Monday Mixtape, Vol. 172 - A Declaration of Celebration and Relief

This is a special Monday Mixtape, and I hope you can rejoice with me in the news that we have a new leader, president-elect.

So it’s only appropriate that we start the mixtape with Queen’s anthem, the same song that blared through all of DC when the Washington Capitals hoisted their first Stanley Cup as they paraded around the city in ecstasy. As much of a Caps fan as I am, our recent election results is probably a bigger deal.

While these mixtapes usually feature new music, exceptions must be made. Queen is one of them. Bill Withers another, Hall & Oates for sure, Radiohead a must.

Foo Fighters is another. They were the musical guest on SNL this past weekend, and appropriately they closed the show with “Times Like These,” an acknowledgement of times like these when we can learn to live again, to give and give again, and it’s times like these you learn to love again. Somehow I hope there’s a middle ground that can be found. But it’s times like these where’s there’s at least hope.

And what a performance by the Foos.

Many of the other tracks are a feeling, a message, a declaration of celebration and relief.

Hallelujah.

Albums to look forward to in 2015!

I've scoured the interwebs for a bunch of info on 2015 album releases (thank you Consequence of Sound, Stereogum, Pitchfork, Metacritic, Ranker) and here's an incredibly quick listing of albums that I promise to listen to MANY MANY times which are ranked from somewhat excited to RIDICULOUSLY excited):

Brandon Flowers - TBA
Savages - TBA
The Dodos - Individ (1/27)
Wild Nothing - TBA
Panda Bear (Noah Lennox from Animal Collective) - Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper
Heems (from the now extinct Das Racist) - Eat Pray Thug (3/10)
Jose Gonzalez - Vestiges & Claws (2/17)
Fleetwood Mac - TBA
Chromatics - Dear Tommy
Pusha T - King Push
Freddie Gibbs - Lifestyles of the Insane
James Blake - TBA
DIIV - TBA
Purity Ring
Belle & Sebastian - Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance (1/20)
The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (1/20)
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (2/10)
Death Cab for Cutie - TBA
Chance the Rapper - Surf
Blood Orange - TBA
Joey Bada$$ (finally!) - B4.DA.$$ (1/20)
Band of Horses - TBA
Drake - Views From the 6
Adele - TBA
Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves (3/3)
Beach House - TBA
A$AP Rocky
Grimes - TBA
Run the Jewels - RTJ3
My Morning Jacket - TBA
Kanye West - TBA
Kendrick Lamar - TBA
Radiohead - TBA
Frank Ocean - TBA