Monday Mixtape, Vol. 2

in

Monday is here, sorry about that. But it's not all bad, you have a little mix to get your morning started or daze off to at the end of the day.

I started adding a few tracks that I've been digging recently, and I realized a theme was coming together with these songs: they are all very ethereal and chill in their own way and sound. Each genre of music in this mix, whether it's rock (The Bright Light Social Hour), electro-pop (Miami Horror), pop (Soko and U.S. Girls), rap (Action Bronson feat Wiz Khalifa), or a singer/songwriter (Alice Boman), has ways of providing laid back versions of themselves. I love making chill mixes (which I'm surprised I haven't posted yet, but this is a swift kick in the ass to get that posted) because I feel like I can get so much work done with a mellow vibe rolling in the background. Hope you enjoy!

By the way, if you're a fan of My Morning Jacket (new album release date May 5, 2015!) and you like the track "Dreamlove" on this mix, you HAVE to check out The Bright Light Social Hour's album. It kicks ass.

Singles - De La Soul feat. Nas - God It

in

If you haven't heard, the legendary trio De La Soul opened up a Kickstarter to make a new album. The album will feature collaborations with Little Dragon (!), David Byrne, 2 Chainz, and Damon Albarn (of Blur and the Gorillaz), and possibly more! Their last album was over a decade ago, so needless to say this will be quite anticipated for all hip-hop fanatics of new and yore.

De La Soul turned to kickstarter (in their words) "to help pay for recording, mixing, marketing, and everything else. Your support will keep us in the studio, help us continue to sample and manipulate the music we’ve recorded, will help us get additional production work done; and will help us design, package, market, and distribute the album. The whole thing. We literally cannot do it without you."

They asked for $110,000 and they've gotten a total $514,000 from almost 10,000 people! Amazing.

They've been getting fans excited with some releases, including this jam featuring Nas (who refuses to age or fade and is still killing it) providing the hook. This track will not be on the album, but for all of us waiting in eager anticipation for it to drop, this will certainly quench our thirst.

Read More

Subscription Service and Search Function!

Based on some feedback I've been getting, I've added two things to the site that I'm hoping will make it more user friendly!

1. Subscription Service - I've added a link up top to the main categories - "Subscribe" - Just click on that link and then enter your email address where prompted. This will sign you up to receive notifications whenever I make a post! 

2. Search Function - For now, the "Search" function is at the bottom of the homepage as well as the bottom of each post. You can go there and type in anything you remember reading, such as Top Songs, and you'll see all my posts relating to that. I don't particularly like having the search at the bottom, but to keep the site clean, that was one of my few options.

Thank you very much for the feedback! Anything I can do to make the site more user friendly, I am more than happy to do as long as it's feasible! 

Album Review - Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color

in

The new album sounds more adventurous, such as "The Greatest," a weird punk rock hootenanny. It's a bit more exploratory like the psychedelic "Gemini." The band clearly had a few more options and instruments to experiment with which can be seen by the additional members in their touring band. But overall, I think they found a pretty good vibe for an album and avoided the dreaded sophomore slump.

Read More

Canadian Tuxedo - Part 3 of 4

in

Back to the tuxedo of the Canadian variety! This outfit is very similar to Part 1 except I'm wearing a blue button-up shirt from H&M in place of a tee and am wearing a brown belt. I probably should have included it in Part 1, but I thought my buddy Kramer took some really cool shots so I wanted to include them as their own.

Canadian Tuxedo 5
Rogue Boots, PacSun Jeans, H&M Button Up Shirt, Old Navy Jean Jacket

Rogue Boots, PacSun Jeans, H&M Button Up Shirt, Old Navy Jean Jacket

Rogue Boots, PacSun Jeans, H&M Button Up Shirt, Old Navy Jean Jacket

Rogue Boots, PacSun Jeans, H&M Button Up Shirt, Old Navy Jean Jacket

Photos by Kramer Sharp

The Monday Mix!

in

A bit of a new idea to treat our incurable cases of the Mondays: Start off each Monday with a short mix that you can get through in under thirty minutes which will hopefully provide you a band or two to check out further!

The first band, Avid Dancer, is a band I just started listening to. Their album is a hazey journey that feels like I'm drifting through the 1970s (see: first track of their album, "All the Other Girls"). If you like "I Want To See You Dance," you have to check this album out.

I've already spoken about my obsession of Hippo Campus, so I had to include my favorite song from their EP, "Little Grace."

The second I heard "Hard Time" from Seinabo Sey, the Swedish 24 year old, I thought of Adele. Her pipes sound pretty similar to her, but the heavy drum beat plots an original course and leads the way.

After seeing The Weeknd at Coachella last weekend (no, I'm not gonna do it), his talent became even more apparent. He has a number of tracks that I can't stop listening to (it was between this and "Earned It" - the track with an amazing 140 million listens on Spotify!), but the transition from "House of Balloons" to "Glass Table Girls" around 3:25 mark is downright dirty.

If you like the xx, then you'll love Jamie XX's new track, "Loud Places."

Finally, if you haven't read the Haim sisters or Taylor Swift tweeting about Tobias Jesso Jr., the new piano man, and if you're into that kind of thing (which I admit isn't for everybody), I wanted to end the mix with his lovely ballad, "Without You."

Playlist - That's a Rap, Vol. 1

in

There's been an ever expanding list of rappers over the past few years that have brought rap back to the forefront of music for me. Sometimes I wax poetic and think of the good ol' days when A Tribe Called Quest and Biggie (amongst so many others) were making the best rap music imaginable. But now there are rappers influenced by them, their sounds, the culture, and everything in between, spitting out their own rhymes. This is the best rap has been since those golden days in the 90s - just listen to Kendrick, Drake, A$AP Rocky, and Kanye. 

I finished Volume 3 of this playlist series today, but I thought it might make more sense to start from the beginning!

I made this playlist back in 2012 as I was discovering a number of my favorite rappers today, such as Childish Gambino, Kendrick, A$AP, Schoolboy Q, and Joey Bada$$. These were primarily my favorite songs by these guys at the time, and I'm hoping for those not as well versed in rap (or those who might have given up on rap for a bit) that this playlist will be a primer for the next two volumes I'll put up in the next few weeks or so!