I’m VERY excited about an artist I just stumbled upon, and I have been listening to him nonstop since. I have listened to his entire discography many times, and wow, I’m pretty excited about how good this guy is. Next week I will have a Monday Mixtape dedicated solely to him.
As for now, I’m just going to shutup and play the hits.
Morning, it’s the Monday Mixtape, version one hundred fifty four fed directly into your ears.
I will start with an utterly gorgeous LIVE song by Sohn with an orchestra. Words don’t do this justice, just listen.
One of my front runners for album of the year (so far!) is The Districts’ You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere, their fourth album. This album exemplifies that the sum is greater than its parts. It’s meant to be ingested whole.
The first track (and second track on this mixtape) is a warmup lap, warning those who have listened to The Districts before that the violin, trippy bubbly echoes, and reverb signify this will be a different experience. “Cheap Regrets” (track three on the mixtape) is likely my favorite song on the album, a buildup of a banger.
Which effortlessly glides into the electro magicians, Disclosure. These guys make songs that you nod your head to and want to dance. I remember seeing them at Treasure Island Festival in 2013. People LOST THEIR MINDS when they came on, just dancing like only Disclosure was looking. It’s contagious.
“OK” by Wallows is a great track by a band I know nothing about, and “People, I’ve been sad” by Christine and the Queens is another.
You all know how much I love Mac Miller. I’ve now listened to his 2020 posthumous album, Circles, probably 30 times or so. It grows and grows and grows on me. His vocals are akin to Bob Dylan. He doesn’t have a good voice, but it’s his voice that makes the songs.
Miller was becoming so comfortable wading between musical styles and confident in his abilities (and love from his peers), it’s a loss to music that he’s gone.
The Mac Miller track I put to end this week’s mixtape, “Woods,” is a song, like the album, that kept getting better with time. A slow paced beat with only sustaining keys and Miller’s vocals, it’s a song to get lost in or zone out in your work while it plays in the background.
Miller starts the song ominously, “Things like this ain’t built to last / I might just fade like those before me.” Too soon.
My loyal readers and listeners, I’m back! It’s been a couple months, and I apologize for the very long absence, but the silver lining is I have a TON new music to share, so I will try my best not to abandon you again.
Let’s start with Tame Impala. As you know, I love Tame Impala. In the past twenty years, I’d say my favorite bands are Radiohead, Tame Impala, Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Wilco, and Kings of Leon, probably in that order.
Tame Impala’s (I’m sure you know this, but Tame Impala is really just Kevin Parker - He writes, records, mixes, and does engineering on EVERYTHING and has with all his albums) fourth album, The Slow Rush, is a companion album to Currents, in the same way that Lonerism is a companion to their debut, InnerSpeaker. Each duo has similar sounds yet show tracks and themes going in other ways.
The Slow Rush seems like a look back to the scale of fame and “rock star status” Kevin Parker attained after Currents. Crazily, Parker took five years in between these albums, and A LOT has changed.
I’ve seen Tame Impala live five times, and after their second album, they were still slotted in the 3pm-4pm festival circuit. Once Currents came out amidst full blown adulation and critical acclaim, Tame Impala started headlining every festival and selling out arenas.
Five years later, here we are with The Slow Rush. Meaning this in the best way possible, it’s the hangover album to Currents. The shades feel drawn on this album, like Parker doesn’t want a lot of sunlight in. Not depressing but reserved.
Compare the first tracks on both albums, “Let It Happen,” Parker’s masterpiece, with “One More Year,” a softer and safer version and vision. The difference in these two tracks is the difference in the album.
You don’t really get to a real upbeat rhythm until the ninth track! This track, “Is It True” is my favorite track on the album, and where I think Parker excels, finding different sounds (those drums and keys make the song) to pair with his reverb-laden vocals.
I don’t think there are any songs on this album that come close to the majority of songs on Currents, but I still enjoy every single song (except maybe “Tomorrow’s Dust”). I think I’d rank this album third, in front of InnerSpeaker then behind Lonerism and of course, Currents.
As for the rest of the this week’s mixtape, I gotta give love to Glass Animals, they are so unique. No one sounds like these guys, and they just find weird ass and cool hooks. I have no idea who Do Nothing is, but they give me a lot of vibes of Parquet Courts mixed with some garage rock like Interpol. Great track.
Caribou released one of my favorite albums of 2020, and this track is awesome.
Arlo Parks is a new artist I stumbled upon, and everything I’ve listened to has been good. She’s one to watch out for.
For some reason, “Good Day” by BBC really resonated with me. It’s a song that doesn’t sound like them and stuck on our their average new album.
Finally, Dan Croll keeps improving as an artist. “Yesterday” is a really great song.
Have a great week all. Stay safe.
Morning all. I think the world is reeling a bit with the deaths of Kobe, his daughter, her teammate and father, and another unannounced individual. While this may be a bit coarse, during his playing days, I did not like Kobe as a player or a person, but I, like almost everyone, respected his work ethic and devotion.
He certainly had his weaknesses, and the sexual assault case is the largest unknown, a criminal case which was dropped once the witness / alleged victim did not testify after bringing a civil suit, a case which was settled for a never disclosed amount.
It’s hard to reflect on a person’s life when you don’t know the person at all, yet he/she seemed like such a presence in mine, and all of their blemishes and mistakes are out in the public.
This brings me back to the hardest death I can remember of someone I never deal but genuinely cared about, Mac Miller. Miller pretty much finished the 2nd of what he wanted to be a three album cycle. The last album, never made, was supposed to be a straight rap album, showing the world he still loved to do what made him.
So the second album in this cycle, Circles, was released posthumously two weeks ago. Given how much I loved Swimming, I didn’t think it was possible to be as good or surpass it. But Circles is phenomenal. I need to listen more to make a final judgment as I still think Swimming is better, but time will tell. I’m blown away at the musicianship and the many pieces, sounds of different eras, styles, and ideas that floated through this guy’s head.
Miller was constantly getting better as a musician, and these albums are proof of the leaps and bounds he continued to make. He constantly worked on his craft as a producer, rapper, singer, etc.,, a devotion and love of his craft which sounded similar to Kobe’s. Always get better. RIP to the both of them.
As for the remainder of the mixtape, rapper Theophilus London released a new album which has some great tracks on it, a couple which are produced by Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. The two tracks on here are my two faves.
Have a good week all.
Good Morning this Monday all! Hopefully, you all have a day off and can blast this music while enjoying yourself in the outdoors and reminding yourself this day who real agents of positive change in our history were.
So we have to start with Georgia. Seeking Thrills was the first album of 2020 that I hear, and I can guarantee this album is already cemented in the Top 10 albums of the year, if not Top 5.
Georgia has made an album that’s an amalgamation of my favorite female pop albums of the past decade. The comparisons to Robyn will be endless as “24 Hours” makes abundantly clear. There’s also Carly Rae Jepsen sounds (“About Work the Dancefloor” and “Till I Own It), Tegan and Sara (“Never Let You Go”), Purity Ring (“I Can’t Wait”), Grimes (“Feel It” and “Mellow” and “The Thrill”), MIA (“Ray Guns”).
You even get an homage to one of the greatest movies of the 1980s, the classic “The Goonies,” with the eerie and reverbed “Ultimate Sailor.” Just listen to the first 5 seconds, you’ll know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. Then she sounds exactly like Robyn the rest of the song.
Now, a critic of Georgia would say she’s just cribbing the best pop artists of the decade and making songs that sound a little too much like them, which I think is a fair critique. I don’t think this album is some NEW thing, but I’m impressed that it takes some of the best stuff from these artists and packages it all into one very cohesive album. I’ve been listening to it non-stop, and it will definitely be the life of the party. So, like the reference to “The Goonies,” the album seems like a homage the artists that came before her who were all cribbing sounds from the 80s.
It’s a great album regardless. So let’s just love it.
I also just started listening to Compton CA’s, Roddy Ricch, a guy you would swear was from Atlanta or the South by hearing his Future inspired sound. But he’s taking a lot of stuff and making his own little sound with it. “The Box” is his best track and then “Peta” with Meek Mill is another one that bumps.
So I haven’t even listened to the new Kanye album. That’s where this guy is an artist to me now. The SAME guy I defended back in 2015 but could care less for at this point. SAD! Anyways, I heard “Follow God'“ on Spotify’s Rap Caviar, and I loved it. I thought his new album was all gospel-like, and I’m pretty tired of all that thanks to Chance and Kanye’s last album, but this is just Kanye rapping (well) on a great beat. Good stuff.
Bombay Bicycle Club just released their fourth album (I don’t count Flaws), the oddly titled, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong. They’re a band I put up there with Young the Giant and Two Door Cinema Club, a band that I’ve listened to an INSANE amount over the past ten years. All of their albums have been really enjoyable, each with some phenomenal tracks. They’re upbeat and fun and totally have their own sound.
Anyways, I’ve been enjoying their new album, though I need to listen to it a lot more to give it a full thought. BUT I keep listening to “Good Day,” and I’m not sure exactly why. It seems so slow and simple, but maybe it’s Jack’s deep vocals, what I think is the lowest register I think he’s done on record. Whatever it is, I love it.
Finally, I never listened to Juice WRLD while he was living. He died a couple months ago, but I just started listening to him a bit. He reminds me a lot of Post Malone. “Bandit” is one track that stuck out to me. RIP.
Happy MLK Day.
My favorite albums of 2019 are here! As happened with the Top 100 Songs of 2019, there really wasn’t a clear cut winner for me. I almost wanted to give it to Vampire Weekend for being so damn consistent, but their album was too long with a few weak tracks that kept them out of the #1 ranking.
After some debate, I realized the album that I enjoyed the most was PUP’s Morbid Stuff. It’s one of those great rock albums, and PUP is such a fun and loud band that loves being loud. They’re the musical man child of Japandroids and New Found Glory. Their live shows must be nuts.
As for the remainder of albums, there’s a number of notables, including my favorite newcomer (for me), Rex Orange County, a singer/songwriter without a great voice or much notable traits that I can point to other than the fact that he sounds like his own. It’s not always about some amazing voice or guitar licks, sometimes it’s just being yourself that makes music so great.
Read MoreMy Top 25 Albums of 2019 is pretty much complete (and will be released next week!), but I had difficulty choosing a favorite album. Nothing really hit that #1 spot. Most years, the #1 album is a totally obvious answer. Last year’s Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves, Frank Ocean’s Blonde from 2016, and Tame Impala’s 2015 Currents. But this year, not so much.
While I didn’t have a clear cut favorite track of the year coming into compiling these tracks, there were a ton of songs that could have been #1 to me. A ton of new artists creating layers upon layers of sound.
After consideration, Denzel Curry’s “Zuu” is worthy of the crown. It’s unlike any rap song I’ve heard. Listen to this song in a car - and LOUD - and you’ll hear the wailing synth almost declaring a warning on all who listen, which builds up to the energy and viciousness of the beat drop: “Carol City n**** boy I’m coming out the…ZUU” (BOOOOOOM!!! as the drums come in).
What a beginning before Curry comes in and establishes himself as an up and comer with some serious talent.
Read MoreWell ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for a rarity. In fact, I don’t think it’s ever been done on this blog before: a mixtape curated by a special guest!
That guest is none other than my mom. She gets most of the “gene” credit for my passion of music and has shown me the way on many fronts, particularly all the amazing music before my time AND Radiohead.
So it’s her time for Christmas Time in the form of a Christmas mix! This Christmas mix is one of TEN Christmas mixes she has. Dear…Jesus. There’s a ton of stuff on here I’ve never heard, so it will be great to dig in!
In her own words: “Christmas songs used to be only happy and solemn when I was a child in the 50s and 60s. This one has a little modern melancholy, fitting for the Trump era. But it ends with triumph. With hope in the way. There’ll be one child born in this world to carry on, carry on.”
So amen to that and have a wonderful and Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!
And next week, I will be publishing the Top 100 Songs of 2019 and Top 25 Albums. So stay tuned!
OMG This is two times in a row - I just deleted my post again. So frustrating.
The long and skinny is go see the Netflix documentary, Echo in the Canyon, a homage to the great artists who lived in Laurel Canyon during the mid-60s, including The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, the Mamas and Papas, and so many more.
I learned so much in this doc. I never knew David Crosby was in The Byrds, I didn’t know Neil Young and Stephen Stills were in Buffalo Springfield (and by the way, I’ve been listening to more Buffalo Springfield, they’re freaking awesome), and although I know Brian Wilson, the singer and songwriter of pretty much all Beach Boys songs, was always revered as a songwriter, I never appreciated the love and awe other musicians have of him. His genius was thought to be on a level no one could even come close to. They were comparing him to Mozart and Beethoven.
Jakob Dylan brings a bunch of current artists together to recreate and honor all these musicians and their favorite songs via both an album and a concert. Check the film out, it’s great!
As for the other songs on this week’s mixtape, it’s pretty much a mix of artists you’ve heard many times before. Twin Peaks did a cool cover of Wilco, DJ Shadow released a record of some great tracks with rappers, and after seeing Spider Man - Into the Spider-Verse, I had to include the catchy track from Swae Lee and Post Malone.
Enjoy!
