Monday Mixtape, Vol. 51

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I’ve never really thought to count this before, but in the last six days, I’ve added 30 tracks from approximately 23 artists to my “Songs” list in Spotify! It’s amazing to think of how much new music we can be exposed to in such a short amount of time.

This is one huge reason to love Spotify. There are others to dislike (over saturation of genres, too much garbage to wade through, copycats (I mean listen to Desiigner - a jackass who paid $200 from some other jackass to buy the beat to “Panda” and then just made himself sound like Future and released it to the world. At which point people thought “this is a sweet new song by Future!” And now this 19 year-old is huge and getting co-opted by Kanye on HIS new album (which btw is also weird and something I’m not digging about Kanye - is it just me or is he jacking 2 Chainz flow on “That Part”) Wow, that was a rant. Sorry.

WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY was there’s a ton of great music this week. There’s no rap on this one since I think next week I’m going to have a rap-centered mixtape because Schoolboy Q’s new album is so sick. 

All these artists on this mixtape are random as hell and mainly people I’ve never heard of. The only exception is Carl Broemel, and if you know who this dude is, pat yourself on the back! If you don’t know him, he’s the seriously brilliant guitarist (and many other instruments as well - killer on the pedal steel guitar!) for My Morning Jacket. 

I’ve been lucky enough to see MMJ a couple times. The first time was at an amphitheater in South Florida that can hold thousands. I’ll never forget this show because MMJ sauntered out onto the stage, and Jim James was wearing his cape and had whatever instrument it is that looks like a Nintendo controller that he plays for songs from their Circuital album (as that was the album they were touring to support - which btw was an unreal time in their discography to see them live). 

They all finally made it out to the stage, and Jim James looked out to the crowd and looked a bit perplexed. There was maybe 500 people there. This was a band that was selling out Madison Square Garden and a huge draw. James looked over at Broemel, who shrugged his shoulders at James who in turned shrugged his shoulders, and off they went to play a TOTALLY kick ass show. (P.S. Everyone has shrugged their shoulders at one point in time at South Florida).

WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY was that I was able to see Carl Broemel up close, and the dude’s a magician. He effortlessly played memorable hooks and destroyed all sorts of solos when prompted. I think at the most recent show he was playing the saxophone! It’s cool to hear him do his own thing, and “Snowflake” is a layered and delicate track that shows his finer sides. 

And the one other band I know - Nice as Fuck  - is Jenny Lewis' new band (and I think there's  someone from Au Revoir Simone as well) which is pretty kick ass. "Angel" and another track not on here called "Runaway" really remind me of Lucious Jackson. Remember Naked Eye???

But I haven’t seen any of these other bands let alone heard of them - Hoops? Really? (Though I'm digging their Real Estate vibe). Though I guess I've heard of Japanese Breakfast since she’s getting a lot of love on the blogosphere. But I digress.

If you’re still here, thanks. Have a good week!  

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 50

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This will be short and sweet. First off, it’s the 50th Mixtape! Second off, this mixtape is focused on a specific genre which I will call electro-wave - it’s chill and feels like floating in a boat in the ocean as the waves and rhythms rise and fall. This type of music really calms me down and helps me focus. 

I saw Giraffage in a small tent when I was at Outside Lands in SF, and he had a number of us really groovin’ out to his jams. He’s a local guy from the Bay Area (as is Ark Patrol) so hopefully you dig him!

That’s all I got! Have a great week.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 49

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Can the start get any better than these first two tracks from The Mystery Lights? I still haven’t fully inhaled the whole record, but this is one hell of a start to an album.

I think Vince Staples has earned the crown of best not-totally-mainstream rapper. His debut Summertime ’06 was dark and hypnotic with a forced restraint like a shadow trying to scream. This guy should not be slept on. “All Nite” is one of my favorites he’s released to date.

I heard “Controlla” by Drake on a patio in Croatia overlooking the turquoise Adriatic Sea with mountains beckoning ahead and a beer in hand, and I was in such a chill mood that I realized how great this song was. I had never really listened to it before. It’s amazing how your circumstances dictate how your ears' hear. 

Drake’s Views has been critically panned as his worst album, a self-centered album entirely too long (20 tracks!). I think critics are just starting to hate Drake because he’s become too big for his own good. Yeah, the album isn’t his best, and yeah, he constantly talks about his issues, and yeah, who makes a 20 track album?? but I still have 10 of the 20 tracks on the album saved on Spotify, so that’s a pretty good success rate. Forget the critics.

Over a month ago my buddy Sean clued me to the video that later completely blew up the internet of Pharrell Williams’ listening to a student’s (Maggie Rogers) song at NYU (cue to 18:27):

It's so cool to see Pharrell, a legend and a man I place at the top of the list of influential producers since the 90s react in such genuine appreciation and astonishment at her talent. 

P.S. if you didn’t know Pharrell produced the following track at the tender age of 19:

WELL NOW YOU DO. AND ENJOY YOUR WEEK!

  

 

 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 47

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Sorry that I have disappeared for two weeks, but I was just on a two-week long binge trip of work. 13 straight days to be exact. I would love to tell you about how wild it was and how many different qualities come out of human beings that are stressed and sleep deprived beyond reason, but I will only do that in person!

Anyhoo, a TON has been going on in the wide world of music, including Radiohead putting their new album and "In Rainbows" on Spotify!! Years back, I was trying to make a Best of Radiohead playlist on Spotify but just couldn't because I thought "Nude" and most certainly "All I Need" needed to be included. But good news, now that all of their albums are on Spotify, I can do it. See you in a year. 

Radiohead’s new album, A Moon Shaped Pool, is the calmest album they’ve made, a slow pace around the orchestra pit. I’m not sure how many instruments were involved in the making of this album, but the simplicity of the piano and strings in “Glass Eyes” was the most effective of all and delicately gorgeous. Radiohead also gave their loyal fans who know every B-side they’ve ever made a true treat at the end of the album, a studio version of “True Love Waits.”  

Nobody liked Band of Horses last album. Because it was really bad. Fortunately, their new album is pretty good, none better than the opener that starts with their patented chill-reverb guitar and Ben Bridewell’s vocals. Speaking of these guys, if you haven't listened to my Best of Band of Horses, here's the mix!  

After the first 30 seconds, if you had to guess whose song “Wow” was, what are the odds you would have said Beck? One percent? Five? The point is the man adapts and creates like no other artist I can think of. 

If you actually listen to Whitney (a spin off of two dudes from bigger bands, one from Unknown Mortal Orchestra and the other Smith Westerns) instead of just the instrumental from them that I included, you may think the lead singer sounds like the greased-up deaf guy from Family Guy:

and you will probably be right. Nonetheless, I still like the album as it’s the sound of summer. And we all need more summer. 

If you haven’t listened to the Car Seat Headrest album, get on it. 

Wild Beasts have been a band I’ve followed for many albums, and they’ve never really caught on, mainly because their lead singer refuses to sing any way other than a man reading an erotic novel like an opera singer. He tones it down a but with “Get My Bang,” the catchiest song they’ve ever written. It’s still no “The Fun Powder Plot,” my favorite song they’ve done from back in 2009.

Have a great week, I am flying to Croatia as we speak and will be navigating down the coast over a two week span in a rental car with a manual transmission (that I somewhat forget how to use). Pictures will be posted upon my return. You can't go to Lake Plitvices and not return without pictures. 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 46

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Thanks to Memorial Day, there is quite a backlog of great music for you. Overall, I’ve been pretty disappointed in the music that’s been released this year, it just seems to me like a down year. But, there are a ton of bands I love (Local Natives, Blind Pilot, Young the Giant) still to release theirs.

I’m particularly excited for Local Natives’ new album. I’ve had three favorite bands in the past decade - Local Natives, US Royalty, and Tame Impala (while Radiohead being the all-decades favorite) - and they’re all on their third album with only Tame Impala to release the masterpiece Currents. Third albums are huge for bands that garnered a lot of recognition for their first album because the sophomore release is always allowed to be a regurgitation of the first since the first was so good. (And for the record, Local Natives second album was not like their first, but it just wasn’t as good.) Vampire Weekend and Arctic Monkeys are great examples of that. Their second albums were pretty darn good, it sounded like the first, so no one complained. 

But the third is a different story. It shows whether a band has “it” however one may define it. My definition: a sound and structure that is unique and original and a dedication and labor of love that is apparent that it all makes for an unforgettable album, something to be remembered because it sounds like nothing else. Currents did exactly that for me. So did Vampire Weekend’s third masterpiece of an album while Arctic Monkey’s third album went a little too far off field and gave too much sound control to Josh Homme (producer of the album and lead singer/songwriter of Queens of the Stone Age). Though “Cornerstone” is still one of my faves by them.

SO WHAT I WAS TRYING TO GET AT: there’s a lot riding on this album for Local Natives. And that being said, their new single provides hope. I still think Taylor Rice’s vocals sound a bit whiney, but I just LOVE the sounds they get out of their drums and guitars. How awesome is the drum-off starting at 2:17 which leads into some serious kick-ass electric guitar lick? That is Local Natives' specialty, a messy conglomeration of harmonies and other sounds that bleed like waterfalls. It’s beautiful. So maybe I’m getting more excited for their new album now! 

A few other notes:

I though Post Malone was a joke - BECAUSE I LOOKED AT A PICTURE OF HIM - although I loved “White Iverson,” but I obviously couldn’t take him seriously. And though on his track on this Monday Mixtape he’s talking about flexing with gold grills and all sorts of other shit about his squad and sending “Snaps” to his girl, “Go Flex” has a great hook and even a little acoustic guitar in it! 

“Something to Believe In” is Young the Giant’s sultriest song yet. Sameer Gadhia is the modern day Brandon Boyd (of Incubus) - he has one of the best voices in the business, but I think Young the Giant is mainly disrespected by critics. Have they listened to “Islands??” (Yes, I know Incubus is still making music).

The beat that starts the song by Allan Rayman sounds like it should have been on a Montell Jordan tracks. Love it. I don’t know too much about this Allan Rayman guy nor an I sure how to describe him, but this is one of the catchiest songs I’ve heard all year.  

“Feel No Ways” is one of my two favorite tracks from Drake’s new, somewhat disappointing album. I think there are some good songs, but a lot of not so good songs which is not usual for Drizzy.

I am heading to LA on Saturday for two weeks, but I will try to post something for next week’s mixtape because there are a lot more songs I want to share.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 45

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In the past few weeks, my two favorite albums of the year (to date) have been released, James Blake’s The Colour in Anything and Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. I had to make a mixtape with my favorite tracks from each.

As you may have noticed in my last pseudo Mixtape, I am pretty obsessed with Blake’s new album. I am a bit surprised that the overall reaction to the album has been so muted, especially considering Blake is a critical darling almost to the heights of Justin Vernon (who sneezes and gets a post in Pitchfork and Stereogum hinting that he’s working on new music). This is a GORGEOUS album made all the more impressive that a 27-year-old made it (with the help of Frank Ocean too!).

Well, guess what? Justin Vernon/Bon Iver IS working on new music…and it’s with James Blake! “I Need a Forest Fire” is the last track on this week’s Monday Mixtape, Vol. 45, and one of my favorite songs from Blake’s new album. Pairing two very high falsettos together could have ended terribly, but these two are the top of their class vocally and made the vocals blend seamlessly. 

The rest of the the James Blake tracks are my remaining favorites from the album. It was impossible to pick one or two (as I usually do for these mixtapes) songs as I’m enamored with so many. Listen to these to get a feel. 

Sturgill’s album is a sailor’s letter to his family back in the states. From the sweet and sincere (“Breakers Roar”) to a raucous hootenanny (“Call To Arms”) to funky and jazzy (“Keep It Between the Lines”), then swing-sounding country (“All Around You”), Simpson crashes through the walls of sound and gives the middle finger to expectations of genre. For an album that rocks around while sailing full speed ahead, it’s surprisingly cohesive and flows really well. I love this album. 

Happy Monday!

 

 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. James Blake

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Ok, so I'm cutting it close to still being Monday, and this is not exactly the Monday Mixtape, but it's something better: a beautifully haunting album by a lovestruck Brit with some great pipes, James Blake.

This album isn't for everyone because of its electronic elements and auto-tuned voice that Blake uses at times, but the album's flow, delicacy, and arrangements are something special. I always thought Blake to be a tad bit overrated, but this album proves me wrong and showcases his abilities in a way I had never heard before. I think it's my favorite album of the year to date.

Give it a try this week!  

New Local Natives Song - Past Lives

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And OF COURSE they came to play a teeny club in SF yesterday when I was out of town. OF COURSE. Fate has seriously gotten in our ways on a number of different instances (including one where I met a girl working at a burger shop who knew the band and was going to the show the following week and said I should come hang out with them - but I was going out of town!), but I will always love these guys. They have been one of my three favorite bands since 2010 (Tame Impala and US Royalty would be the other two) and while I really enjoyed their second album, I didn't obsessively love it like their debut. 

They've been working on new music for years (or at least haven't released an album since early 2013) and here's the first track they've released from their new album to be released this year!