Monday Mixtape, Vol. 117

Shame on you! As in: Listen to Shame. These guys fucking rock. The youngsters from England scream and punish their instruments with no apologies. Raw bands have such a refreshing sound. I love this album. It took a little time to come around to the screaming, but this is punk at its best. While “One Rizla” and “Angie” are certainly there two most melodic tracks on the album with the least screaming, it shows their range and talents. I constantly picture Dave Grohl hearing this and just being like, “These guys fuckin’ ROCK!” as he headbangs away.

Speaking of Dave Grohl, if you don’t hear Nirvana’s sound in The Pollies track “You Want It” with Grohl’s thundering snare drum and lightning quick drum rolls, you aren’t hearing the right song.

Is it fair to compare Anderson .Paak to this generation’s Nate Dogg? He’s more talented than Nate Dogg because his albums are better, but it seems like every song with .Paak on it bumps. Anderson .Paak continues to release some good ass vibes, and I can’t wait for his new album which will will feature the head-bopping’ “Tints” with Kendrick.

Speaking of bands that have some awesome vibes, Holy Ghost! is back! Such an underrated band these dudes continually churn out great electro-pop while all sorts of worse wannabes win popularity contests.

SOAK is a young songwriter from Ireland who I’ve written about for a couple years, and this is one of her more accessible yet sad songs. Check her out!

BTW I’m seeing Lord Huron and Tame Impala tonight (it’s Sunday afternoon now not Monday, silly!) at Treasure Island Music Festival (Shame is actually playing here, but my wife is feeling under the weather, but she’s still a trooper and wants to see Tame Impala so we’re going late :) SO PUMPED!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 116

A great Monday for music all! I stumbled upon Brent Cobb from Rolling Stone, and I’m sold. He will give you some Chris Stapleton vibes probably just because this is the way country should sound, some twang and rock and not the recycled bland pop stuff that you hear on the radio. His second album released this year is awesome, check it out!

I spoke about Hippo Campus last week. I love this album. More songs this week.

A couple newbies in Roosevelt and Yumi Zouma to get your BPMs up. Whether you like the song or not, you gotta give it to the intro for “Take Me Back”, it’s a little LCD Soundsystem-like with a bit of Disclosure and some 80s feels maybe INXS with the keys. Cool jam!

Not sure if you ever listened to Empress Of’s debut album, but it was really out there, using samples and electronics cycling around her vocals to create this loud atmospheric chaos. It was a really unique album, one of those you hear and just say, “No one else could have thought of that.” ANYWAYS, her new track, teasing for her new album, is VERY different and leans way more towards pop. It’s kind of a love ballad. Will be interesting to see what the album is like.

Happy Monday all!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 115

The surprise of the weekend was seeing that Hippo Campus released their sophomore album, Bambi, on Friday. And what an album! The lead singer reminds me of Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, but their melodies are a bit more out there, I’m not really sure they sound like anyone else. Their second album shows some subtleties in songwriting that show the band’s growth. This is an album that flows from front to back with slow jams bookending the albums intersected by waves of rhythms and tempos. What I’m trying to say is just listen to it!

My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel released his second album and this “Wished Out” track immediately reminded me of The Allman Brothers Band. Never a bad thing.

I’ve gotten on a bit of a Jeff Tweedy kick recently, one because he’s such a great lyricist, two because he’s in one the best (and most underrated) bands of the past two decades, and three because his solo album of acoustic Wilco tracks is phenomenal (it’s called Together at Last - check it out!). Tweedy has a voice that finds a place in the hollows of the acoustic guitar. This is his most recent solo effort.

Speaking of voices I love, Thom Yorke released a track from what I hope is an upcoming solo album, and Bright Light Social Hour (whose vocalist’s solo album I had on last week’s mixtape) released a new track for all to hear, the spacey “Trip with Lola.”

Finally, the killer three-piece jazz band, BADBADNOTGOOD, who do a ton tracks with rappers and bands, have just released a track with Little Dragon, and it’s a “raise your lighters” type of jam.

That’s all I got folks, enjoy!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 114

This week’s mixtape comes with little writeup, so listen up!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 113

Lots of upbeat jams for ya this week from some tried and true winners.

If you can’t notice that the first track is live by Natalie Prass, that’s because her silky voice and great band behind her defy expectations. I’ve seen her play live to a group of about eight people, and she’s a talent, one I wish got a bit more recognition.

Speaking of great live acts, the cherubic lead singer of St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Paul Janeway, gives everything he has when you see him live, and these guys just released a new album, which I’m a bit disappointed in but still looking forward to seeing them live in October to perform a bunch of their great jams, including the catchy “LivWithoutU.”

“Moonlight” might be the best Disclosure song I’ve heard, this song in a very loud car just crushes.

All this upbeat music is recipe for a little downturn in vibes which AlunaGeorge and Bas provide. The Bas album is one of the better rap albums of the year, not amazing but solid. “Tribe” with J. Cole might be my favorite track on the album, I just love when the drums come in a 0:45.

Wale has gotten better with age. It’s somewhat surprising he’s still around, but his last three EPs have been great.

Finally, we end the mixtape with BRONCHO, a no frills rock band that bring a little bit more swagger and reverb to this track than their usual. Pump it!

Have a good week all.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 111

Greetings! I spoke a lot about Mac Miller on Vol. 110 as I put a recently released track on the mixtape. Well, he released his new album, Swimming, and I've really been digging it. It's got some funky vibes, none better than the Thundercat-led "What's the Use?" I can understand if you can't get over Miller's singing voice, but I applaud him for veering outside of rap only and getting a little jiggy wit it. 

The Brummies. What the hell kind of a name is that? I...don't know. But this album is a great hodgepodge of sounds and influences. My fave track is the Kacey Musgraves-assisted "Drive Away."

I mean, I had to put a new song from John Mayer on this. Apparently, now that he's 40, he's a new guy! You can date me now, girls! You'll see me in a new light, I swear. Uhhh ok. 

Big Red Machine is one of Justin Vernon's thirty bands he's in outside of Bon Iver. This one is with The National's Aaron Dessner. Looking forward to the album which is coming out shortly. 

This new Travis Scott album is awesome. I've never listened to him before, and "COFFEE BEAN" is not a good representative track from his new album since no other song sounds like this. He's more on the auto-tune stuff with his other tracks, but I love it. I was surprised how good it was, and from what I've read on the interwebs, it's his best release to date. Listen!

Have a good week all! 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 110

This opening track from Rayland Baxter should uplift you from the dreary feeling of another Monday with the understanding that beauty can constantly be created and sound is one perfect avenue to see that. Gorgeous song, and a pretty darn good album too!

The Dead Tongues are somewhat of an acquired taste, and I'd recommend to give them a little time. Open up a bit and be more willing to like other stuff. This has twang and bluegrass and country, all things that I typically avoid, but not here. I love it. This song sounds like it could be played during a Braveheart montage as William Wallace trains his troops and grows as a man beside the babbling brook. What a cool song.

If you haven't noticed yet, this week's mixtape is pretty chill. It's this week's theme! Shallou, who I'd have to say is an Odesza wannabe, makes good Odesza wannabe songs. So just nod your head to the rhythm. 

Everyone has their own preconceived notions of Mac Miller, and I think they're usually either wrong or dated opinions that may have applied to him years and years ago. He gets flak because he's a white rapper who was somewhat goofy in his come up days, but that was actually just who he was.

He since then got famous, dated a pop star, and got (maybe still?) addicted to drugs which can CLEARLY be heard in the change in sound from his debut album Blue Slide Park to his groggy and spaced out (while still enjoyable and more artistic - ALTHOUGH his biggest issue as a rapper has always been his lyrics. They're usually either silly, stupid, both, or just plain. He's just not a good lyricist. Maybe he'll grow into it, but I doubt it. The only thing he can do is be honest and write from that perspective, which is what he's doing on his new stuff) Watching Movies with the Sound Off. 

All that being said, I've always followed him since his days of "Nikes on My Feet," a 90s throwback that I'm ALWAYS a sucker for (the Nas hook might help):

Song starts at 1:40. Yeah the rapping isn't the best, but it was my beginning to think he's got some places to go. Cut to his fifth album which was just released, Swimming, and he's come a long way and more serious, and sadly, more sad. "Buttons" was included as a single before the album release, and surprisingly, not on the album. I love the beat, and like most other rappers, he's singing now. Which sounds like a guy who can't sing sing, but if it's coming from some place sincere, it's a way of expression. I oddly like it, so we'll see if you agree. 

Ahh Drake. I've listened to his new album a ton. It's two sides, a rap side and his R&B/rap-ish side. I love the R&B side, and this song was a creeper. I listened to it many times, not paying it much attention, then all of a sudden I realized who catchy it was. I just can't hate on Drake, I love him. 

FINALLY, Diamond Thug - AND ACTUALLY I should first give a big shout out to my buddy Dave who put me on to a number of the artists on this mixtape since they were on his Best Albums of 2018 list. We are about as close as you can get to music dopplegangers, so shout out to Dave! - who really reminds me of Little Dragon with a bit more of the Odesza-like sounds. Really digging this album.

Ok, that's it. Enjoy!  

Monday Mixtape Vol. 109

TONS of new music in the mix! I've been listening to some new bands that are really tickling my fancy. Sometimes you'll hear a new band where the sound immediately moves you, while other new bands are more mysterious and take some time and effort to fully appreciate. Harem is the former and Wet the latter. 

Harem sounds like a jammy, reggae-like indie band who has a bit of influence from the likes of Sublime. Meanwhile, Wet just has their own bedside sound, pillow talk as you drift asleep. I highly recommend both!

As for the other bands on this week's mixtape, they're repeat offenders. The 1975, the artist that won #1 Top Song of 2017 for my songs of the year, drops another fantastically catchy track. Despite the ridiculous opening line, The 1975 have patented their sound, and it hasn't gotten old.

As for The Kooks, a band whose debut album over a decade ago still moves me in the right way, they've been very hit or miss for many years, but I love this song. Who knows what it means for the future.

St. Lucia is the type of band that really doesn't make bad songs, but when they make a great song, it is catchy as hell! This one takes the cake.

Death Cab is back, and their new track actually sounds more like their old stuff, so it'll be interesting to hear their new album. I was pretty disappointed in their last album, so fingers crossed! 

That's all I got, have a great week!   

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 108

You can't really "discover" bands anymore. Because of Spotify and the like, music is ubiquitous. This is obviously a great thing for music lovers, but it does remove the cool and selfish pride I could have in saying that I "discovered" a band or artist before they became mainstream. Right when I started this blog, that ability to discover bands quickly began to erode, and now the "Discover" playlist introduces you to completely random bands that you can hear, but you know millions of others are exposed to the same thing. 

The idea of discovering music is now moot. I've watched the Pitchfork's and Stereogum's of the world suffer much bigger defeats to this end, and they've now become the same click-baitey websites (look at each website and note how many of the same hot topics on whoever is the hot artist of the month (paging Childish Gambino) with much less of the stuff music fans come for like original content (and I understand it's not their fault entirely since this is the way to make money, but why not make a little less money and keep content at a high level?). I’m sure most the writers would agree, but with paltry wages there’s not much they can do. I digress.

THIS IS ALL TO SAY THAT WHILE I DID NOT DISCOVER ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER, I still feel like a bit of an OG of theirs on the State-side (they're Aussies) listening to them back in May 2017, one year and some change before their debut album (though their first single was in 2015, so clearly I was still late to the game to the real OGs). 

This whole soliloquy is accomplishing nothing of note, but it brings me to tell all of you who have not listened to this band yet that you have to get on board and see them when they come near your city. This is one of the best rock bands I've heard in years, a band whose debut album has only gotten better with each listen. Not one bad track and many standouts which I've included on this week's mixtape. I've also included my other favorite tracks of theirs for you to enjoy. (Though I did not include the best song they’ve made, “French Press”, because you should have heard it on my Top 100 Songs of 2017 as it was #3!!

Sometimes a specific sound comes naturally to a band. Can you imagine the Rolling Stones if they had tried to sound more like The Beatles or vice versa? No! Because they sounded so right within whatever they played while crossing some genres but staying within themselves. These guys have a lot of talent and potential. I can't wait to follow their careers and see whether they end in the limelight of success, playing arenas, or gain a loyal following and playing bigger venues as the years progress. Time will tell.

Enjoy!