Polygraph - The Most Timeless Songs of All Time

If you had to define the 90s in music in a few songs, what would be the songs you would think of? "Smells Like Teen Spirit," is my first answer, "Hypnotize" my second, and "Semi-Charmed Life" my third. Now we all define our experiences differently, so mine won't be the same as yours.

But what if I asked you what are the most timeless songs of the 90s? Or the most timeless songs of the past decades since the 1950s? Well, the answer (sort of - you may have your own opinion of using Spotify plays per song for an entire population to be a skewed data set, but just go with it and enjoy) is here! 

Poly-graph put together an amazingly interactive article which graphs songs and years and their success now. It's certainly no surprise to see that in many years, the biggest Billboard hits will not  be timeless. I just heard Joe Jonas' "Levels" for the first time yesterday - that's on the Billboard chart and that song is TERRIBLE.

On the other end, there are songs that were not huge Billboard hits that have shown to be timeless. For example, "Juicy" by Biggie was #110 of 337 in 1994's Billboard ranking, yet it easily the most timeless from the year track today, racking up 25 million plays. "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls ended #57 of 314, yet it's the 3rd most played track of the 90s with almost 36 million plays!

Here are the top 3 songs from each decade (with the somewhat large caveat that Spotify doesn't have The Beatles and a few other bands):

00s:
Lose Yourself - Eminem,
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Numb - Linkin Park

90s:
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

80s:
Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
Billie Jean - MJ
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor

70s:
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits

60s:
Paint It Black - Rolling Stones
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye

50s:
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis
I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry 

Check this out, you'll go down the deep end, clicking and amazing yourself with all this stuff!

Shoutout to my buddy Parker for emailing me this link!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 20

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 19

I'm traveling to Salt Lake City this week so not too much time to writeup all these songs. Enjoy!

5 Faves - Deerhunter

There are bands that come along that defy convention. They don't get swept under the rug of "rock" or "rap" or any other genre but are viewed as unique without any distinct peer. Deerhunter is a perfect example.

Listening back to their discography, the band is all over the place. Their most recent album, Monomania, is a lo-fi Marhshall amp blasting decibels of fuzz and distortion. Before Monomania was their amazing (and my favorite) Halcyon Digest from 2010, a roller coaster of an album wrapped in a warped beauty. The opening track, "Earthquake," is unforgettable and the rest of the album outshines the opener in depth and originality. "Helicopter" sounds like a spaceage Ambien lullaby and "Desire Lines" is basically Part 2 to "Nothing Ever Happened."

As we go further back in time, the band is finding itself, rummaging around for a sense of identity while wearing masks of sounds to experiment with. My favorite track Deerhunter has ever made, "Nothing Ever Happened," is from 2008's Microcastle. It's six minutes of fucking rock, solos, and a bridge that never really ends. This track will determine whether these guys are for you - and admittedly, they're not for everyone!

I'm doing my 5 Faves for Deerhunter because they have just released their first single off of their new album, Fading Frontier, set to release in October of this year. As appears to be status quo for these guys, "Snakeskin" is just a bit different than their other stuff - a bit funkier, a bit more upbeat, a bit of all the other bits in their discography. Super pumped for the album! 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 18

There's no denying this first track by soul singer Allen Stone. Try to deny it. You can't! (Though I listened to the rest of his album and wasn't too impressed - "Upside" is by far the best song on the album.)

I still don't know much about San Diego's TV Girl, but this track is like a mix between Panda Bear and Belle & Sebastian.  It's dance-y yet a bit trance-y, and if you dig it, they just released another track, "Natalie Wood," which you should check out!

"Kodiak" is classic indie. A flowy guitar with a simple snare lets the younger Jeff Tweedy-like vocals pace a track that would best be heard on a beach with a beer. It reminds me of that simplicity that Real Estate has perfected.

After hearing Mumford & Sons at Outside Lands, I once again revisited their new album. Hearing an album live is like meeting someone on Tinder. Maybe they look nothing like their profile pictures and you're left confused and disappointed, but maybe their beauty has even more depth after connecting with them and you're left feeling even better than you came. (For the record, I still think Wilder Minds is a regurgitation of Coldplay's X&Y (which for the record, isn't an insult but not exactly a compliment either).)

I just love Badbadnotgood. I've spoke about them before in my 5 Faves Ghostface Killah writeup, but if you like jazz, check out the discography from these Canadians.

A seven minute rap song? I love the aggressive start and change of pace. Good way to end a mixtape!

Outside Lands 2015 Recap

Hundreds of thousands of people gather at a music festival in a 1,000 acre park to explore another planet together. 

Earth looks like this:

Planet Outside Lands looks like this:

Earth like this:

Another Planet like this:

Planet OSL harbors an odd sense of community amongst the array of freaks, fashionistas, bros, hippies, grandparents, goths, ravers, toddlers, medieval knights and artists. Wear whatever the hell you want and be whoever the hell you want to be! 

Dilated peoples wander around hundreds of yards of graffiti-tagged walls while sounds emanate from every direction. "Turn Left, and you will see Kendrick Lamar captivating seas of people," your internal voice beckons, "or make a U-Turn and within twenty seconds you will be hearing The Black Keys wail to thousands...and don't forget, Elton John's playing too."  

I did not go into Friday with any great expectations for Mumford & Sons. Instead I spent the day listening to Leon Bridges and Glass Animals in an entirely too-packed Sutro stage (which was the most poorly chosen location for almost every single artist that played there as the sound was not capable for such large crowds), and then St. Vincent, First Aid Kid, and Wilco (they ended with my favorite Wilco song, "Impossible Germany!") tore up the main stage before Mumford came on.

Surprisingly, I was more impressed with Mumford & Sons' performance than any other act all weekend. I still think their new album mostly falls flat, but the good/great songs are REALLY good live, specifically "The Wolf," "Believe," "Tompkins Square Park," and "Ditmas." Their recent album may be looked back on as a bit disappointing, but if it leads to three or four songs that they can continually play at concerts until they're as old as Elton John, I say that's a success.

Saturday's highlight was Kendrick Lamar. I'd seen him back at Austin City Limits two years ago and was not overly impressed. But after two years of touring and being anointed one of rap's saviors, the man has learned to command the stage. Lamar relied heavily on his classic album, good kid, m.A.A.d. City, but for good reason. The crowd went nuts for "Backseat Freestyle," "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe," and "Swimming Pools (Drank)," singing along to every chorus.

Tame Impala - the band I was most excited to see - drew a huge crowd and gave a performance that was a bit spotty. The band had sound problems in the beginning of the set that clearly took away from "Let It Happen," and Kevin Parker's vocals were a bit too low and pitchy for his ethereal incantations to float fully through the crowd. Nonetheless, it was great to hear their new tracks (Let It Happen, The Moment, Eventually, and The Less I Know The Better) and "Elephant" has become a track this will forever pump the crowd into a frenzy.

Sunday ended as any great festival should end - Elton John in a sequined blue sparkling onesie. The guy opened with "The Bitch Is Back," need I say more!? He played all of his hits, "Tiny Dancer" and "Rocket Man" were a perfect backdrop to the end of a three day festival. People of all ages gathered around and sung at the top of their lungs as Sir Elton slammed away on the keys. It's amazing that the guy still has the dexterity in his fingers to play such intricate solos on the piano. I'm so glad that I got to see him (and arguably the best part of his act: after each song, he would rise from his bench and implore the crowd to make more noise and applaud him! When the crowd obliged, he would put his fists together like a boxer and and do one big thrust towards the crowd - hilarious)!

At points during the festival, I felt like I was aging out of these three day romps, but then I would feel the energy of the crowds and the music, the goodwill of the people, and the overall community that festivals bring to the forefront. All of our Earth's duties and dailies disappeared in the shade of Golden Gate Park while the wind swept through the clouds of smoke and laughter. We were fenced in, all of our insecurities secure in this weird world, our love of music trumpeting through the fields.

And I think...maybe one more year.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 16

It is the week of San Francisco's music festival, Outside Lands, so I though it'd be appropriate to throw some of the songs I am MOST excited to see live. As the link above proves, there's a lot of acts coming through this weekend ranging all sorts of genres as this playlist would suggest. I also made an Outside Lands Playlist if you need a warmup playlist to get accompanied to all the great bands!

I imagine you could guess which act I am most excited to see: Tame Impala. This will be a very cool show because they haven't performed many times since their new album was released a few weeks ago. "The Less I Know the Better" is another great track from an album I'm loved and wrote about at length.

It will be interesting to see Kendrick Lamar. I saw him at Austin City Limits two years ago and was left underwhelmed. But two years is a long time for a young performer to hone his craft. If his performance from the BET Awards is any indication, he may put on a great show. "Fuck Your Ethnicity" is my favorite Kendrick track. Would LOVE to hear this.

For a couple years I have tried to see St. Paul and the Broken Bones because of their sound and reputation as a great live band. Even though they have an early slot on Sunday (1:40), I can't miss them! "I'm Torn Up" showcases their great tempos and the striking and powerful voice of Paul Janeway.

I've listened to Mumford & Sons new album a number of times now. I still can't really get behind it. All of the songs sounds pretty similar and are watered-down versions of Coldplay at their best (around A Rush of Blood to the Head). I mean "Believe" is the same song as "Fix You," though you could argue "Fix You" is just a rip off of U2... That being said, I still hold hope that they can put on a great festival show. They make drinking songs that people want to scream out at the top of their lungs, and I'm hoping they give the crowd what they want. 

D'Angelo is a genius recluse who hadn't made an album in something like 15 years, so it's damn important to see a guy like this when you have a change. 

My vote for best dance party is split between Hot Chip and Classixx. I'm hoping Classixx gets the crowd amped, and if "All You're Waiting For" is any indication, I'll be jumping around for the majority of the set. They have a fun, frenetic sound. 

ELTON JOHN. I have no idea what to expect. But someone who can slay the piano will win the hearts of many. Couple that with the fact that it's Elton John, I think it's safe to say that it will be a memorable way to close out the weekend!

Playlist - The NeverEnding Story: Favorite Current Tracks

I stopped updating this playlist once I started this blog, but I stumbled upon it today and started listening to it again. There were so many great tracks I had forgotten about (like "Quiescent" by The Underachivers, so good!), and it was a great trip down memory lane. I need to keep this playlist going.

The idea of the playlist is pretty simple: I update it every few weeks with my favorite tracks, the cream of the crop! "But wait," you are undoubtedly asking, "don't you do that on Mondays?" No silly, the tracks on Mondays aren't my FAVORITES, they're tracks that I'm digging and think are unique, but many of them won't even make it onto my Top 100 Songs of the Year playlist (coming year end!). 

The tracks on NeverEnding will certainly make the Top Songs list assuming it's a song from this year. (Truth alert: every once in a while, I'll sneak in a song I just discovered that may have been released...a year or two ago!).

So all this jabber is to let you know that I'm continuing this playlist! It's a great barometer for me to look back and see what I was loving at that time and date. And these are damn good songs! My most recent additions are at the end of the playlist and works backwards to when I started it in August 2013.

So kick back and enjoy some tunes! 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 15

Happy Monday all!