk music anymore. We'll probably get an awkward, acoustic dance album before he gives us and just goes straight-EDM.
What other artists do you think should release dance albums? Let us know in the comments section!
