Monday Mixtape, Vol. 222

Turnstile is one of my favorite bands of the past few years, and their older albums prior to GLOW ON are more hardcore, more screaming, and a ton of head banging. They’re not as good as GLOW ON, but damn do they ic rock. Example numero uno: “Real Thing.”

I’ve really been digging Blondshell’s new album, and “Kiss City” is another track to enjoy.

I’m still digesting The National’s new album. I didn’t like it at first, I think I like it more now, and “Tropical Morning News” is my favorite thus far.

Few more tracks from a few more artists that play on these playgrounds.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 203

It’s taking a bit of time for 2022 to ramped up with new music. This past week might have been the biggest release date so far with Spoon, Animal Collective, Big Thief, alt-J, and Cousin Stizz releasing new albums. I can’t wait to dig into Spoon’s new album. They might be the most underrated band in the indie/rock genre. They’ve been rocking out with quality albums since 1996! I’ll get to them on next' week’s mixtape.

So this week’s starts with a couple my favorite newbies, BENEE (who had my #2 Album of 2020) and Mallrat. BENEE’s new track is typical for her: catchy and bouncy as hell, makes you happy. Mallrat’s track develops and vibes for most of the song, but the best part is the last minute sample of Memphis’ Gangsta Pat. LOVE That ending.

I read Pitchfork’s 5.0 review of Cordae’s new album From a Birds Eye View. Needless to say, the critic was not too pleased. But I’m not a critic, I’m a lover, and I enjoyed the album. One of my favorite’s, “Jean-Michel,” shows his lyrical chops:

I been having vivid dreams, them shits is more than scary
Graveyards or mortuaries
Haunted by these goals that I'm tryna accomplish
Underrated, over-hated, I'm tired of the nonsense
Things I've could've done better, it lies in my conscience
And I'll never forget it, I'm my worst critic
Such a overthinker, I'm so self-reflective
God willing, these parables go and sell some records
Politicians out here lying, tryna sell a message
Ten thousand hours, penmanship is well-perfected

Not bad for a young guy. We’ll see where he goes from here.

Another couple rappers grace the mixtape, the unknown Young Truth and the very well known Lupe Fiasco. A couple bands I recently discovered. Spaceface bring some interesting vibes of sunny psychedelia, I can’t quite explain what Bad Suns is, but I enjoy the song!

And I hope you enjoy the week.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 173 - Introducing the World's Next Pop Star - BENEE

All I can say is BENEE enraptured my attention from the the first note of the first track I heard, the first track of this week’s Monday Mixtape, “Happen to Me.”

Every once in a while, a song really catches my attention, but when it’s a new artist I’ve never heard, I’m usually skeptical. It’s probably a one-off, I think to myself. But I have to look into the album where the song came from when I hear a track like this. And so begins my love of BENEE.

BENEE is of the Lorde / Billie Eilish / Grimes / SZA mold, I guess, simply because she’s a young (20 years old!) female with a sound that resonates with the times. Like Lorde, she’s from Auckland, New Zealand. Like SZA, she’s got more soul, R&B, and funk in her songs than any of the others could even try.

More importantly, the others got massively popular with the release of one album, and I think the same is going to happen to BENEE. She’s got six or seven big hits on her just-released album, Hey u x.

She’s got a great voice, a sweet wispy, almost husky serenade. Her vocals really shine when she’s performing on bare tracks like “C U,” “Want Me Back,” or when she shows up as a feature like Joji’s “Afterthought.” (which isn’t on this playlist!)

She’s got a better voice than Lorde, Grimes, and Eilish, but her lyrics are pretty usual, at least in Lorde standards. She’s not the creative solo genius that Grimes brings to the table, but almost every one of her songs is catchy, and there aren’t bad tracks. They all have great drum beats, lay on the synths and spacey effects when needed, and her vocals and intonations always make the song stronger. Her album sounds like a team that’s been playing together for years, seamlessly in sync at every bridge, chorus, intro, and outro.

I also hear influence from other bands I love, like the xx (if you don’t hear the xx on “Happen To Me” than you crazy!) and Beach House. Her songs, like theirs, can be very subtle: a guitar lick (the one on “Monsta” is so sick), a drum beat, her vocals, and occasionally bits of keyboards and synths too add some memorable spice. She makes subtle sweet and powerful.

On Spotify, she’s currently 343rd in the world. Not bad (seriously)! I’m going to go on a limb and guarantee she’ll be in the Top 50 by the end of 2021.

This is your year, BENEE!