Monday Mixtape, Vol. 210

I’m back for a second week in a row! It’s like Joe Dimaggio’s hit streak.

King Gizzard’s “Magenta Mountain” is the song-child of MGMT’s “Electric Feel” and “Kids.” These are two of the greatest (and even more influential) songs of the past 25 years, so I welcome all copycats.

Oracular Spectacular is now 15 years old…so that makes me…really old.

Sharon Van Etten’s new track is very outside her lane, which is great. Gives me Arcade Fire vibes.

The hell if I know who Lo Moon and Ceramic Animal are.

I’m a Wilco fan boy, always will be. At this point, they’re properly rated, maybe they have been since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Why do I love Wilco? Because they do things like this! Sadly, I missed out on Wilc-O’s, the cereal. No longer available :(

Jeff Tweedy is properly underrated, always will be. He’s my Dylan. Yeah, I said it. I didn’t say he was Dylan, so cool out, but listen to “Ambulance” and soooo many songs before that. Listen to his solo albums. Listen to the album he made with his 16 year old kid! It’s all great, and Tweedy’s a poet every step of the way. That dude and a guitar is all I need.

Let’s end with Lupe, another wordsmith. His new album is good. It’s simply produced. It allows Lupe room to breathe. He exhibits his masterful wordplay while not trying too hard (there’s a bad line or two and couldn’t believe Lupe was cool with it, but that’s me being petty.). And his voice sounds like old Lupe.

Turns out Lupe recorded his album with a $100 microphone and GarageBand! Which is less than I spent on my album! And my album was SO MUCH better than Lupe’s. Ok ok, it was so much worse, which goes to show that money can’t buy talent. But then there’s the entire pop music industry which would say otherwise. So I guess that goes to show that money can buy you talent, but you have to have enough money to buy you talent, and I didn’t have enough money to buy me talent even though I had more than $100 but not as much as Iggy Azalea.

Enjoy the week.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 94

Kendrick Lamar was tasked with creating a soundtrack to the recently released Black Panther, and the results aren't exactly surprising. It's great. It's varied in sounds and production yet stays cohesive, and Kendrick pastes hooks, verses, and his imprint over most of the songs. Featuring appearances by Future, The Weeknd, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, SZA, Schoolboy Q, Khalid, Vince Staples, Anderson .Paak, James Blake, and Travis Scott, it's like rap's All-Star Game. The album is one of my fave soundtracks I've heard in quite some time. Check it out!

I was watching (the movie) Whiplash again, and it prompted me to get on a jazz kick last week. I stumbled upon this track from John Coltrane and Duke Ellington, a beautifully rhythmic song strolling through a wintry evening.

And finally, MGMT released a new album which goes way back to their pop-like ways. I still need to digest it, and I'll get a couple more tracks.  

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 91

Happy New Year to all! Given the crunch of time I was under, I haven't even gotten to post my Top 100 Songs and 25 Albums of 2017, so I will do that this week to supplement the mixtape. 

I got put on the The Palms by my buddy Dave and been listening to them for a week now. Digging the album! The lead singer reminds me a bit of Foster the People back when they made "Pumped Up Kicks." 

MGMT is back! And while I've had a love-hate relationship with their music, I'm really digging this song and hoping their album in 2018 is a winner. They have it in them. 

Yes, that is THE Michael Cera you're thinking of, George Michael Bluth and Superbad and all that other good stuff. And yes, he got Sharon Van Etten to get on a track with him. Love the song. 

 Enjoy the rest!