Monday Mixtape, Vol. 49

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Can the start get any better than these first two tracks from The Mystery Lights? I still haven’t fully inhaled the whole record, but this is one hell of a start to an album.

I think Vince Staples has earned the crown of best not-totally-mainstream rapper. His debut Summertime ’06 was dark and hypnotic with a forced restraint like a shadow trying to scream. This guy should not be slept on. “All Nite” is one of my favorites he’s released to date.

I heard “Controlla” by Drake on a patio in Croatia overlooking the turquoise Adriatic Sea with mountains beckoning ahead and a beer in hand, and I was in such a chill mood that I realized how great this song was. I had never really listened to it before. It’s amazing how your circumstances dictate how your ears' hear. 

Drake’s Views has been critically panned as his worst album, a self-centered album entirely too long (20 tracks!). I think critics are just starting to hate Drake because he’s become too big for his own good. Yeah, the album isn’t his best, and yeah, he constantly talks about his issues, and yeah, who makes a 20 track album?? but I still have 10 of the 20 tracks on the album saved on Spotify, so that’s a pretty good success rate. Forget the critics.

Over a month ago my buddy Sean clued me to the video that later completely blew up the internet of Pharrell Williams’ listening to a student’s (Maggie Rogers) song at NYU (cue to 18:27):

It's so cool to see Pharrell, a legend and a man I place at the top of the list of influential producers since the 90s react in such genuine appreciation and astonishment at her talent. 

P.S. if you didn’t know Pharrell produced the following track at the tender age of 19:

WELL NOW YOU DO. AND ENJOY YOUR WEEK!

  

 

 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 25

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This week's mixtape has got to start with Deerhunter. In anticipation of their new album released last Friday, I wrote them up in my 5 Faves a couple months ago. Their new album, Fading Frontiers, is fantastic.

I think it's their second best album behind Halcyon Digest, and the two tracks on this mixtape represent what is probably my two favorite tracks on the album. How good is the chorus in "Breaker" and the echoing interstellar keys in "Duplex Planet"? 

The second the drums come in on "Get To You," you have to be thinking one band: The Pixies. A band that is easily one of the most influential bands since the 1980s. Love the pace and guitar of this track.

I also wrote a 5 Faves on The Underachievers months and months ago. These two play off each other very well and choose psychedelia over whatever "hot" rap sound is taking over radio at the moment. I've followed these guys for a while now, and they just released a new album which I've been enjoying but still need to dissect further.

Julia Holter is a 30 year-old singer/songwriter who floats over orchestras and strings. She has a great voice, and I can't stop listening to "Feel You." She reminds me of Andrew Bird.

"Cuz I got a really big team, and they need some really big rings!"  

Kacy Hill. Check her out.

Top 100 Songs of 2014

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After listening to music on Spotify for 101,976 minutes this year (I will forever remember that number!), I was able to whittle down my list of top tracks of the year from roughly 240 to 100. It was a tough process. A lot of great songs got left off, but what I love about making these lists is that all 100 songs I truly enjoyed and listened to many, many times. In fact, “last place” at #100 was Theophilus London’s “Do Girls,” a song that I played constantly over a two week span. 

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5 Faves - The Underachievers

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I love to hear when artists' influences broach the wide realm of music. The Underachievers have a near and dear place to my heart because they told Complex Magazine, "We love Local Natives ridiculously," and Issa said that his favorite band of all time is Fleet Foxes and favorite artist is John Mayer!! So cool to hear that since each of those bands have been so instrumental in my love of music. 

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Top 25 Albums of 2013

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2013 was both a testament to the staying power and creativity of established artists and bands (Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Kanye, Arcade Fire) and an explosion of new artists (Haim, Chvrches, Jagwar Ma, Lorde, A$AP Rocky, Jake Bugg, and St. Lucia, to name some) who, despite the trending emphasis on singles, created phenomenal albums of substance, pace, and ingenuity.

First, lets start with the veterans since two of them took the #1 and #2 spots. I wrote at length about my love of Arctic Monkey’s as well as their amazing album, AM. But what impresses me the most - and why I ultimately chose them ahead of Vampire Weekend - is that they could make an album like this on their FIFTH album.  

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