The Czars

At its core, The Czars' new album Goodbye is centered around the themes of loss, regret and, ultimately, change. But more concretely, it's an album of incredible songs made heavenly through rich production, masterful musicianship and, of course, John Grant's beautiful baritone vocals. Over its twelve tracks, twisted lyrical ballads are merged with classical piano flourishes, lush layers of guitars and haunting electronics to create worlds of sound inhabited by the ghosts of Nina Simone, Miles Daves, Kraftwerk and Patsy Cline (to name a few).

So what songs does John Grant listen to when he's not creating his own tunes? Check out the mixtape he made us to find out:

1. MC 900Ft. Jesus - “If I Only Had A Brain” - I love the clavinet and the vocoder and the catchy chorus in this song. It makes me happy.

2. Mano Negra - “Out Of Time Man” - This song reminds me of a good friend and of being in school in Germany.

3. Icehouse - “Icehouse” - From their first album, I believe. Beautiful melancholic eighties synth pop. Reminds me of what it was like to be a fan and think musicians were gods.

4. Felix Da Housecat - “What She Wants” - James Murphy’s vocals on this are amazing and ultra sexy and the music is equally hot.

5. Fad Gadget - “Love Parasite” - One of my first favorite songs. Great synth pop and fantastic lyrics as well.

6. Erlend Oye - “Prego Amore” - The synth bass in this is phenomenal! The music was done by Jolly Music from Italy. Always reminds me of Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” which is another favorite.

7. Colder - “Wrong Baby" - This guy’s music is beautiful. Cold, detached, sexy electronica which is great dance music as well.

8. Devo - “Snowball” - What’s not to like? It’s blues rock all electro’d out and the lyrics are always fantastic.

9. Toshinori Kondo and IMA - “Brain War” - This is music for survival in the big city and makes me feel like I could conquer the world. Truly exquisite.

10. Grace Jones - “Private Life” I’m a bit of a cynic and a misanthrope to boot and this song is all about that to me. The lyrics make me laugh and the bass has extra-high phat content.

The Czars' album Goodbye is available now in the ARTISTdirect Store.

Upon returning to Denver after six years spent at school in Germany, vocalist John Grant formed the first incarnations of the Czars with bassist Chris Pearson, drummer Jeff Linsenmaier, and a revolving door of guitarists. Andy Monley, who had played with Pearson in Jux County, offered his services on guitar and eventually became a full-time member. The band sent a copy of a self-produced CD to the Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde, who had just started his own Bella Union label with bandmate Robin Guthrie. Impressed with the band's diverse mix of shoegaze and alternative country, Raymonde eventually flew the band to his September Sound studio to record 2000's Before...But Longer. The Ugly People Vs. the Beautiful People followed in 2001. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide