Monday Mixtape, Vol. 195

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The star of this week’s mixtape is Falle Nioke, a man from Guinea now living in the UK. I stumbled across “Leywole” which stopped me in my tracks. What a sound! What a presence. What a beat.

There’s something going on that I can feel. Something hopeful and energizing. The success and future of bitcoin (and cryptocurrency in general) - a transparent and decentralized currency that can essentially be owned by anyone for any amount which no government can control, usurp, or overtake - is setting the stage for the emergence of sort of a global community no longer defined by borders and lines on maps.

Yes, there will still be wars and extremist religions and corruption and greed, but these things will be harder to finance (like US taxpayers paying $2T for a war in Afghanistan that cost 170,000 lives, 47,00 of which were Afghan civilians) because the world population will have control of the money, and that is where power lies.

There will still be borders separating countries, but those physical representations will fade as technological advances and “cloud communities” (as Balaji calls them) will become the norm. This is a decade or decades away, but it is happening.

Why the hell am I saying this? Falle Nioke may be singing in a different language, but I feel like I understand him. I feel connected to him in a way I haven’t felt before with a person singing in a different language. And I think it represents a connection I hope occurs globally with all sorts of people with different life experiences, upbringing, cultures, norms, and so much more humanity could benefit from understanding more.

A lot to come to mind by just one song, I suppose.

Happy listening.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 163

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Happy Monday, and what a great mixtape I have for you today! There’s been a lot of new stuff that’s been released as well as discovered, so buckle up.

I was surfing YouTube, and you know how if you hover your cursor over a video, it will give you a bit of a preview? Well I came across this video from some band named Parcels:

My gut instinct said I had to click on this video because these guys were either going to REALLY suck or be awesome. Mr. Mustachio in the White Turtleneck?? This guy is either a total clown or the dude can get down. So which one is it? Take a listen and make your own decision.

I was amazed by how serious and how soulful these dudes were. Not only is their music soulful, but they all look like they’re totally locked in and making love to their own sound and melody. THESE GUYS LOVE THEIR MUSIC. And who can blame them??

I've been listening to this live album nonstop on Spotify, but I actually enjoy it much more on video because you really get a feel for how all these sounds are made as the director does a great job exhibiting all of the musicians playing their tools.

Also, Parcels’ transitions between songs is really cool to watch live. Since I had never heard them before, I wasn't totally sure when a new song started because their transitions are so smooth and seamless.

Parcels only has one album from 2018, and even if you listen to that album, which is super enjoyable, you can tell how far they’ve come as musicians in the past couple years. Very cool to see a band develop in talent like this.

These boys from Down Under are like a mix of Daft Punk, a dash of the Bee Gees (or maybe it’s just that blonde dude’s hair), a dash of the Doobie Brothers, maybe a little Phoenix, all updated to current times.

So guess who else dropped new albums? Taylor Swift and Logic. I really, really, disliked Taylor Swift’s last album. I thought it was a terrible, recycled sounding waste bin of pop music. Ouch. Just when I thought it couldn’t be worse, I was right because Swift released a truly phenomenal piece of music, folklore, easily one of the best albums I’ve heard this year.

Swift’s albums flows perfectly, draws on a sound, theme, and tone, and doesn’t waver too far, creating an incredibly cohesive piece of work from start to finish. I found it refreshing that the album’s songs took on all sorts of characters and stories instead of Swift’s well-worn personal travails. It was time for her to dig in elsewhere and find emotion.

There’s not one bad track and multiple standouts. My two favorites, at least as of today, are “the last great american dynasty,” “invisible string,” and “august.”

While “august” sounds like a somewhat typical pop song, I’m a sucker for any track where the singer just really wails out in emotion, hitting a high note you rarely hear her hit. Swift does it at around 2:00, “cuz you were miiiiIIIIINE TO LOSE!”

There’s something Sufjan Stevens about “invisible string” that I love, and I thought her best storytelling was on “the last great american dynasty.”

Now to Logic. He has claimed that he is retiring so he can be present during his son’s life. An incredibly admirable thing to do, and I hope him the best. I’ve always liked Logic, and he’s always been hated on as another “white rapper,” although he’s biracial (but you’d assume is white if you didn’t bother to research him).

He’s got technical talent, and I’ve always loved his beats and influences as well as one of those rappers who seems mostly to be real to himself and not pretend he’s something he’s not. Always respected that, and I wish he got more credit that he does. But this is a great album to go out on, possibly his best.

The album harkens back to the 90s - early 00s, particularly showing some love to Outkast, Tribe, MF Doom, Kanye, and even Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid! Once a gamer, always a gamer!

Oh, and I put Kyle on here. Great rap track.

Have a good week all, stay safe.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 138

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This White Reaper track has got to be the song of the summer! How good is the guitar??

It only takes a few seconds into this recently released Lupe Fiasco track that I knew it had to be recorded back in his Food & Liquor days. If it wasn’t for Lupe’s “F and F” shoutout (to Lupe’s label 1st and Fifteenth) that he constantly yelled out on his classic debut album, the production and flow is old school Lupe. According to Complex, this was recorded before Food & Liquor and will be part of a release by Lupe’s longtime business partner of unreleased tracks over many years of their label. Can’t wait.

Not sure who Litany is, but “My Dude” got me caught with its 80s vibe and the gal’s voice.

Funny because I was talking on last week’s mixtape write-up about how Whitney reminded me of Real Estate, but then I started listening to Golden Daze, and dear lord, Golden Daze wins for best album of the year that sounds like Real Estate. It’s not a bad thing, Real Estate had the acoustic indie chill vibe on lockdown for many years at which point Mac Demarco kind of took over (and might have ceded the belt given how much I disliked his last album), but there were bound to be a ton of admirers influenced by Real Estate. Often imitated, never duplicated.

Enjoy the other music on this week’s mixtape and have a great week!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 132

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I haven’t exactly been reliable with these Monday Mixtapes every week, so apologies. But this week’s mixtape is quite an eclectic mix. We got rap, rock, indie, grime, a country-ish ballad, and electronic instrumental.

I’m really digging the new Logic album, another great one by a very under appreciated rapper. On the other side, there’s another track on here with an over appreciated, a well appreciated, and a much appreciated rapper, Young Thug, J. Cole, and Travis Scott, respectively. Then there’s Skepta, the gunslinger from the UK, with a new track, the spacey “Bullet From A Gun.”

Something about “Big Softy” just clicks. The song only gets better as it goes along, and I can listen to this one over and over. Albert Hammond Jr., the guitarist of The Strokes fame, has created a hell of a solo career. Nothing will top his top debut album, Yours to Keep, which I hold near and dear to my heart, but he continues to make great stuff, and he’s clean now! Yay!

Does this Justin Townes Earle song sound so much like Van Morrison? I get so many hints with his voice and the overall vibe of the track. His new album is a good listen, give it a whirl.

That’s all I got people. Enjoy your week. Think positive! Your thoughts are the only things that create action.

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. 34

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Music is like so many other things in life - it’s cyclical. Sometimes we have a decade or more of great music, and other times it’s a stagnant regurgitation of better music.

Rap right now is on the upswing. Everyone will always be nostalgic of 90s rap, and I can thank A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, Nas, Dr. Dre, Snoop, Tupac, Wu-Tang Clan, Mos Def and Taleb Kweli, Big L, Naughty by Nature, Big Pun, OutKast, Eminem, DMX, Little Brother, The Pharcyde, Jurassic 5, Gang Starr, and many, many more I’ve failed to mention.

But in the past five years we have had Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city, Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, Drake’s Nothing Was The Same, Kanye’s Yeezus, Run the Jewels Run The Jewels 2, and then in 2015 alone: Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, Lupe Fiasco’s Tetsuo & Youth, Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and Future’s DS2.

The last time I was listening to this much rap was back in college when I completely immersed myself in the world of 90s rap (since I spent most of my life in the 90s as a chubby kid rocking out to grunge music wearing No Fear t-shirts with a bowl cut).

I’m immersed now and as a byproduct, I’m immersing you.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 33

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Welcome to the year 2016. I hope for it to be another fantastic year of music, and one that I will happliy curate for the few of you willing to listen. 

As for the year 2015, hopefully you've been jamming to my Top 100 Songs of 2015, a list that took a while to whittle down but has a ton of great jams. One thing I really enjoy is listening to all other publications' Year End lists. I've recently been listening to Pitchfork's 100 Best Songs, and I've included some of these in today's mixtape. 

I also had a good friend here in SF, a crazy music nut who goes to 2-3 shows a week (though shame on him, he hates hip-hop), who created his own Top 100 Songs and Top 25 Albums. His #1 album was Carly Rae Jepsen's Emotion! At first, I was blown away since she's just the pop singer from "Call Me Maybe," but upon listening to her album, I understand why he loved it so much (though for the record,  it being #1 is still crazy). 

I’ve had Raury on the mixtape before because he has his own blend of hip-hop and alternative vibes, but “Friends” is just a feel good song to make you smile. 

Logic is a rapper from Rockville, MD, who I’ve heard about since his Young Sinatra mixtape. The guy has serious talent and is coming into his own. His latest album has some great tracks, “Fade Away,” being one of them

I have no idea how I stumbled upon Good Morning, but these guys are super duper chill.

Ricky Rozay!

This track by Ought is masterful. If you can get over the “spoken word” vocals (and then maybe start appreciating the oddness of it all which is a little bit like Parquet Courts these days and a little bit like David Byrne in his days) and focus on the arrangement of the music and the lyrics, you’re in for a treat. Wish I had this one on my Top 100!

Closing it out with a ballad by Carly. 

Happy New Year!