Monday Mixtape, Vol. 177

Hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl…my favorite commercial was the GM-Will Ferrell-Norway commercial. The punch through the globe did it for me lol.

Threw some jams together that should make you bop your head, starting with infectious Offset, he of fame from the rap trio Migos. Dude is awesome, love his flow.

Lots of random stuff on this one, including a single from Lana Del Rey, a great ballad from Taylor Swift’s second album of 2019, and more.

That’s all I got! Have a good week.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 166

It was 2012, I was a spry 28 years old spending a weekend at Austin City Limits in Austin, TX with a group of great friends and music lovers. We walked into the concert at Zilker Park in the early afternoon on a sunny Friday to a band I had heard of but never heard, Delta Spirit.

The song we heard is indelibly marked in my brain as a reminder of that day, that weekend, and the joys that music can bring, bringing friends closer together:

“Tear It Up,” from Delta Spirit’s self-titled third album, was the opening to our weekend of fun and a hell of an anthem. What a memory.

Eight years have passed, and Delta Spirit just released their fifth album, What Is There. I’ve listened to it all the way through a few times, and it’s great. I want to say it’s their best, but I’m still debating whether their self-titled album was better.

Wherever I end up on that internal debate, nothing will take my ears off of “Making Sense,” the first track on today’s mixtape, and on e of the best songs Delta Spirit has made. There’s something to the spacey synth that punctuates this song. It ties together a typical yet great Delta Spirit song.

“The Pressure” is another banger by Delta Spirit on the mixtape. Their energy is infectious and the pace non-stop.

Another thing I’ll never forget from that awesome set at ACL in 2012 was their frontman/guitarist, Matthew Vasquez, in the midst of his band going to town on a hard rock interlude, started climbing the scaffolding on the side of the main stage. Easily twenty feet into the air, high off god knows what (I can’t imagine it was just life at 1pm in the afternoon, but who am I to judge?), he starts dangling with one arm and swinging on the scaffolding.

We’re all witnessing a potential death while also getting to see some crazy rock star shit a la Eddie Vedder.

I remember the look on his bandmates’ faces. They continued to play, but they all saw their future falling before their eyes in the name of rock. Most of them looked slightly bemused. No one was angry, no one was particularly scared. That was Matthew being Matthew, I suppose.

But I’ll remember the energy. The feel of the crowd’s shock, fear, and genuine appreciation of some dude’s craziness and commitment to being a showman.

Vasquez climbed down easily, grabbed the mic, and screamed on.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 163

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. 142

Hopefully you started listening to this week’s mixtape without looking at the playlist and just listening. Because then you might have really enjoyed the first track without feeling guilty. If you looked first, then maybe you said, “One Direction!!??" and then had a preconceived notion that you shouldn’t like this song, which may have become more complicated when you really liked the song. It’s up to you whether you’ll admit or not. And that’s how we start our Monday, like it or not.

You may wonder how this track got on here. I read Rob Sheffield’s Rolling Stone article on Harry Styles, a guy whose first solo album was really, really good. It’s hard not to like Styles. His charisma, honesty, and comfort with himself (at least at his age) is disarming for someone you’d expect to be a prick.

ANYWAYS, the article included a playlist about all the music they spoke about during the interview process:

Lo and behold, One Direction features somewhat prominently on it. So I heard the track (and didn't know who it was!) and loved it. So that’s how it got on this week’s mixtape (it’s also, by the way, how the beautiful Bill Evans track made it too.)

As for the other tracks on this week’s mixtape, there’s new stuff from numerous bands I’ve enjoyed over the years - Surfer Blood, Little Brother, Vince Staples - and a new band, Gender Roles, whose album I love. These guys are like a music child of The Deftones / Wavves / The Used, and I’m digging it. There’s rhythm, some screaming, and great rock n’ roll.

And finally, a shout out to my bud Sean. He asked if I had listened to the new Taylor Swift album. And speaking of guilty pleasures like One Direction, I am wholeheartedly a fan of Taylor Swift’s 1989, a phenomenal album, but I don’t like most of her other stuff.

Nonetheless, I listened to her new album and couldn’t make it through 10 songs (let alone the fact that the album is EIGHTEEN FREAKING SONGS - which btw is a pathetic scheme by artists to get more album “play counts” on streaming services which makes “the art” of making an album NOT AN ART and instead a money, attention, and awards grab. I’m sorry, but if you’re willing to intentionally manipulate your album to succumb to these bullshit reasons, you’re a sellout, not an artist (and I hate to say it, my boy Drake is in this category too)).

The first ten songs were terrible: formulaic, her annoying falsetto that she can’t actually sing in, “rapping” or whatever you want to call her fast talking, it’s all just bad pop music to me. So I stopped listening.

BUT THEN SEAN. So like I was saying, he texts me about the album and says his favorite track is track 13, “False Gods,” a song I didn't get to because I clearly was too fed up from the reasons listed above.

The song is subtle, quiet with a bit of reverb in her voice (no falsetto!), a horn, a slow beat, FEELING. From the start it just connects. It’s an amazing song. I’m blown away by it, really, and it shows what she can do when she really does it. Or maybe it’s just me and Sean.

So this is my mixtape of teen heartthrobs and pop sensations sandwiched with hip-hop underground favorites Little Brother and one of hip-hop’s current faves, Vince Staples. Definitely a different mix this week. Hope you 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.