Monday Mixtape, Vol. 232

So Post Malone jumped on the country music train and wrote an album where pretty much every song has a feature from every big country artist you can imagine. It seems like a popularity/money grab, an easy way for one of few best hit makers of the past decade to find a broader audience, reinvigorate his fans (and maybe himself) and capture the entire population of music listeners. (Posty is the #10 Artist in the World according to Spotify with 77M monthly listeners).

If he genuinely wanted to make a legit country album and wanted to write a phenomenal country album, that kind of album doesn’t have features on 15 of the 18 tracks. The first single is a catchy but mostly empty track with one of the biggest hit makers in country, Morgan Wallen.

It may sound like I’m hating, maybe I am, or maybe I just don’t understand it or wished it wasn’t the lazy features album when an artist has run out of ideas and covers it with names. The only person who really cares about all this is me, and it’s a pretty pointless exercise, but one my mind does and for no great reason is sharing with you.

And yet. I still like some songs on the album. It may not surprise you to hear my favorite song is one of the three songs with no features, “What Don’t Belong To Me,” the first track on this week’s mixtape. It’s one of those catchy sad songs. That’s the Post I like:

Every string, every chord, my guitar
I'll give you everything in the world but my heart
'Cause I gave half to them halfway lovers
I left some to them two drunk summers
Left a piece at the bar with the keys to my car
I know I'm never gettin' it back
I lost a lot to that whiskey-sippin'
I gave the rest to that rockstar-livin'
Take all of me, but thеre's one thang missin'
Baby, I can't give you what don't bеlong to me

As for the rest of the artists on this week’s tape, it’s a blend of rock (what the hell is the madness of this Bad Moves song??? So great.), pop (Sunday (1994) is a legit up and comer reminding me of Beach House and The Cranberries), indie (Steve Lacy is awesome and Omar Apollo is a great talent in the Frank Ocean genre), and the great Fred again (with the help of The Japanese House).

Enjoy!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 227

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This week’s mixtape is a banger. Let’s start with my favorite new band of the year: The Belair Lip Bombs.

They hail from Australia and that’s about as far as I’ve gotten on biographical information. All I need is the rock.

“Look the Part” is their best song, and their whole debut album is mesmerizing, easily in my top albums of the year.

They have the tenacity and intensity of Bloc Party, spastic sounds like Talking Heads while also giving some David Byrne-esque vocal deliveries, and nods to Bombay Bicycle Club (who also released a new album, the lead track which is on this mixtape!).

The band also shared this playlist, a MUCH more official way to understand the band’s influences than my biased ear:

Next, we have Claire Rosinkranz, one of my favorite pop artists since BENEE and Olivia Rodrigo. Her debut album is so catchy, and nothing exemplifies this better than “Wes Anderson,” arguably the catchiest chorus I’ve heard all year.

Speaking of catchy choruses, Biig Piig (not arguably, but truly, the worst artist name of the year), who I heard on a track by Kojacque, rules the airwaves with “This Is What I Meant.”

Another great indie rock band I’ve recently discovered is Karen Took The Kids. “Witch Hazel” is their best song, looking forward for more.

If you like Bon Iver, you’re gonna like Ilsey.

That is all for this week’s mixtape, have a good week and godspeed.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 226

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I wanted to write a OMG have you heard Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, but I may cover that in a separate post unrelated to the Monday Mixtape.

In the meantime, another OMG: Have you listened to Zach Bryan? This guy is taking the music world by storm with fearless and vulnerable songwriting, bellowing tunes many times with just him and his Gibson. He is inspiring me to write again.

Fear and Fridays (Poem)

I'd say I've seen some beautiful days, I've walked countless coastlines, awoken on mountain tops, I've seen death and birth and kissed good lips…
I have ridden in fear, although, I was afraid every single time.

I've learned that every waken moment is enough and excess never leads to better things, it only piles and piles on top of the things that are already abundantly in front of you like breathing and chasing and slow dancing and love making and fighting and laughing.

I am unhinged, unworthy, and distasteful to mostly everyone I meet, however I am loyal to a fault to anyone I find kindness in…

I do not and will not fear tomorrow because I feel as though today has been enough…

And I think fear and Fridays got an awful lot in common, they are overdone and glorified and always leave you wanting.

Tourniquet

You've been playing your guitar from arenas to the bars

Since you were old enough to rhyme a word

But your face is getting thinner

And you're praying for the winter

And I heard you fucked it up with her

I bandage up your body and your bones and your bad days too

Take care of the blood that your love runs through

I know all the damage that some days in this dark world does

You were laughing last evening at something I dreamed of

A bunch of other great tunes to get your week off to the right start. My guy Kojaque is back with “WOOF,” and I can’t wait for his new album.

If you don’t know Bibio, he’s a gem of a songwriter whose been writing good music for two decades now, and has always been under the radar. He’s worth your time!

Speaking of worth your time, I’m diggin’ these newbies, Great Big Cow, and Dana and Alden are a great jazz duo in the mold badbadnotgood.

Enjoy the week!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 225

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225 volumes should be some sort of celebration, a few balloons and whistles to lead in this week’s first track, “CABRA DRIVE”, by Kojaque. Damn, this song is tight, and I’m diggin the lingo. The transition into the bridge (starting around 1:30) is jaw dropping, and the move back out (2:04) is flawless. This dude’s due to blow up.

Kojaque is an Irishman hailing from Dublin, blending storytelling and style spanning soundscapes, resulting in music transcending the boundaries between the bars.

Nas released a new album, and although it’s nothing amazing, it’s still crazy to hear a rapper his age still killin’ it. Two tracks from Nasty this week! Jay Rock and Anderson Paak round out the rappers this week.

Post Malone dropped an album. His lyrics have always been boring and uninspired, but he knows how to sing a hit.

The Beaches, a band of female rockers, got me intrigued. I gotta look back on their previous couple albums and see if there’s any hubbub to intrigue further.

I’ll report back. Over and out.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 224

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A great set of tunes beginning with the one and only, Youth Lagoon.

Emerging from the depths of Boise, Idaho in 2010, Youth Lagoon is a band that encapsulates the essence of introspection and nostalgia. Helmed by the enigmatic Trevor Powers, Youth Lagoon weaves together intricate layers of electronic textures, emotive lyrics, and poignant melodies.

The first two tracks on this mixtape are the first two tracks from his first album in eight years. The album is haunting, beautiful, delicate, disturbing, catchy, challenging, and an album no one else makes. It’s phenomenal and is my #1 Album of the Year thus far.

Some other great tracks, including the Deftones-like bdrmm and a fantastic singer-songwriter, dv4d.

That last voice you hear is the lead singer from Fontaines DC’ solo album.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 222

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Turnstile is one of my favorite bands of the past few years, and their older albums prior to GLOW ON are more hardcore, more screaming, and a ton of head banging. They’re not as good as GLOW ON, but damn do they ic rock. Example numero uno: “Real Thing.”

I’ve really been digging Blondshell’s new album, and “Kiss City” is another track to enjoy.

I’m still digesting The National’s new album. I didn’t like it at first, I think I like it more now, and “Tropical Morning News” is my favorite thus far.

Few more tracks from a few more artists that play on these playgrounds.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 220

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Maybe once a year, a new artist captivates me, swallows me whole in sirens.

Over a decade ago, I heard U.S. Royalty’s first album, mouth agape. I remember hearing Kendrick Lamar featured on “Say Wassup” or Joey Bada$$ blowing through the gates with “Righteous Minds.” There was Quiet Hounds’ first track on their debut, “Calling All Gamma Rays.” I heard “Somebody Else” by The 1975 and gasped at my stupidity discounting them as a pop boy band.

In 2023, Jo Hill has me captivated. If her first track, “Honeymoon” doesn’t stick with you then I give up, let’s part ways, we can’t keep listening together. It’s infectious and bubbly, and Jo’s voice is killer. I love her call and response, and her cadences are so unique.

She follows “Honeymoon” up with “Other Girl,” another helluva-catchy track, her beautiful voice smoothly riding the beat before lifting above with a crushing the chorus.

I can’t wait for her album. She’s got huge things ahead of her.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 219

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Hello! I’m still running through a backlog of songs I’ve liked in the past couple months to add to the mixtape. Ton of great stuff this week, and starting the good vibes is Leland with an assist from pop trio, Muna, in a catchy, St. Lucia / Penguin Prison -like jam.

If you haven’t heard of Royel Otis yet, you will. These guys will be big.

Etta Marcus’ “Crown” reminds me a ton of Radiohead’s“Jigsaw Falling Into Place.” She’s got some mystique and rebelliousness in her voice, I’m intrigued to hear more of her stuff.

Bayonne is coming out with a new album, and I’m stoked. No one sounds like these guys, and their music blends in with the atmosphere. Maybe I’d say they have an earthy sound.

Arlo Parks is following up her fantastic debut with this single, “Weightless,” and it’s more layered and electronic yet keeping a head bopping beat. Look forward to a new album.

Young Fathers, those weirdos from the UK, made a new, maybe less weird, album that is worth a listen to get outside of your comfort zone. “Rice” is the most accessible track so see what you think.

Turnover is a cool band I just fell upon, and I love the rhythm to their tracks.

Kota the Friend has been putting out great rap music for a while now.

Finally, Blondshell with the 90s grunge sound. Looking forward to her new album.