Monday Mixtape, Vol. 125

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Apologies for my absence the last couple weeks, but we’re back with a vengeance of sounds to rock your ears!

We’ll start with a band that you may say right off the bat is a Tame Impala wannabe, which I will say is a reasonable charge (actually a SPOT ON charge, I mean, listen to the solo at 0:50 of “Sky So Blue,” that is a blatant ripoff of their live album and all of Currents basically, and then I wonder what Kevin Parker would think if he heard something like this, like, this is EXACTLY my sound, what are you guys doing??), BUT Tame Impala, or should I say Kevin Parker’s vocals, are also a John Lennon wannabe, AND Hot Flash Heat Wave’s earlier stuff sounds nothing like the psych-synth Tame Impala that these two tracks (WHICH I LOVE BTW), so I’m giving them a SMALL PASS here. I just love “Trust” and have been humming it all weekend.

ANYWAY, Cherry Glazer’s album is pretty badass and rock n roll, Andrew Bird released a single reminiscent of his Noble Beast-era sound, aka WHISTLING, and I had to include a beautiful diddy from the brand new band no one has ever heard of: Crosby, Stills, & Nash.

Enjoy!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 124

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Where does Post Malone rank in terms of singing hooks right now? Does anyone do it better? Yeah, it’s easy to make fun of the face tattoos and dreads (which he’s now changed to a small 80s era small fro), but “all my friends” is pretty catchy, right? Can’t hate on catchy.

This is an all rap playlist, highlighted by both Future and 21 Savage’s new albums. I was impressed with 21’s album, it has a ton of features (J. Cole, Childish Gambino, Post Malone, Offset, and Schoolboy Q) which complement his monotone flow, and the production fits perfectly with so many tracks.

Future released another album that is just like most other Future albums. He has some alter ego (this time, “The WIZRD,” it all more or less sounds the same, and a few tracks really stand out. A couple of those are on this mixtape.

I also included some older JID, the rapper that blew me away with his mixtape, DiCaprio 2. This guy has something special, we will be hearing a lot more from him.

That’s it people! Hope you enjoyed the (4th Quarter) of the Super Bowl. My commercial MVP was either Stella Artois or the NFL one with all the players.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 123

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It’s a Monday, but this one will be filled with upbeat jams to keep your spirits high. None exemplify an optimistic take than this first track, a remix of ODESZA’s “Falls” by The Knocks, one where the remix destroys the original.

Toro y Moi released a new album (his 7th!) a couple weeks ago, and this is his best album since 2013’s phenomenal Anything In Return. In keeping with this week’s mixtape, this album is a club banger, I highly recommend it.

Maggie Rogers, the musician who achieved overnight success because of Pharrell’s face, finally released her debut (didn’t that Pharrell thing happen 3 years ago?? NO GOOGLE, I will not ask you to verify.) Anyways, the album is good, I might have to listen through again, but these two tracks jumped out to me.

SOAK is an Irishsongwriter who I’ve posted a number of times and has some incredible talent and originality. She could be someone special, or just a continued indie ingenue.

Have a good week all!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 122

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I follow a number of random playlists by music doppelgängers that I’ve found during my searches through time, and many of them will post their favorite current albums by bands I’ve never heard of and wonder what rock these guys found them under, but alas, I will listen to the first two tracks of every album by these randomly named bands which will give me a feeling of whether they’re worth digging into more.

This is an easy technique to listen to a TON of new stuff to quickly cull through the garbage and find that which rings my ears. I bring you into this weird world of mine because I’ve started today’s mixtape with the first two tracks from James Blake’s (I know, I know, not exactly a “random” artist - WE’RE STARTING SLOW) new album, the fourth of his career, called Assume Form.

If you don’t know James Blake, words don’t exactly do him justice, his voice says it mostly and his production/orchestration say the rest. He’s not everyones’ cup of tea, but these two tracks (the second is expertly assisted by Travis Scott) give you a great approximation of whether you should dig in further to this album.

The remainder of the mixtape includes two tracks from Deerhunter’s EIGHTH ALBUM (I write this in CAPS because it’s wild that I’ve been listening to these guys since the beginning of their career back in 2007 - Yes, this is a sign that I’m (we’re) getting old), Post Malone’s new track, a great track from the perennially underrated Bear Hands, and my favorite song from Sharon Van Etten’s new album.

Happy New Year to all. Let’s have a hell of a 2019 in music and life.

Top 25 Albums of 2018

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If you’ve been following my blog at all, you could have probably guessed Kacey Musgraves’ "Golden Hour would be the #1 album of 2018. It is a flawless work of songwriting. Musgraves delicate dreamlike voice juxtaposes her lyrical vices, like smoking week and zoning out. Not coincidentally, it’s a total “zone out” of an album, one that flows perfectly from start to finish with stoner jams, funky beats, and her pristine tone. What an album.

Number two, perhaps surprisingly, is the late Mac Miller’s Swimming. I wrote about his death and created a Best Of in his memory, but needless to say, Swimming was his best work by far. It was the furtherst he’s pushed himself musically, as can be seen with songwriting credits to Thundercats, Pharrell, John Mayer, and many more. Ultimately, it’s a very sad album. Miller dives in and out of a lifeboat floating in a rocky ocean, tempting fate to stay alive. He knows he’s playing with the devil and all his drugs, and he really sounds like he doesn’t know which way it’s going to end. It all ended terribly for him, way too soon, too young a talent for Miller to create greatness and have people separate his real gifts from his class clown persona. I’ll miss him a ton.

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Top 100 Songs of 2018

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We finally made it! It’s my favorite playlist of the year, a playlist that I come back to years later to remember the highs and lows of decibels, depths, and soul. It’s a list that means so much to me because these songs shaped an entire year for me - a year that I spent listening to music for 68,780 minutes!

If you break that down, that’s 1,146 hours of music, which is either 48 straight days of listening to music or 143 days listening to music eight hours a day. I have to gloat, that is pretty cool! Though it doesn’t beat my record of a couple years ago of 103,000 minutes of music. I will NEVER top that.

ANYWAYS, you came here for music. As you can see, Mac Miller was my “Top Artist,” meaning I listened to him the most of any artist, and specifically, for 37 hours, according to Spotify. There’s a reason three of his songs from his last album, Swimming, are on the Top 100. Kacey Musgraves is the only other artist with three songs on the Top 100.

There are so many different genres and sounds to climb through on this list, I just know you’re going to have a great time exploring and investigating. PLEASE keep an open mind with this stuff, and if you don’t like it the first time, it doesn't mean it won’t warm up on you. I listened to Drake’s “In My Feelings” countless times, not loving it, but gradually getting there as time went on. There’s a lot of that kind of music on this playlist, so open your ears and your mind, people!

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Monday Mixtape, Vol. 121

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I don’t have a lot to say because I don’t have a lot of time!

The 1975 released their new album which I’m still digesting, Palace made an ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL SONG, Anderson .Paak dropped a disappointing album but it’s still got this jam, some new artists to check out for ya, and a lil’ Hippo Campus unplugged.

Enjoy. More to come next week, and my Top 100 Songs and Top 25 Albums of the Year SOON!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 120

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We’re getting close to the end of the year, and per usual, I am super excited to make my Top 25 Albums of the Year and Top 100 Song of the Year lists. It’s a musical timestamp, and these playlists are not only a blast to curate, but I love looking back the many years (I’ve been doing these lists since 2012!).

ANYWAYS, this week’s mixtape has some new contenders to make the Top 100 list, and features one band I’ve really started digging recently, Maribou State. I saw that their 2018 album was on a list of Best of the Year (So Far), and the review mentioned their “masterpiece” of an album from 2015. so I started there. These guys are awesome and GREAT background music for studying, writing, etc. Their new album is pretty good too but definitely start with their 2015 release.

Speaking of great background music and new bands recently discovered, Bayonne released a new bouncy track from what I hope is on an upcoming album. Their 2017 Fallss was such a great album.

Oh, Robyn. Maybe the best pop artist out there. She released a new album, and my favorite track is the sultry lullaby, “Baby Forgive Me,” a track I have been playing on repeat.

A couple other tunes for you to discover and love on your own. Enjoy the week!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 119

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We got a rap Monday Mixtape for you because Vince Staples released one of the best rap albums of the year, FM!, Logic dropped a really good album/mixtape, YSIV, with one of the best Wu-Tang collabs I’ve ever heard (it has EVERYONE), and Action Bronson’s new album has some cool live jazz inspired tracks that I included.

LET US ALSO NOT FORGET ABOUT EARL SWEATHSHIRT. His brief cameo track on Staples’ album comes in at 23 seconds, but it is straight fire. What a beat, what a flow.

Enjoy the week and all the good rap, people!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 118

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Apologies for my absence, it’s been a hectic few weeks, including a trip to NYC and a new puppy! Her name is June. Anyhoo, I got some great music for you, starting with the one, and truly only, Colter Wall, a young man of just 23 years with a voice of syrupy bourbon and bass. WOW when you hear this guy. Definitely check his new album out.

There’s an indie supergroup named boygenius comprised of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridges, and Lucy Dacus, and their album has little tinges of all of their sounds while being led by Baker’s (her looooooooooooNNNNNNNGGGGGG!!!! words that she’s known to sing can stretch for over 10 seconds and the scream just gathers steam as it goes (listen to “Stay Down” at 3:11 where “down” is clocked in at about 11 seconds), it’s an equivalent “wow factor” to rappers who can do a verse on one breath because they’ve mastered how to breathe into through their nose while rapping) vocals and craftsmanship. The two tracks I put on this week’s mixtape were my two faves.

I’m so happy with Young the Giant, they just released their fourth album, and it’s got to be their second best album (it’s going to be VERY hard to ever top their first album which was close to flawless and had JAM after JAM and my fave YTG song, “Islands"). There isn’t any letdown on this album, it’s paced well and has a distinct sound and numerous great songs. My favorite might be their last track on the album, “Mirror Master,” what a catchy tune.

Fleet Foxes technically just released “Icicle Tusk." As you might be able to hear, this sounds like early Fleet Foxes, and sure enough, it was made back in 2006, two years before they even released their debut album. Beauty of a song. Robin Pecknold’s voice is in my Top 5 right now.

Empress of’s sophomore album is MUCH more poppy than her debut, a somewhat disappointing surprise. That’s not to say these aren’t good songs, but I’m disappointed because her last album was so weird and unique, whereas this album (and the song on this week’s mixtape “When I’m With Him”) could have be sung by so many different pop vocalists.

Finally, The Belle Game is a band I discovered years ago because their debut album, "Ritual Tradition Habit, was this somewhat dreary, reverb-soaked, distorted sound with beautiful vocals. I’m listening to “Wait up for You” right now, and what a song!

Have a great week all!