Monday Mixtape, Vol. 185

You’re getting transported on this week’s mixtape: Biking along the shores of the Pacific Ocean, whatever your friend gave you an hour earlier starts to kick in when the trippy track by the appropriately named Holydrug Couple rings through your eardrums, creating colors and sounds over the ocean like rainbows raining…Now as your mind and self are adequately disoriented, Wolf Alice wakes you, rocks your core as you stumble off your bike unbalanced, falling...Oidar’s track may sound a bit more clear and down the straight and narrow, but you gain consciousness in a maze of mirrors. The only way out is up, and the vocals lift you to the clouds…you’re weightless, sitting on pillows whiter than snow, as the sounds of an acoustic guitar envelop you, and an angel with a voice like Billie Eilish serenades you as you drift off to sleep…and dream something akin to a masterfully choreographed iPhone commercial with Madlib’s jazzy choral track as the conductor… your outfit changes to a faded light jean jacket and same-colored jeans, an 80s vibe and neon lights as Ryan Adams’ big head rises like the moon and sings to you...You’re back home, laying in bed. It’s bedtime. In another language, one last song speaks to you, and no translation is needed as you drift to sleep.

The magic of music compels our days.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 72

It's midnight, so I should probably get to sleep shortly. But first, be entranced by Leif Vollebekk, a singer/songwriter I just discovered that most clearly sounds like Ryan Adams, but "Elegy" gives him raspier vocals that hint of Angus Stone. This is a great album that I thoroughly recommend. 

Speaking of albums I thoroughly recommend, if you haven't listened to Drake's new album then what have you been doing? "Passionfruit" is one of my front-runners for song of the year, and "Portland" sounds like Drake got into the new Zelda game because there's some serious ocarinas blowing in that song. 

It's somewhat confounding that Local Natives have released two tracks in the aftermath of their mildly disappointing (or just not astounding or the album most huge fans were hoping for) third album that are better than most of the songs on the third album! This track brings an orchestra into the fry and Taylor's vocals actually sounding good again (instead of ridiculously whiny)

So the Gorillaz have a new album coming out. Their song with Vince Staples is sick and this song with D.R.A.M. is even better. Can't wait for this album in its entirety. 

Finally, Laura Marling's album is a great jaunt through the leafy woods. She's got that folksy Wes Anderson movie-like sound. I dig it.  

That's it. Past midnight, I'm spent!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 68

Hello, hello! Currently watching the Oscars where JT as usual put on quite the performance. Jimmy Kimmel sounds very tired, however, and most of his jokes have been pretty lame. So let's get on to the music!

I had to add more songs to this week's mixtape from the new albums from both Ryan Adams and Future. As Ryan Adams was once know to be a prolific young songwriter releasing many albums over a short span of time, Future has now taken that reign and released a new album ONE WEEK later after the release of his self-titled album. I have yet to even digest the new one, but I will probably add some new stuff in the coming weeks. And if you don't like Future, I understand, but I would also say give the guy a chance and embrace some different music.

I haven't ever listened to Laura Marling, but I have read some stuff on her new album and was intrigued. "Wild Fire" is a track off that new album, and she sounds like an artist I may have to dive into. 

Had to add a little dance music so I included an AlunaGeorge remix to get those hips moving. 

Have a good week all!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 67

I gotta start this mixtape with Lupe. The first track off his new album, "Dopamine Lit (Intro)" is a banger. Lupe attacks the track "Mural" style with wordplay and words stacking on each other like a Jenga tower. He also gives a shout out to Frank Ocean with a line. "Jump" is another banger like an old school Lil' Wayne track with storytelling.

Lupe's new album, however, is a total mess. There is absolutely no continuity when a song like "Jump" is accompanied by poppy rap-r&B slow jams that sound like a duet with Ed Sheeran and Milli Vanilli. Half the album is awesome and half sounds like a record label required Lupe to have eight shitty pop-rap songs. If this album only included the great rap, it would have been quite the follow-up to his amazing last album, Tetsuo & Youth. Alas, that did not happen. 

Ryan Adams just release this new album! And it's great, I have really been enjoying it and still need to listen to it much more. I think the first track from the album, "Do You Still Love Me?" is the best song on the album. That's why it is on the mixtape. But it's worth some listens. 

Future decided to drop a surprise album, and I gotta say, the album sounds different than his other stuff. He's moved to some different beats and quicker flows, sounding a little less codeine-influenced and more of some sort of upper drugs that he may enjoy. "Draco" is my favorite song, an upbeat thumper. 

Real Estate has a new album coming out. They lost guitarist Matt Mondanile to his great solo project Ducktails, but it's still sounding like they haven't missed a beat. Their last two albums have been really fantastic and complete, the total opposite to Lupe, their albums flow like packed rivers. 

This song from London Grammar sounds a bit like Temper Trap and a bit like them. Her vocal chops are legit.

To end the mixtape, I'm leaving you with Charlotte Day Wilson, a sultry singer I first heard on Badbadnotgood's album then heard on a Local Native's remix of my favorite song from their new album, "Dark Days." This song is sexy.

Vince Staples Interviewed by Tyler the Creator

I've listened to two interviews this week - one with Ryan Adams on Marc Maron's podcast WTF and one with Vince Staples on Tyler the Creator's show - and I was blown away at the honesty and matter-of-fact voice that these two guys had with their hosts.

I've written a ton about my love of Vince Staples over the years, and his insight into his world and rap and artistry is very interesting and certainly worth your time. It's a little hard to hear some of Tyler's questions because apparently he forgot how a microphone works or can't listen to the headphones on his head, BUT Staples' answers almost barely need a question because whatever he says is compelling. I did not feel like watching all 33 minutes at 1130 at night, but I couldn't turn it off. Needless to say, I'm very interested to hear his next album as it was apparently inspired by incessantly watching American History X, one of my favorite movies of all time, and trying to provide a landscape based on the feelings he got from that movie. I imagine it'll be pretty dark with maybe a little light at the end of the tunnel. So take a look below if you're so inclined.

There's a strange parallel here with all the "fake news" bullshit that's getting peddled by Agent Orange (who I will say brilliantly turned the actual fake news into a bad word to use against the liberals and succeeded in doing so): artists themselves seem to view the Pitchfork's of the world and all the blogs as fake news to a degree. I say this because they are barely ever forthright in interviews with these publications. I've never read an article on Vince Staples where he speaks as honestly as he does on Tyler's show. So why is that? 

I assume it's about trust and manipulation. I assume Vince trusts Tyler since they've known each other for a while and Vince assumes that Tyler is not trying to manipulate what he says to exploit him for page clicks and money. Instead, he's doing it to create a dialogue.

I can't chastise the Pitchfork's and Stereogum's for trying to make money, but any music fan can clearly see that the good articles on artists are those artists that have no publicity and therefore need a platform to speak so they'll speak honestly. Otherwise, people don't want to be used as headline bait to turn a thousand bloggers into pissed off Twitter trolls who turn the popular consensus against the artist. It's not worth it and many times it will happen beyond their control.

Pitchfork and Stereogum (and almost every other blog for that matter, so please don't think I'm just trying to pick on them AND YES I KNOW ALERT - I am aware that all I do is repost shit for people to see, read, and hear, but I am getting paid nothing for any of this and do it purely because of my love for art and joy of doing it all and the small bit of hope that I get thinking a few of you enjoy listening and reading this blog, AND I get a few brownie points because I do have some original writing and pictures so it's not ALL plagiarized) have turned into regurgitated news that they aren't creating but instead reposting from other sources with click-baity headlines.

Every once in a while we'll get a long form article which can be great. And I have no idea about the economics of this all, but I imagine the writers get paid barely nothing and a few people at the top are making good money and doing so because they've pushed out artistry and demanded clicks and shit that most of the writers feel terrible having to write about. People got to make a living, but i think the lesson is it hurts the artist from helping create a dialogue - like the things Staples is saying here - to a wider audience. Granted, this Staples interview has 400k views so the message is getting across, but I still think if the trust was there between artists and music blogs/publishers, the dialogue would be better. 

SO instead of revealing themselves to fake music news blogs, these artists turn to their own mediums and people of trust to speak honestly. At least that's what I'm gathering because I was blown away with the uncensored stuff Vince Staples was saying. And I was amazed at how open and easygoing Ryan Adams was about his whole life in his interview with Marc Maron.

So with all that being said, yes, Agent Orange, fake news is real.

Enjoy:

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 24

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!

Ryan Adams covers Taylor Swift's album 1989

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. 

Playlist - Sunday Morning

I've written before that I really love listening to chill mixes. There are all sorts of different types of "chill" to me, some can be a bit more trippy or electronic, some where there's a ton of space in the songs that bare echoes and reflections to make the song so sparse that it's relaxing, others that have orchestras, strings, and horns that lull you sleep, and so many more. Whatever way we get there, the WHOLE point is to relax and feel calm. 

My Sunday Morning playlist is exactly what you'd imagine: It's a playlist I always listen to on Sunday Mornings as I'm brewing my cup of coffee, reading the NYTimes, and slowly starting a day off from the grind of work and all that stressful stuff. This mix is a bit more upbeat than my other chill mixes (to be published soon!) because it's not supposed to lull you to sleep or veg out, it's supposed to ease you into your day. There are SO many amazing tracks on here. I honestly LOVE every song on this mix, no joke. But Gary Clark Jr.'s live acoustic rendition of "Things Are Changin'" that starts things off should give you a good idea of the vibes I'm going for.

I'm hoping there are some tracks you've never heard, maybe U.S. Royalty's gorgeous ending track from their first album, or a little Andrew Bird for those uninitiated to his brilliance, or for the love of God PATRICK WATSON. If you don't like "Words in the Fire," we will have to part ways here. How about Rhye's voice in "The Fall," a perfect song to me. Ryan Adams undoubtedly made his way on here and Feist (one of my most beloved female singer/songwriters) will always be loved by me for her sultry voice and original tracks. And of course, I have to end with Wilco's classic and appropriately named, "One Sunday Morning." So much good stuff!

Happy Sundays from here on out!