A bunch of albums just dropped on Friday, including Chvrches, Future and Drake's mixtape (although released earlier, it's now available on Spotify), The Underachievers, Kurt Vile, and Disclosure. A lot of bands I love. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get through them too much, so I imagine they will be the focus on the next mixtape.

In the meantime, I've included some of my favorite tracks that Ryan Adam's covered from Taylor Swift's 1989.

I have a ton of respect for Chvrches' lead singer, Lauren Mayberry. She's taken on the dark world of social media by calling out misogynistic cowards trolling her with disgusting rape tweets and comments. In her words: "Bring it on motherfuckers. Let's see who blinks first."

She formed a female collective called TYCI (please read the great profile on Chvrches written by Caitlin White on Stereogum for a breakdown of that acronym and more) in order to “break down misguided notions of feminism and gender boundaries.”

She's carried a shit ton of weight for things that should not have to be carried. Chvrches' first track on their new album is the only track I've heard so far. But you can really feel Mayberry's exasperation when she belts, "Here's to never ending circles / and building them on top of me."

I don't know how we can cure the disgusting diseases spreading under the guises of social media, but at some point there has to be a bit of accountability. Artists living in the limelight (and yes, boohoo, you may say, she's probably got a good deal of money and gets to see the world, but there are people whose talents inevitably lead them to popularity due to the field they are in. That doesn't mean it's ok to have to deal with a "connected" world that is becoming less accountable for our actions) should have a comfortable work environment just like I have at my job.

It may be somewhat hypocritical to follow this all up when I have a track by Mac Miller, a rapper who says "bitch" too many times to count on his new album and talks about sex with said women more often than not. Degrading lyrics referencing "bitches" and all that stuff is an entirely other (interconnected) problem, but one that I am nowhere near intelligent enough to address in a blog post.

There is music that many of us can point to that we enjoy despite the lyrical content. Sometimes I take the good with the bad and chalk some of the poor judgments by artists as bad taste but not hate. It's a fine line between artistic expression and lyrical subjugation. Other times that line is clearly stepped over (like early Tyler, the Creator lyrics). It's important to acknowledge that.

I wanted to write an album review on Mac Miller's GO:OD AM, but I unfortunately did not have time this past week. The main thesis would have been that the production and flow of the album is far superior and more professional than anything else he's done. Unfortunately, his lyrics are still adolescent. The lyrics are dumb but not an outlet of hate, just ignorance. His interviews provide him as a young 23 year old who was given fame and money too young. I do hope he grows up and his next album lyrically shows it.

I've also been enjoying Baio's debut album and this track on the mixtape tickles me just right.

Have a great week. I'm going to France (!) for two weeks so I will not be uploading a Monday Mixtape next Monday (I had a 24 week streak!), but I will be taking a ton of pictures that I will post on the blog!

Till then!

At this point, Ryan Adams has something like 113 albums. It's impossible to keep up with the guy's music. The past couple years he's been back on his crazy prolific output to the tune of 3 albums and 7 EPs.

His most recent album, and possibly his most popular, is an entire album cover of Taylor Swift's 1989. For those of us who still pine for "that" Ryan Adams era that produced Love Is Hell - the wispy acoustic guitars, Adams' subdued melancholy, and the occasional distorted guitar - then you're in luck! (I also think it's got some Easy Tiger vibes to it too).

Ryan Adams is one of the few artists who did a cover of one of the most influential songs of its decade and made it better and completely different:

In an interview with Grantland's Steven Hyden, Adams was surprisingly open and honest. He said things I've never heard him talk about regarding why he made "Wonderwall."

“'Wonderwall'” always belonged on Love Is Hell," Adams explained, "and it always belonged in that style, because it said something in the middle of that record that needed to be said, and it actually needed to be said in that context because that record was about a time that I spent between New York and London, and it was about losing someone that I loved very much and then falling in love with someone else while I was on a lot of drugs. [I was] taking pills and drinking and stuff, and sort of staying in this daydream to nullify a huge amount of psychological pain associated with losing someone that passed away.

Adams continued, "So 'Wonderwall,' I always loved that song. And I used to say to this person — this person that I fell in love with after I had lost someone sometime while I was living over in London — I used to say that song is so much sadder than anybody realizes. The conversation was this joke conversation that was basically me and this woman who was very much a Blur fan, and me being such an Oasis fan. She was there for that big Oasis vs. Blur thing, so by including “Wonderwall” on the record, it was commentary — a very private commentary — and probably meaningless to other people unless they could find a thread in that record to see what I’m saying.

That song is like in a movie when there’s a montage showing the past that’s not directly related to the arc of the film, it’s diverging for a second to humanize the character."

That's some heavy shit! And actually somewhat crazy because **TANGENT ALERT years ago I was working on a screenplay where a teenager witnesses his parents get murdered and then kills the intruder with the gun used to kill his parents. That's the first scene and something I wrote because I had a crazy dream that night of the exact same thing. Anyways, the second scene...hold on let me see if I can actually find it on Google Docs...I found it!

INT. BATHROOM. MORNING
The tall boy blankly stares through the mirror as he adjusts his black tie. He is wearing a black suit, black tie, and a white shirt. He never blinks nor moves, emotionless. "Wonderwall" by Ryan Adams begins to play (0:00-0:09).

EXT. GRAVEYARD. Morning
"Wonderwall" continues to play for this scene. A vast graveyard encapsulates the area which is surrounded by hundreds of people. ZOOM IN from a far distance of the crowd to see the tall boy standing alone in front of two caskets while the crowd stands behind him. A priest is speaking about the lives that each person lived. "Wonderwall" is softened (0:35) as some of the words are heard by the priest.

PRIEST
He saved lives and changed the way people looked at the world.

"Wonderwall" comes back (0:40) as the only thing to be heard. The priest continues to speak but nothing is heard from him. The boy continues to blankly stare into the closed caskets. People in the background weep and mourn. "Wonderwall" says, "And all the roads that lead us there are winding..." The music softens as the priest speaks.

PRIEST
And Grace...she took the road less traveled.

"Wonderwall" says, "And all the lights that lead the way are blinding..." The music softens as the priest speaks.

PRIEST
And God paved the path to righteousness and humility for her.

CLOSER SHOT on the tall boy as "Wonderwall" says, "There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how." The music softens as the priest speaks.

PRIEST
We can no longer thank them for the lives they lead, but honor them by following in their footsteps.

The priest bows his head as he puts his hands over the caskets to bless them. Nothing is heard except "Wonderwall." After the priest blesses the caskets, the scene is put into hyperspeed. The guests move around, some the tall boy's age, others older, hugging each other, crying. The priest looks to the tall boy with compassion and then exits the scene. The guests begin to disperse. No one comes near the tall boy as he stares into the caskets. The tall boy and the caskets are the only things that move in normal motion. The caskets slowly descend into the earth. The boy continues to stare. He never moves the entire scene. Scene ends when "Wonderwall" ends.

So there you have it! I really need to finish that screenplay...** TANGENT OVER

So I thought of this because of that last quote by Adams where he said when referring to "Wonderwall,"

"That song is like in a movie when there’s a montage showing the past that’s not directly related to the arc of the film, it’s diverging for a second to humanize the character."

A little weird.

BACK TO RYAN ADAMS AND T SWIZZLE, Adams also spoke to Hyden about Swift's album, "These songs are incredible," he told Hyden, "You break them down from what they are to this raw element, and they’re just super powerful and they can tear you up. They’re very vulnerable and brave and all the stuff I love about Hüsker Dü or Bob Mould’s records. It’s the same thing to me. It’s about sharing who you are and where you are in your life in a very vulnerable way. And it was cool to find that in these songs."

Adams continued, "But when you break a song down to what it is, to its bones — the emotional structure, the way the words are, the cycles in the song — there’s usually a blueprint there, a fingerprint. Like, the DNA of the song usually tells the story of the writer. I played a few of them on acoustic guitar for the guys before we wanted to cut them, just to find the core of them. And you start playing them and I’m watching my grown-ass men dork friends get a little teary, and I’m feeling the same way. That’s totally awesome. That’s exactly what you want."

"Style" has that rock like "Love is Hell" sound:

For the die hard Ryan Adams fans out there, I won't equate anything with "The Shadowlands," because let's be honest, nothing equates.

Anyways, take a listen to it and see what you think! My favorite tracks are Style, Out Of The Woods, Shake It Off, and Bad Blood.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 24

Ryan Adams covers Taylor Swift's album 1989