Monday Mixtape, Vol. 104

Apologies! I have been on hiatus for quite some time. I went on vacation, took an impromptu visit to DC to attend the Caps parade (!!) and am planning on moving shortly. ANYWAYS, I still have been listening to a ton of new music so I'd like to share some :)

I've listened to Lykke Li for years now, more as a bystander than an active listener. I have never loved her but always appreciate her music. I think she's an artist who veers into the pop world but has always been genuine and creative. The first track on her new album, "hard rain," has such a beautiful start to an album in pain from heartbreak:  

"If you like the feeling of a hard falling / I have a secret / I can give you an ocean"

 My favorite Natalie Prass has released her sophomore album, unfortunately one that just can't stand up to her phenomenal debut. My favorite song is likely the first track "Oh My" which gives me tinges of Rhythm Nation-era Janet Jackson with a little extra funk.

Arctic Monkeys took a HUGE departure in their sound from any other albums for their sixth. I absolutely love these guys (their first album and then their fifth AM are so so good) and respect anything they do because it's so damn different. If anything can explain their sound for this album, listen to this track on the mixtape. 

As always, any track with Frank Ocean will inevitably make it to the mixtape somehow! This, sadly, is the best track on A$AP Rocky's new album. I say sadly because it's pretty much all Frank Ocean. Wish the album was better.

Snail Mail has been getting a ton of love from the music critics for her new album Lush. If you like this track, I'd check it out. 

Speaking of albums getting love from critics, it may come as no surprise that Beach House is getting a ton of love for their new album, including being named the best album (so far!) of 2018 by Stereogum. So check it out! 

Alright, I'm out and will try to be better at posting. Adios!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 82

Ladies and Gentelmen, 

It's been a hectic weekend with my attendance at Outside Lands so I won't be writing much. It's been pretty disappointing given that A Tribe Called Quest cancelled their performance TWICE and crushed my dreams of seeing them (although with 2/3 the group in tow, RIP Phife). They were far and away the band I wanted to see most. You win some, you lose some. 

In retrospect, this was the most disappointing festival I've been to. The lineup was not all that impressive, and the acts just failed to really perform at a high level consistently. Surprisingly, one of the best acts of the weekend was Goldroom who came out with a full band and just crushed the small Panhandle stage. The crowd loved them. The other two great performances of the weekend go to Royal Blood and Metallica. 

But in honor of Tribe, this week's mixtape is focused on rap. Haven't done one of these in a while, so I hope the hip-hop heads out there keep nodding that head. 

Playlist - That's a Rap, Vol. 1

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!

Albums to look forward to in 2015!

I've scoured the interwebs for a bunch of info on 2015 album releases (thank you Consequence of Sound, Stereogum, Pitchfork, Metacritic, Ranker) and here's an incredibly quick listing of albums that I promise to listen to MANY MANY times which are ranked from somewhat excited to RIDICULOUSLY excited):

Brandon Flowers - TBA
Savages - TBA
The Dodos - Individ (1/27)
Wild Nothing - TBA
Panda Bear (Noah Lennox from Animal Collective) - Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper
Heems (from the now extinct Das Racist) - Eat Pray Thug (3/10)
Jose Gonzalez - Vestiges & Claws (2/17)
Fleetwood Mac - TBA
Chromatics - Dear Tommy
Pusha T - King Push
Freddie Gibbs - Lifestyles of the Insane
James Blake - TBA
DIIV - TBA
Purity Ring
Belle & Sebastian - Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance (1/20)
The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (1/20)
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (2/10)
Death Cab for Cutie - TBA
Chance the Rapper - Surf
Blood Orange - TBA
Joey Bada$$ (finally!) - B4.DA.$$ (1/20)
Band of Horses - TBA
Drake - Views From the 6
Adele - TBA
Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves (3/3)
Beach House - TBA
A$AP Rocky
Grimes - TBA
Run the Jewels - RTJ3
My Morning Jacket - TBA
Kanye West - TBA
Kendrick Lamar - TBA
Radiohead - TBA
Frank Ocean - TBA