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musicmixtapes · 5 years

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Jan 2, 2019 Mix

Hello friends! Hope everyone enjoyed ringing in 2019 and if you still need some musical inspiration to motivate yourself for the year, look no further! This week includes several genres and time periods, including some fun new songs as well. Enjoy and leave any comments/suggestions/recommendations you have! Spotify Playlist 1. This Year by Beach Fossils - I love continuity of themes, so starting this mix off with the theme of a new time in life and refreshing the pages was definitely something I had in mind with the rest of the songs as well. This song particularly is really good in the sense that it talks about the self critical nature of the human spirit and how we tell ourselves we will stop bad habits and automatically change, when this is a difficult thing to implement. For a deeper scope, this piece develops the thought surrounding "moving on" from a mental defect or illness, in this case, it seems to be depression. The iteration of the "you" in this song at first, seemed to be the speaker talking to a person, but actually is calling out depression as a personified thing. It's so hard to find music that properly exemplifies how it feels to struggle with mental health and the various cycles that one goes through of doing bad/doing better, so I can always appreciate when I find something that speaks to this concept correctly. In terms of musical quality, the dreamy indie pop sound of Beach Fossils never fails to put the listener in a relaxed, contemplative state which can allow for further reflection upon the deep meaning. 2. Feeling Good by Nina Simone - Everyone has heard this song in their lives, that is indisputable. The reason I feel that including one of the original versions of this song is because one of my friends from school told me last semester that they thought Michael Bublé was the first person to sing this song and I was pretty upset by it. But, then I kept thinking about how popularized so many covers of songs become, meanwhile the class originals kind of get left in the dust. Before Simone iconically did this piece, "Feeling Good" was a musical song, which definitely adds to the big band, big voice aspect of this song. One of the true female voices of the 20th century, singing about the inner freedom one can obtain, is so powerful and important. The amazing ability for Simone to channel her own feelings about the topic of freedom made this song that much better coming from her, especially with it's release in 1965, when so much was happening with the civil rights movement and the bigger quest for freedom and inclusion with the black community, those who were struggling to be released from the grips of segregation for years. It is for that reason alone why I feel that this song should be listened to from Simone's vocals and passion, not that other versions cannot be enjoyed as well. 3. Self by Noname - Shoutout to my little brother Dennis for showing me this awesome album which I enjoyed thoroughly from start to finish; if you like this track, I highly recommend listening to the rest of the album as well. I can't even go into that much detail describing this piece because it says so much in under two minutes and honestly, is something you should listen to a couple of times in a row. There are so many broad world topics such as race, politics, religion, sexuality, etc. discussed in the verses, but then also personal pieces of information scattered throughout and a praise to the singer's self identity and womanhood for her ability to achieve so much even though she has been labeled as less than because she is a woman. This idea comes to the forefront of the song when she says "You really thought a bitch couldn't rap" because it takes the duality of self on in the sense that people had been calling her specifically out for being an anti-rap artist, but also because women in the rap industry come under so much more scrutiny than male rappers. The ending of the track comes full circles when she calls out these male rappers for only talking about money and the sexual objectification of women's bodies, which is overplayed for sure. 4. Something Holy by Alice Phoebe Lou - This is a new release from a super unique voice, talking about modern topics of intimacy and a female journey through sexual discovery, which is so important! From an interview on the single with the artist, Lou said, “It’s a song about the process of releasing myself from my traumas with intimacy, and the discovery of a place within myself where I can love and be loved… without jealousy, possession, pain or guilt.” This song has the energy that everyone needs to channel and bring with them into this year because so much in the past I feel like people have been super apologetic and embarrassed by the ways that they have failed with love in the past; in turn, a lot of music centers around this feeling of failure and being distraught over making mistakes. The new wave of reflection upon the past needs to come with acceptance and allowing oneself to leave those mistakes where they belong, which is in the past. Also, the theme of the song of love being equated to holiness brings about the vibes from the 60s and 70s, of free love and no shame attached to openly loving, which not to repeat the phrase too much, I really love. 5. Gloria: In Excelsis Deo by Patti Smith - My mom and I were listening to this song the other day in the car, and she told me her experience listening to it for the first time which describes it so well. She said, "My grandmother's name is Gloria and she is such a religious, holy person... when I heard this song, I remember thinking 'this is so not my grandma or what she is like.' But I loved it." When my mom said this, it really resonated with me because it directly translates the irreverent, sacrilege tones this song exemplifies so brashly. Smith made the point that this would not be someone's mother's (or grandmother's song). She revolutionised the woman rock and roll style of singing in the sense that in the past, women's voices were often regarded as having to be beautiful and powerfully delicate in a lot of ways. The notes would have to be perfect, the tone would be feminine; Smith defied all of these concepts with her voice. It was raspy, it jumped in range often and not beautifully, in fact, it more resembled a lot of male rock singers' voices than any woman's during the height of her career. When I listen to her sing, it gives me a lot of inspiration because she is a model for women whose voices aren't tonally clear and perfect in the Broadway or classical sense, which is awesome. 6. Now That You're Gone by The Raconteurs - Always so excited to hear new music on the rock scene, especially when it gives us such a great guitar riff like on this track. You know, before adding this song, I thought maybe 2018 would be the end of obsessing over songs about someone leaving and the aftermath of that, but here I am obsessing about a song that says exactly that. I really enjoy the call back to older vintage rock which has the shoo-bop style of instrumentals and backing vocals, along with the gradual half note walk down of the bass and keyboards after each guitar riff. It reminds me a lot of some earlier 60s rock/blues songs which is always great to emulate when creating fresh music. Also, taking it back to the start of this song, the first few bars before the electric guitar comes in, I love how it seems like it is going to be a mellow, sad song, but then the pace completely switches up and it becomes kind of a f*** you song instead, which makes it so great. More in depth with the lyrics, I like the role reversal between the first and second verse, where the first talks about having to deal with someone leaving and the second refers to the person who left and how they are going to struggle equally, if not more. I always like to listen to something which presents two sides of a story. 7. My Love Took Me Down To The River To Silence Me by Little Green Cars - Wow, the beginning of this piece and the rounds that the backing vocals provide made me completely enamoured by it before the first verse even began. There was this very old, ancient, folky, sitting around the campfire singing an oral tradition song that this piece gave me. It also reminded me of the way that the music of The Mamas and The Papas would have an individual singer in the verses and then the big group voice sound would amplify the chorus so much and create a super soulful moment for your ears. I've been noticing more and more that with a lot of pop music, there seems to be lots of solo artists who layer their own voices and work independently, and I definitely miss seeing the big band/group styles of music. There's always that sentiment that more voices and spirit in a piece of music can always add so many layers of depth. Now, in terms of meaning, at first, I thought this was going to be super dark and to "silence" someone can mean... to kill them, right? But, then I thought more on the metaphorical level of how people could refer to someone really hurting them and their emotions, thus "silencing" their heart a little bit. The river spoke of in the song, could definitely be a real river from a memory, or just again a vivid imagery to describe a naturalistic experience of having one's heart broken for the first time. 8. Crane Your Neck by Lady Lamb - If you've been reading this blog for long enough, you know my feelings on how important it is to have poetic lyricism in music because it creates a super strong connection for the listener and their emotions while listening to a piece of music. This song did that for me by creating a very clear story of a person who is being torn between treating themselves and their mental health better and escaping from a person/relationship which is clearly very toxic for them to be in. The interesting thing about this piece, is that it focuses more on the speaker's experience with self affirmation and building up a positive experience with themselves, and less about their intimate partner. A lot of times in music, we can see the speaker kind of blaming their emotions on someone outside of themselves, so I enjoy seeing the flipped script of this artist totally taking responsibility of her own happiness and journey to be a happy person. One thing about the wording that particularly makes me happy is the many references to the body parts and how they correlate with the mental state of the speaker; this delves into the true connection between physical and mental health. 9. Tungs by The Frights - I feel like in order for me to have a lot of self affirmative, self uplifting songs on my mixes, I also need to recall songs that remind of the ways I used to think about relationships and myself in accordance with them. This piece definitely brings me back to a couple of years ago where all I cared about was what one person would be thinking about me, where we stood on any specific day, and if something would go further or just stay 'casual'. My present self is crying for my past self when I listen to this song because it is so unapologetically adorable in the way that the speaker is obsessed with the subject of the song and they don't know if the subject cares about them at all. But enough reminiscing on why this song makes me emotional, I need to talk about why the title of this song is so genius and why I didn't realize it at first. So "tongues" is the way that the body part is spelled, which is mentioned a lot in this song; but also, the "tongue" of a shoe is important because the speaker keeps referring to how fucked up his shoes have gotten by walking the world for the subject of the song. I don't know if this was intentional at all, but I like to think that it was because if so, it's super smart and makes me happy. 10. Fool You've Landed by Mumford & Sons - We absolutely love and adore and appreciate the blend of languages on this blog forever and always. When I learned that M&S, Beatenberg, and Baaba Maal had collaborated on music together, I was immediately listening to every song on the EP/album. Obviously there were a lot of great choices, but this one stuck out to me especially because of the.... you guessed it, lyrical content. But also, the drum beats in this and percussion in general is just so great and includes so many other non-American elements and instruments in the music which makes it so much more fun to listen to than the everyday stuff we hear. Ok, but back to the lyrics, it starts off in an African language, which I'm not sure exactly which dialect, but then repeats the phrases in English directly after, which is great. The musical tone of the song is super positive and upbeat being a good juxtaposition for the lyrical content which describes a person who has a wavering mind in what they are searching for. 11. Hold Me Now by The Thompson Twins 12. Romance by Ex:Re 13. All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Bauhaus 14. These Days by The Black Keys 15. Owl by She Keeps Bees 16. If You're On The Water by The Saxophones 17. For a While by Fenne Lily 18. Dark Child by Marlon Williams 19. Honeybee by Steam Powered Giraffe 20. Last Year's Man by Leonard Cohen

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musicmixtapes · 5 years

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December 26, 2018 Mix

Hello everyone! Hope it was a good holiday season, but I'm actually excited to be listening to regular music again! Enjoy this week's mix, it definitely has a shaped narrative line which I enjoyed curating, as always, leave me recommendations or song suggestions, I love listening to new things Spotify Playlist 1. Last Chance at Love by Pinc Louds - This relatively unknown band, outside of the local New Yorkers who are in the know, are so underrated and deserve all of the attention in the world. Although this entire album is worth listening to front to back, I chose this song specifically because of the various changes in pacing and tempo in just a few minutes. In the place of the narrative I centered this playlist around, this song's contents set up the storyline of a person looking back on a relationship and realizing that they were the antagonist in their own story. Even the direct references to mythology and the different types of villain characters that are portrayed as common tropes shows the harsh self criticism of a person thinking they were the demise of a relationship. More than anything I relate to this song because of the way that vulnerability is honest and the diction changes as the tempo of the instrumentals does as well. It's almost as if this speaker is thinking out loud about the past and then turns it into a song. 2. The King Must Die by Elton John - I don't know if I'd call him the king or queen of being able to so adeptly set up a veiled metaphor for the demise of both two people which is portrayed as a country's inability to get its s*** together. The line that stands out to me the most is "and sooner or later everybody's Kingdom must end" which is just so relatable because it kind of shows that at one point in a relationship or a friendship even things to you seem so majestic and thriving but over time it deteriorates for one reason or another and it is kind of like the end of an era. To steer away from inspecting the lyrics on such a deep level concerning the instrumentals which was Elton John's composition the piano is just so ballad like. And the chord progressions remind me of an older British tune from a royal era, but also bring it into a modern perspective which I think he was trying to do with the song. So the layering of the time periods is really smart 3. Love is a Beautiful Thing by Vulfpeck and Theo Katzman - Before discussing this next one I have to give all credits regarding the discovery of the song to my friend Brandon. I listened to the song just once with him before hearing it about 10 more times on my own. Something about the timbre of the two artists voices blend so well together and adds to the meaning of the song which is that when love really works it Blends in such a beautiful way. The bridge is probably my favourite part just because the harmonies become more complex and apparent to The Listener. Usually when you hear a song about love especially in the modern-day it's cliched and overdone but in this instance I didn't think so at all because it really just States the obvious in a super poetic way. I really enjoy the section which talks about how one person in the relationship is getting engaged and this is something upsetting for the other person to watch happen and you kind of see how love is not just beautiful but also very complicated. 4. Alan by Perfume Genius - Continuing on with this idea of having a narrative story line for the playlist, this song brings up the topic of being comfortable with someone and being able to trust someone for the first time in a long time which can be confusing and complicated. The lines that are so striking are "I'm here/how weird" because it's the thought that the speaker couldn't possibly imagine being so happy with somebody and it's a really bittersweet moment in the singer's mind. The symphonic sound that permeates the song is a great representation of the relationship that's portrayed in the song, because it's about the main singer of Perfume Genius' boyfriend who is a classically-trained musician. This is like the part in a movie where someone's been through a lot of bad relationships and finally find someone their comfortable with. Tt's like the calm before the storm where you're really nervous for the main character because you're not sure if their partner is going to screw something up or if they're going to screw something up or if it's going to be great forever. 5. Recently Played by Crumb - At first listen you might think that this song is literally about getting a couple of songs stuck in your repeatedly. That's what I thought too; but upon further examination I realized that it's more about not being able to get somebody out of your head or being able to move on from my past relationship. This is probably one of the most talked-about subjects especially in modern music because people generally struggle with moving on from something without any closure. The repeated chorus of "I can't see in outer space the night is dark nobody finds me" really represents that air of confusion that starts to surface when you feel that something ends without explanation. On a surface level I can totally picture this as well as just describing the monotony and routine one can get into by listening to the same music again and again and how this is a representation of feeling bored and useless in life too. 6. Sneakers (Sneaky Thing) by Franky Flowers - If ever there was a song to accurately describe the way it feels to be a teenager and engaging in reckless love affairs then this would be it. The whole trope that's commonly portrayed in films and shows of a boy or girl sneaking there significant other into their bedroom late at night and there being this whole scary element of it and getting caught is given such a main character role in this song. Even just the title of this piece suggests a Summer Fling and wearing dirty sneakers and being a dirty stay out. Something alternative in different that is also given a role in this piece is that idea that summer has to end at some point and somebody in this affair is going to be disappointed. It's like that quote that says the love that burns the brightest also burns out the fastest which the singer has now come to terms with or is still trying to come to terms with. 7. Louise by TV Girl - I kind of like to pair this with the last song because it describes the other person's point of view in a brief love affair. The idea of thinking a woman is just a manic pixie dream girl and that she doesn't really care about the other man in the situation is something that's really a risen in the past 10 to 15 years in media and entertainment. The girl in question in this song, Louise, is described as a French girl who doesn't really know what it means to care about somebody anything more than just a fling. I don't think the song is entirely serious because often this artist likes to poke fun about general stereotypes that are portrayed. But I think the serious topic that is addressed is somebody getting too emotionally invested without considering the consequences that falling Head Over Heels really has. The dreamy nature of this piece suggests that a brief affair can seem dreamlike and you don't really want to wake up from it but you have to because reality is calling. 8. I Lost Something in the Hills by Sibylle Baier - Honestly the song creeped me out a little bit but when I really listened to what it was trying to tell me, I think it only creeped me out because I related to it so much. This song is less about a relationship with another person and more about someone's journey to health and their relationship with themselves. The eeriness and strange acoustic vibe that is in the song is very synonymous with the blending of the Supernatural and natural tendencies that runs through a person's mind, in specifics the speaker's mind of the song. The speaker calls into question the relationship between growing up in weird circumstances and the inability to find oneself because of such circumstances. We as listeners are called to question if the hills are a real place or simply an existing metaphor for the untapped regions of someone's unstable mind.I'd love to hear a sequel for this song We're maybe the outlook is a little more positive because I found myself totally rooting for the speaker of this song by the end of it. 9. Everything Is Scary by German Error Message - Again the song isn't necessarily showing a person-to-person relation as much as a relationship to a person and the memories that surround it from childhood. Although there isn't necessarily a lot of lyrics I think the idea of quality over quantity really comes into play. We can really imagine the visceral senses that the narrator is trying to portray. I just love the comparison of driving in your car and thinking about your own experience and memory, and how that correlates with someone's childhood experiences that you used to love or that you still love. The repetition of that same guitar riff within every verse signifies the repetition of the memories you have every time you drive in your car especially passed the place of someone that you care about. Going along with the theme of repetition is the phrase we here towards the last two verses which is "in your new neighborhood," which shows not only the passage of time, but also the fact that this person has moved away from the speaker. 10. Destroyer by Lala Lala - Personally I believe that the song can really hit where it hurts because it has more of a poetic lyrical nature more than even a song like tendency. It is less about the theme of female apologism and more about explaining a person who basically comes into your life like a tornado and leaves a mess where they used to be. The interesting thing is it fluctuates between blaming the subject of the piece and using the tactic of self blaming. I like this because it's a conversation but very one-sided where we can only see the speaker's perspective but we don't know if she's reliable completely. The sound that encompasses us is a little bit manic and we really see this come through with the chorus when she sings you are the reason my heart broke behind my back. The discordance in this line is almost sounding panicked and disorganized which is usually dislikeable in a song but in this instance it really adds to the theme.In a lot of songs that talk about relationships we usually think about things being able to move forward and coming to a conclusion at the end but this is different because it seems just as stuck and manic as when it started. 11. Romance Languages #1 by Cold War Kids - I think this piece really compliments the last song well because it's almost like a sister song in the sense that it resolves that manic tension that we heard, and explains the exhaustion and the tired feeling of being over, in general, romance. Cold War Kids have the succinct ability to be very aggressively honest concerning personal feelings towards another person, and doing it in a rock based song which in my opinion is usually pretty tough to do. In the beginning of the song I assumed that the reference to never having experienced a devastating loss meant that a relationship was the worst thing that can happen to a person; but by the end I was thinking that the speaker may have in fact gone a devastating loss of a person that they really loved which makes the piece that much more impactful. There's an angry tone, a passionate tone in the singer's voice which does signify the duality of love and loss. 12. Loro by Pinback - I got the idea to make this week's playlist into a narrative of sorts after adding this specific track. The reason being, there is a group of people referred to in this song called The Ripped Ones. This got me thinking that this group could either be people who are no longer alive or people who have had their hearts broken left being quote-unquote ripped. The mellow nostalgic tone that we received from the singer's voice and the instrumentals add to the story because it seems almost like it's eulogizing people who can no longer be together. The image that the song creates of The Ripped ones never being able to collide is so hard to come to terms with on a musical and a personal level because psychologically we always want to get that hopeful or perfect happy ending, but realistically this hardly ever happens. It almost seems as if they're supposed to be another verse but it just never happens and we are left with a trailing out a voice and general display of apathy. Again I think the writer did this on purpose to represent how things just sort of fall apart and don't necessarily happen in a bang like we expect. 13. If All We Share (Means Nothing) by The Drums - Now, for the drums to write a sensitive emotional piece without any huge swelling of instruments or Rock tendencies is kind of a big deal. Jonny Pierce of the band is quoted in nylon magazine saying, "I went back and forth about putting this song on the album. It’s so goddamn tender. I decided it was okay to be this tender. If I’m not going to make myself vulnerable, then what’s the point of me making music?! Little fact: This song used to be a stomper, complete with drums and lots of danceable elements. Sometimes less is the most!" I agree with Pierce because vulnerability is the aspect of music that people tend to relate to the most. Of course loud rock music can have this vulnerability but it's nice to hear a juxtaposition in a band that is known to have that loud Rock quality. Like we seen in past songs there is a comparison to natural elements and how they behave with how two people can behave with each other, and it reminds me a lot of the literary era of transcendentalism. I think that people will always relate to the natural elements and it will always be found in literature and music. 14. Running To Stand Still by U2 - At first, I had no idea what the song was about and simply knew that by listening to it I would probably cry because U2 can just do that to basically anybody. But after reading an interview that Bono had and mentioning the song that he wrote I learned that this is about a couple of heroin addicts and this feeling of running to stand still describes getting high but going nowhere. The sweet sin and bitter taste described does make a lot more sense when we're putting it in the context of describing heroin. But as I do enjoy over-analyzing most everything, I think this metaphor of heroin addiction is really similar to becoming addicted to a person and the fallout that someone can fatally have from investing too much and somebody who has nothing to give. That's we are brought upon this notion of running to stand still or loving to get nothing in return. This piece has such a vivid imagery in it which does make it so much harder to not become attached to the person described in the song which I think was Bono's main point in making it so visceral. A lot of times in music the writer will compare drugs and love to one another because the addictive quality is so similar at the same time can be equally devastating. 15. I Can Change by Lake Street Dive - I'm always impressed by Lake Street Dive because they have such a bluesy folky quality to them, but unlike those broad genres of music I think that basically anyone can enjoy their music and not have to be a blues fan or a folk fan per say. The effortless sound of the singer's voice really comes through and hits the listener because she is trying to convey a message that is probably improbable, the message being that she can change in order to make something work with somebody else. What is centered in the song is the idea that history holds people back from being able to have a happy future, and this is ironic because usually the notion is that history repeats itself. Also it would make a listener think that if the history didn't exist there would be no need to change but since it does the singer is desperately trying to explain that she would be willing to change for somebody else. In the narrative of this playlist we can say that this would either be the turning point where things could look up, or that what's going on is probably useless and won't be able to work for several reasons. 16. Before We Were Together by Margaret Glaspy - I really like these two song side by side because this is the other side of the coin so to speak. Instead of wanting to change things about yourself or somebody else, this opens up the possibility that something was never right to begin with and moving on is the healthiest alternative do the relationship. In all honesty I probably like the song a bit better because I think it offer is a more honest situation in the sense that people always think they are right and don't want to see the other side so they end up saying that things were better before they met the other person which is also not necessarily true. It's like if you combined this song with the past song you would get an equilibrium of the truth. So this piece is interesting because it introduces the idea that the woman is always the person in history who is seen as leaving a man because they think they're better and this erasure of a woman's pain that's never called into the picture. This is especially powerful because she says that she doesn't care if she goes down in history as that woman she just needs this to be over with. 17. Death of the Phone Call by Whatever, Dad - It's always good to broaden their horizons and perhaps listen to something that's not even in your natural language. But I think that music holds the powerful ability to listen to a foreign language and still really relate with the sentiments that it holds. This often happens a lot with me for French music because it is so nostalgic, melodramatic, and most visibly romantic, even a lot more than English based music. In terms of the instrumentals which is something that we can globally understand on a very basic level, there is a lingering between two chords throughout the entire piece which is very interesting because it seems that there is a repetition of thoughts as well throughout the song. Before I even listen to the song I always pay attention to the title because sometimes I do judge a book by its cover and this one struck me because the idea of a phone call becoming personified and dying which just means cutting the call is really powerful and sad at the same time. 18. In Our Bedroom After The War by Stars - I really believe that this piece was for sure like a hit song from a Broadway show just because of its narrative tendency and the metaphor of a relationship being correlated with a war going on. In the past I've written about war and this quality that it has that is very similar to the structure of the demise of a relationship and I think it's in the human quality to want to make reparations after something has been so far damaged and gone. My favorite verse is the one that says "we won, we think we did when you went away, you were just a kid and if you lost it all, and you lost it well, will still be there when your War is Over." this is because this verse really solidified to me that the war wasn't necessarily just referring to something that was going on in the world but also a war in somebody's mind which is another topic that is commonly addressed in ballad-like music. The difference between a lot of the other songs on this list and this one is that it does offer a hopeful reproachful tone, and gives the light at the end of the tunnel image. I really like how the symphony is utilized especially the string instruments which does make it sound like a Les Miserables modern song. 19. For No One by The Beatles - Now it almost seems like there should be a closure or new beginning at the end of this narrative but what I said before and will say again is that often we don't find this to be true especially in real life scenarios. The Beatles always execute this real life scenario based song really well because their music is so matching to their lyrics in the way that we were able to focus on both at the same time and not separately. So, is the speaker of the song sings on and on about the disappointment they face from the woman that they were in a relationship with, the music seems to have this repetitive funeral march quality to it as well. The moving down the chord progressions in half steps in a minor key makes it almost uncomfortable and eerie to sit through. It's almost as if the music starts to sound a bit tone deaf as well as their relationship has fallen apart over the years and somebody just fails to recognize this. To bring this full circle, we are left feeling a little bit lost and a little bit disheartened as well, which is unsatisfying and also very relatable. 20. The Poet Acts by Philip Glass - Once in awhile I think it's more important to listen to something without words because often it's able to convey emotions that can't be described with them. Philip Glass is such an innovator in the classical composer world because he brings this modernly unrelatable genre of music into the 21st century and can be enjoyed by people who are huge classical music buffs and also enjoyed by young 19 year old girls who maybe don't listen to this style all of the time. I was attracted to this piece mainly because of the title because poetry isn't ever really explicitly referred to in music but more of used as a tool in music; so when I saw that he explicitly did reference poetry I was super intrigued and excited to listen to this. There is on the web somewhere a set of lyrics that was written to go with this piece of music and I think it is interesting to read side by side while listening.

Hope you enjoyed, see you next year (lol next week)! -Julia

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musicmixtapes · 5 years

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December 5, 2018 Mix

Hello! Hope you're having a great week so far, hopefully this will make it even better. I love this mix and would love for everyone to enjoy it equally as much. Spotify Playlist 1. I Was Young When I Left Home by Antony & Bryce Dessner - So on the last mix I believe I included a wonderful song by Antony and had mentioned how infatuated I was with the unique tone of his voice. Now, we get to enjoy it once more in coordination with a member from The National on guitar, which is always awesome. This song is a cover of one originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan from his Love and Theft album, which I highly recommend listening to if you like this version of it! Like most songs penned by the Nobel Prize winning lyricist, this piece tells a thoughtful narrative story about a traveling man trying to find his way back to something that isn't quite there anymore. The sense of traveling back tone of the song is carried out in the music as well because the guitar moves around with finger picking a lot, but always returns to the original dominant chord which resonates quite beautifully with the equivalent lyrical meaning. There's nothing quite like laying on your back at night and letting this lull you to sleep 2. Manhattan by Kings of Leon - So, the title of the song seems pretty self explanatory, but in fact, I think it's a great contrast to the actual meaning of the piece we get to hear by one of my all time favorites. Caleb of KOL said about this piece, "Yeah, Manhattan, I think it means the hilly island, or something like that. As soon as my friend … I was playing it and I said, ‘Man, I think I’m going to call this song “Manhattan,” and I hadn’t even written the lyrics yet, and he said, 'Yeah, man. That’s a Native American word.’ And I was like, ‘Really?’ And I already had the first line, “I like to dance all night and some of the day.” And it worked out." So there you have it; most songs glorify and bask in what we know as the city we have today, but very few know the true history behind it and the cruel way the land was stripped from its original owners. I think it is a really outside the box way to create an alt rock song, I mean we don't see artists going around describing horrors of American history all the time. This goes to show that some of the worst topics about the worst cruelties can be taken and learned from and told in a way that speaks to people on a personal level. 3. we fell in love in october by girl in red - Wait... you're probably thinking I'm making some huge mistake by including a song with the word 'october' in the title when we are already well into December, right? I would disagree if you thought this, and here's why. I do not like songs that talk about falling in love at the exact moment that it is happening, like "hey, i'm looking at you right this second and i can tell i'm falling in love." First of all, this is super unrealistic because no one always first person narrates songs in their head while their falling in love. Second of all, people usually don't notice that they are falling in love until after they have done so. This song is great because it shows the realization of exactly when the falling has happened and coincidentally it is also when the leaves of autumn usually begin to fall, so it has happened very perfectly timed (or at least for the sake of this song it has). This bedroom pop artist always makes me feel like I am in the scenario she is describing, on a roof top or watching stars or smoking cigarettes with a girlfriend... so lovely. 4. Looking Out for You by Joy Again - This is so typical "nerdy indie man singing about a girl who probably doesn't know he exists, but then hears the song and falls in love with him because oh he's so cute and shy and look he sung about me" type of song... and I entirely fell for it in every type of way. This just reminds me of a less angry and angsty and stripped down Front Bottoms style of song with a little STRFKR and MGMT electronic dreamy type of vibes added into it as well. But in another sense, I think this song is pretty genderless in the way that a person can get the feeling that they have a huge, huge, huge crush on someone who literally does not think about them at all (if you are my friend in the city you definitely have heard me reference this happening to me with people a lot of times). Also details the way that two friends could have one sided love tension that the other is oblivious of, which is very Harry Met Sally-esque (if you are my friend at all you definitely hear me reference this movie as my favorite). 5. Lottery by Jade Bird - All credits for discovery of this song go solely to my mother, if this was someone else I might forget to put a disclaimer but my mom literally reads every one of my blogs which is so amazing and heartfelt, so shoutout! This song centers all around the idea of numbers, logistical thinking and winning a lottery in terms of a relationship, which is pretty ridiculous because that just sounds like solving a word problem in math class. But, I was so genuinely surprised by my pure joy listening to this song because of it's ever so accurate portrayal of the way some people treat the aspect of "feeling so lucky" to have met someone and that it had to have been a stroke of luck, or that certain things just added up. I am a nonbeliever in this respect, not because I'm a cynic or not romantic, but just because I don't believe things happen because of luck, I think they happen because of partially just chance and partially work that is put into a relationship. I believe Bird's beliefs fall more in line with mine because she's disagreeing with the man who told her love was "a lottery.... a game". 6. Touch by Ghostly Kisses - As a child of the early 2000s, I was very influenced by certain music like the styles of artists such as Evanescence, so when I heard this song I was thinking oh my god, it finally happened, Evanescence and Enya finally came together and had a baby. I am very pleased with the outcome of this song because it is so emo and questioning, but at the same time keeps the same tempo and strength throughout the whole track, which is surprisingly a very hard thing to do in music. Usually, I find that when songs have dramatic swells, it all becomes like something I have heard hundreds of times in music, so I am more impressed when the levels are balanced throughout without being altered too much or impregnated with unnecessary sounds. Also, I tend to write about touching and spirits and ghosts a lot in my own writing so this was very much catered to my personal style of music and writing but I think the universality of the unknown and ephemeral presence is very nice to see in music. 7. 1980s Horror Film by Wallows - Oh my god, this is great for numerous reasons. I literally was not expecting the lowkey acoustic song at all looking at the title and was pleasantly surprised by what followed. At first we totally go in thinking it's going to be a typical song about a guy and girl falling in love or going on a cheesy date together to see a movie or whatever, which is perfectly fine if you want to listen to that, I have no qualms with such songs. And for awhile, it totally fits that line of thinking... then it totally doesn't. The twist ending, which is SO fitting with the 80s horror film vibe, is that the girl "is not that into guys" which I loved so much, I just replayed that section like five times before adding it to the mix. We always hear people getting upset about not being liked back, but never getting a reason why; this is the opposite because the guy just can't get mad at the girl for not reciprocating, which is so fantastic and a-typical of music we listen to all the time. More twist endings in songs, more storytelling in songs, more friendships in songs please! 8. Say, Can You Hear by Men I Trust - The throbbing bass in the beginning of this song sends out the immediate vibe that the message sent to our minds is going to be succinct and probably pretty serious, and this remains true. This song's lyrics hit really hard because it details a person asking someone they are close to about their grief and sadness and the way they go about making other people miserable with it. The 'self absorbed, cryptic ways' she sings about concerning the subject of the song is so relatable on both ends because I think that at one point or another we have been both on the giving and receiving end of this notion. At some time, we have caused someone pain by being self obsessed and emotional about small things and on the other hand, we have probably also experienced someone not giving us a second thought because they were so wrapped up in their own issues. We can always trust Men I Trust to be the most real about issues and tell us how we are feeling. 9. Riverside by Agnes Obel - This song works in just about any background of any film or TV show in some contemplative/dramatic/sad/tragic scene, thus also working on any of my morning, afternoon or nighttime walks in the city or at home in Jersey. Honestly, I truly could not decide if I like the dynamic piano or the simple melodic and harmonic pairings of the vocals in this piece because together, it is so strong and deeply striking. This song, not only in lyrics, but the musical aspect, is so transformative because it starts very simplistic with just a few notes being struck back and forth, and the same chords throughout the song are extended and arpeggiated in such a modernized classical piano type of way. The singer/songwriter genre is something that is not recognized as much nowadays, but I think that Agnes Obel is someone who never fails to remind us of this ever present thriving solo artist type of person. 10. Pills by Joji - I was just listening to the beginning of this song again and realized that the beginning chords of it with just the guitar are so similar to the song 'I Was Young When I Left Home' which is literally the first song featured on this week's mix. It's so funny the way your brain has certain neural pathways that are created when listening to certain songs and they definitely overlap with certain pieces and create this wonderful shared quality with one another. Joji, as I have mentioned before, is a great artist who takes the hip hop experimental genre to a fresh perspective and without being vulgar and cliched with his music, is able to have sincerity and honesty in every line. In this specifically he talks about not feeling mentally well and needing to get away from this problem, while missing someone a lot at the same time (possibly the cause of his depression that is outlined in this piece). I just love him as an artist in general because he proves that you don't have to adhere to the rules of 'genred music' and you can just be a musician in whatever way you see fit. 11. Fear of Intimacy by zack villere - Finding a song that correctly represents and identifies what falling in love with someone whilst struggling with really terrible anxiety is very hard to do. Sure, some songs talk about getting generally nervous around a crush or feeling uneasy, but true anxiety based songs are very hard to come by probably because it's difficult to explain in a candid way. The sound of the click clopping throughout this song reminds me of a really fast heartbeat happening because of a panicked state, which I think was surely the intention of the artist. The artist actually has talked in various platforms about what this song means and what it means to him, which is a rare thing in the musician world. In one of his tweets, villere said, "takes me a while to warm up/be comfortable around new people & that shit is so frustrating dude especially here meeting new ppl all the time/but i guess ill get better w time or people are just gnna have to get used to me being quiet at first." I really like this sentiment of coming to a realisation that if someone cares about you truly, they will have to accept the anxiety and shyness of a person. 12. Movement by Hozier - I will never forget the moment that my best friend Shivani and I were at the Hozier concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York earlier this fall, watching the majestic and godly Andrew Hozier Byrne perform. As if the night could have gotten any better than it was already, he told us he was going to play a song that had not yet been released to see if we enjoyed it... this is that song. Ever since hearing it (I took a video of course too) I have been waiting for such song to be released to the public so I could literally talk about how I already heard it live two months beforehand, and here I am now doing exactly that. Also, we need not forget the huge shift of sound and rise of instrumentals in the last quarter of this song, where organs, a choir and several more background noises are added in so magnificently. The title is so evocative of exactly what you will hear for four minutes, a song that moves you, changes your hearing and most of all, makes you feel like you can sing as well as Hozier for a few minutes of your life. 13. Alligator Girl by Langhorne Slim - Deeply regretting not being more appreciative of having the ability to have seen LS perform live with Lumineers a couple of years ago at an outdoor venue in the height of the summer. I don't remember much about them from that performance, but I do remember thinking that they had a folk sound that was unmatched by few artists in the present day company that they have. Interestingly enough, I have gotten really into them this year because I love the narrative storyline they give with their songs, again in a very folk Bob Dylan style... just going back to the first song again, I think my brain is having a big renaissance of Dylan and his musical influence, just because of how expansive and powerful he is as a musical influence and probably will be forever. For this song, I really love the soulful jazzy, New Orleans style of piano played because it so matches the meaning of the song which rambles about meeting a woman in that area of the country. 14. Snake Song by Jess Williamson - I originally found out about Williamson from a book of poetry as lyrics that I've mentioned here before; to sum it up, there are a bunch of songs that are especially poetic in the book, written as poetry instead as songs. This gave me so much material to listen to, and she was one of the singer/songwriters featured in the book, thankfully. There are no descriptions of this song that helped or guided me in the determination of what it was about, so bear with me here. I see it as a maturation of a woman in the sense where she understands the intentions of someone's actions and motivations towards her. Instantly, the image of the snake evokes biblical metaphors of Eve in the garden being coerced and tricked by a snake, offering her something that was not his to give and the woman being painted out as a villain mistakenly. I'm not sure if this is at all what she intended while penning this strange but lovely song, but I think musical meanings are always subjective to the listener. 15. All I Want by Joni Mitchell - I have a long standing love affair with Mitchell's music, due in part to my father and in other part to my grandpa (who is a huge Joni fan and also reader of this blog, Hi Pops!). The thing about this song specifically that I enjoy is that there is not one shred of negativity towards the subject from the speaker of the song. This is a very difficult hard facet of a track to find in modern music, so sometimes I must turn to the older indie classics to hear a really pure intentioned song. And the second best part of this song is that Mitchell fully knows the cliched tone of the song and instead of denying it, leans into it in the lyrics, categorizing each 'cliche' that she wants to do with the subject of the song, which I think is just such smart songwriting. Also I love to analyze titles in correlation with the song because the "all i want" phrase is often used to list the ONE thing that someone wants from another person. But this piece is ironic in the way that she is listing a ton of things she wants to do with that person, not just one thing. Good job Joni. 16. Quarter Past the Hour by Jack and Eliza - Quick brag before we continue with an anaylsis of this song: Jack Staffen, the Jack of Jack and Eliza, went to NYU literally four years ago and is now absolutely thriving so shoutout to an artist hailing from my very artistic, very success driven university. OK, continuing. This piece is so evocative of a relationship where the two people have known each other for a long time, but things are starting to get lonely and the people are drifting apart subconsciously. I think sometimes without knowing I choose songs that could narrate my past experiences because I literally heard the lyrics of this and was like, Wow this exact thing happened to me and _____ and I can't believe some else wrote about it so perfectly. The idea of getting called 'past the hour' signifies that the person is late to show up, is trying but not hard enough, they just don't have the time to be in the relationship anymore... sad but true. 17. Eyes Like The Rest by Matthew E White - A swell of dramatic strings and then a smooth baritone with a cool bass line in the back --- it seems like I could be describing a song from one of the Beatles' later albums when they start to tap into their grass roots style (late 60s!) but alas, I am not. Let's talk about this super bluesy alternative track by the completely underrate artist that is Matthew White. The uncomfortable chords given when the words pause are quite similar to the intended meaning of the words. I think this is mostly about trying to have an honest conversation with someone about a difficult topic and it feeling very eerie and complex to get through, especially when the speaker has a little bit of a temper - his repeating of the line "I ain't gonna lose my shit" makes me think he has lost his shit in the past- and he needs a little bit of help to get through said conversation. The phrase that someone has eyes just like the rest of pluralized "you" signifies that there is common ground amongst people and perhaps some good could come out of a conversation between the two. I like the slight hopeful tone in the speaker's voice, despite deep hesitation that we can explicitly hear. 18. Into the Ether by Leif Vollebekk - Sometimes, songs have very convoluted meanings that could be analyzed for decades and perhaps never have a clear meaning on; other times, songs slap you in the face with a blunt story and that is great too. In this case, this song does not fall into either one of these categories. In an email sent to The FADER, Vollebekk said, "Into the Ether was the first song we tried to record but it didn’t come out right. It was only when I went swimming one day that this very simple drum groove came into my mind and I knew what had been missing. […] This song is the kind of song you might sing to yourself in a dream or perhaps in someone else’s. I was thinking a lot about Freddie Mercury when we did this one." The funniest thing is, I thought for sure I could have been the most insightful on this song over all the other ones on this playlist, but sometimes, isn't it better to not think about the meaning? I mean, for this one at least, just sit back and put some headphones in and let it wash over you completely. 19. We Walked Downtown by Flatsound - I'm 99% sure that the writer of this song must travel with me on my walks in the Village on any given day because this is very close to how I feel on a cold end of autumn day when I am all alone, thinking of perhaps having had walked the same route with a person I don't talk to anymore. Flatsound isn't really a popular artist, even in the indie or low-fi world, mostly because their music does generally consist of the same type of sound running through a lot of the songs. But, I actually enjoy when an artist is comfortable with writing music that flows together beautifully, especially when the lyricism is so wax poetic, like this artist has done with much of their discography. The title of the album that contains this song is, 'I Stayed Up Until Sunrise But Got To Fall Asleep To The Sounds Of Birds Singing', which I think just shows the experimentation and creativity that words can contribute to a musician or a group, and in turn tell a cohesive story. 20. Used to Be by Beach House - We all know that ending a mix with a song by BH is always the right way to go. Something about the peaceful, melodic quality of their pieces while saying the truest statements ever is very comforting for a person who overthinks pretty much everything all the time. This piece actually made me think about the music of Fleet Foxes a lot because of the chords used along with the echoic harmonies splayed throughout the track and the backing tracks as well (and the awesome tambourine thrown in for depth). This song is definitely a bit different than some other work by BH because it's more folky and less space cadet vibes which is what I usually get from them; this could also be because it's one of their earlier tracks where they were still finding their sound and influences fully. More than anything, though, this puts me in the location of the end of some coming of age film (perhaps my own) where summer is winding down and the protagonist has to realize that they must become single and independent.

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musicmixtapes · 5 years

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November 21 ‘18 Mix

I hope the cold weather is treating you well, but if not, please feel free to throw a blanket and your headphones on and tune into thoughtful oblivion for an hour or so with this mix. Enjoy, but more importantly, actively listen!

Spotify Playlist

1. Blue Monday by New Order - Starting this eclectic grouping of songs off is a rather eclectic dance song on it's own. I am not questioning whether anyone has heard this song before, instead I will make the assumption that at some point, everyone and their mother has heard and/or danced to this electro-beat driven piece. The assortment of sounds you hear in this seven minute song is both cohesively put together and kind of crazy at the same time. This track was one that completely revolutionised the world of dance music, and well, music in general. This mix and contrast of sad boy lyrics and upbeat dance vibe is something that had not been tapped into before the release of this track. In terms of contrast, I refer to not only the lyrical to music difference, but the vocal monotone to the changing background music difference as well. If you are getting ready to go out anywhere, this is a good choice to bop/sing along to. 2. Joke by Chastity Belt - You know when we mean to say something to someone in a very serious manner, but it somehow comes out as a joke in order to hide our very deep vulnerability towards the subject we are speaking about? Yeah, me neither. Obviously, the artist of this song shares this common problem with not being able to have an honest conversation without sarcasm and humour overpowering it because this is what the whole song centers around. The key difference in the regular human difficulty with conversation and what the song is referring to is that it becomes harder to have real talk when the people in question are smoking... weed. Honestly, I never really thought about this, but I considered "high" conversations to be ones that are generally more honest than sober ones. Taking distance from said inhibiting drugs makes you realize that oftentimes, they cause you to lose place and importance in conversation and just sit around and giggle about things instead. 3. Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold War Kids - This song personally attacked my inner consciousness concerning all of my past, present and future affections for people. It is not a convoluted song with meaning that takes a lot of digging to understand, but these types of songs are the ones that usually bite me the hardest. Like the title insinuates, the speaker of the song is experiencing a one sided relationship in which he really cares for someone and they literally could not give him the time of day in return. "The action of hanging wet clothes on a clothesline is used as a metaphor for that relationship" (Genius). CWK as a group has the ability to tell you in a rock n roll manner that they don't have their shit together concerning life and relationships and you probably don't either. But hey, at least we're all in the same boat, right? 4. It's Oh So Quiet by Björk - I have no idea what this song is. All I know is that it needed to be shared so all of you could be enamored and confused and in love and weirdly cringed out by it too. The biggest turn on and turn off to this piece is how drastically the tone shifts from like a French musical theater/cabaret sound to an American jazzy standard show tune sound in the matter of a few seconds. But if you can get past the fact that this will not be a normal song listening experience, there is some real merit to the tonal strangeness. The funniest thing about the piece is that it is constantly interrupted by the intermittent "shhh" sounds which indicates someone is trying to quell the volume of the speaker; yet, almost everytime interruption occurs, the song gets even more chaotic and different than before. I love this act of rebellion towards itself and think that people who enjoy jazz and show tune style and experimental songs will appreciate this especially. 5. Hope There's Someone by Antony and the Johnsons - This is very evocative of a dark place within the heart which really only music can touch because of the ability to place words there subtly but in a vulnerable way. The basis of this song is an entire human life and all of the experiences that occur during it summed up into music phrases that speak volumes: the speaker wants someone to share these experiences, good, bad and ugly, with and takes a melancholy and pleading tone to deliver this message for sure. The image that sparked a love for me in this piece is the line "there's a ghost on the horizon" because usually when something is on the horizon it is categorized as hopeful and future looking, but this points to a lonely outlook that is realistic in most perspectives. Although the tone is pretty bleak, the singer's voice is so fresh and unexpected as well as the strange key changes that occur. 6. Scorpio Rising by Soccer Mommy - So if anyone has had a conversation about astrology with me, you know that I am a strong advocate of the star alignments and what they mean in respect to a person's personality and characteristics regarding certain ways of living. But if you are an unbeliever, I think you can enjoy this song ~almost~ as much as the astrologers in the group. The narrator of this piece is experiencing major emotional detachment and an untameable quality of being that a lot of people go through when they are still discovering themselves. She tells of her significant other falling in love with someone who is not detached, not cold, not messed up and how it is breaking her heart to watch it happen. She blames this on her zodiac signs, which is both sad and funny. 7. Happy Accidents by Saint Motel - The intro to this song is so ethereal and uplifting and is reminiscent of another song on the same album which is 'Born Again' except this track is stripped down a little more nostalgic for the past rather than looking for the future rebirth of a person. To quote a good review of the song from Genius, "The song and narrator marvel at how very unlikely and unintentional it is for the couple to be mutually in love, and they are glad that it happened anyway." The large leaps in octave during the chorus is so nice to hear and it signifies for me the way that some places the voice goes is by "accident" but turns out to be really beautiful and the mistakes that one can experience in life can translate to beauty instead of regret as they are usually perceived. I think this group does a really good job at telling a narrative story through their songs and keeps the listener hanging onto the next line for more detail. 8. Trader Joe by Junglepussy - The main reason I chose this song before even listening to it is because I live on Union Square in the city and there is a Trader Joe's right below my building which I frequent quite often. So naturally, I was drawn to a hip hop song about an organic marketplace for college students. The song isn't really just about buying groceries, though. It's about putting self care first and not prioritising a relationship over oneself, which is a trap that essentially everyone has gotten caught in at some point in a young life. The fact that the speaker vocalizes that she enjoys going to the store, getting food she enjoys making herself and MAYBE responding to this person who is interested in her points to such self maturation and understanding that not everyone is worth the time of day. All I can say is preach... preach. 9. Washing Machine Heart by Mitski - Can we talk about how the super heavy backbeat of this song is super similar to the sound of shoes in a washing machine (if you've ever heard this sound you will agree with me). I don't need to try to explain this one in my feeble words because queen Mitski graced us all with a great explanation so here you all go: "…is a person who’s in me. It’s just I’m not this person all the time. It’s this woman who feels powerless and overcompensates by exercising extreme control on herself and on her environment, and just trying to be powerful within her own the limits of her her body and who she is, but kind of just unraveling a little bit because the amount of control she’s exercising on to herself maybe isn’t healthy or isn’t natural. There’s something more warm and human inside that she’s pushing down in order to appear strong to the world." Well said my queen. 10. Fake Empire by The National - Oh my god, if there is a song that could describe the state of affairs in the world right now in terms of a personal narrative, it is this one. I cannot express my gratitude towards the National enough for their absolute incredible insight and deep meaning songs which not only sound amazing but also read as poetry, which is very important to me. This idea of a fake empire that they talk about is so interesting because it shows the breakdown of a nation, of a community of people who are apathetic toward the situation and instead of trying to solve the ongoing issues, resort to escaping and living under false pretenses of how the world looks vs. how it really is. I think this is too close too home considering many Americans' inability to take themselves out of their own greed and self obsession to look at the bigger picture of what is happening to others in the country. 11. Hard To Live In The City by Albert Hammond, Jr. - Responding to the title of this song, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree because fuck, it is so hard to live in New York sometimes. The music portion of this song really reminds me of some of the more lowkey Strokes songs because of the heavy guitar influence and the almost muted punk sounding voice that does not overpower the instruments in any way. Concerning the lyrics, I feel that I have had these exact sentiments while being in my apartment, struggling to find the sun on a cloudy day, having people pass me by on the street without recognition, etc. In another sense, I think the "city" can be metaphorical for a person and that it is hard to be in a relationship with a person who is very unpredictable and a little bit reckless. The change up of tempo and instruments in the last minute of the song definitely falls in line with this unpredictability, which is very cool. 12. Hire by Girlpool - If you have ever been in the interview pool for a job or are currently looking for that perfect summer internship, I think you will really enjoy this song. If you have ever been trying to win someone's affection or "claim" a person as yours, I think you will really enjoy this song. Maybe you have had to deal with both situations, I know I have. The idea of "advertize what makes you crazy" sent me into a complete writing prompt idea for like twenty minutes because that is such a beautiful concept and definitely a modern one. I never considered winning someone over to be like getting hired for a job, but when you think about it, there is overlapping within the occupation and relationship world; being that, you are trying to hide your unappealing qualities because you want to be "the one" in both situations. 13. Birdsong by Regina Spektor - A little interlude for us to enjoy by the woman who totally influenced my own songwriting and singing style. This very natural chord progression that we have heard in many classical and theater songs makes us enjoy the piece just as it is supposed to be enjoyed: as an intermission from the hectic chaos we live through over and over. The guitar picking is very similar to the back and forth bird chirping that one might hear outside their window which was totally done intentionally because, well, please refer back to the title. Apparently, the song came from a few lines of a poem someone Spektor was working with penned and then they collaborated on the lyrics and she wrote the music, which was then used for a TV show "The Romanoffs". This piece made me think about how nature can seem so exposing of our emotions if we pay attention and appreciate it. 14. Free Translator by The Books - This song is... a fragmented and false translation of a song. So yes, it is indeed a poem first and foremost because the way it was written combines poetic styles. It is "As the name suggests, this song is a translation. The Books took “a very well known folk song” (which is very clearly Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan) and put it through online translators over and over again. These lines are the best ones, edited a bit to fit the rhythm of the song" (Genius contributor). It's kind of crazy that this song sounds so different than what is was translated from and it just goes to show how powerful writing can be when one garners creative inspiration and makes something their own in a new way. In no way should this piece be thought of as less inventive or original than a song that was made up without usage of another song. 15. Is This What You Dreamed, Then? by Robert Leslie - I have a good exercise for everyone to partake in while they listen to this song, ok just follow me here: Close your eyes, now take a few deep breaths and think about a time when you were young, the youngest you can recall when you were outdoors and playing some game with siblings and friends. Think about the sensations you felt and the genuine happiness that spread through your body. Ok the exercise is over. When is the last time you felt that same happiness and sensation? The uninhibited emotions that we have as children who dream for the future start to fade with time and disappointments and failures. This is the basis for this song which poses the question "is this what you dreamed" (when you were young and had tons of dreams for the future). 16. Lonely Man of Winter by Sufjan Stevens - The story behind this song's release it so interesting and needs to be publicized! Basically, Stevens had this contest for a christmas exchange where one fan of his would win a song that was unreleased and related to the holiday season in some way. A fan, Alec Duffy, was the winner of this rare songs over ten years ago and otherwise, it was unbeknownst to the world. Now, all this time later, Duffy and Stevens released the song to the public and it is so amazing that they did because it extends into both the genre of Christmas and sad folk indie music which is quite hard to cross over into; I'm not surprised that he has achieved this union of genres because it is one of his talents. Stevens often alludes to biblical imagery so I think this song takes those allusions and puts them to good use because Christmas is the perfect time for bible references. 17. I Can't Stand It (acoustic) by Blossoms - In one of my psychology courses this semester, we learned about amnesia and the severe effects it has on memory. This memory loss has been the inspiration behind so much musical and film reference because it is such a daunting topic to consider, especially since there are many recorded cases of people suffering terribly from it's effects. This song, like many others, takes the idea of amnesia and poses that because of the heartbreak and pain one has gone through, they wonder if having amnesia concerning the past would be better for them than living the pain. This is not a novel idea because they got the idea for the song from "the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and backed up by the song’s music video, the narrator contemplates having the memory of his ex-girlfriend surgically removed from his brain as any thought of her is too painful and is consuming his life." 18. Whatever (Folk Song In C) by Elliott Smith - I'm not going to sit here and pretend that a) this song is unknown to the indie world of music b) I am cool for liking this song c) I didn't get this song from watching the super basic television program Gossip Girl. All of those statements are false, but what isn't false is how simply riveting this folk tune is. It is just about being very honest about how unworthy the speaker of the song feels about being in a relationship with someone who he perceives to be miles better than him. The fascination of why someone would ever love a 'loser' has been dwelled on by many a songwriter/musician in the history of alternative genre music because as we all know, self loathing is a common topic for these writers. But it is pretty cute that Smith is having a conversation through this song to whomever is the subject saying "you are too good for me". 19. Death in Midsummer by Deerhunter - The baroque era chords, the repetition of the instrumentals, the chord progressions that signifiy a clear representation of choral music of centuries past: these are all elements of a song that both appreciates and pokes fun at religion in a safe setting without being too offensive or off the rocker. Also, something about the very atonal sound to certain parts of the music so reminds me of The Beatles' music from Sgt. Pepper's album as well as the progression of songs with 'She's So Heavy' and 'Fixing A Hole' and 'For The Benefit of Mr. Kite'. Sorry to throw so many oldie references at you in one setting, but I love to see a modern artist grab at an array of musical references to make more ethereal/psychedelic music. The difference from this piece and the ones aforementioned is that the meaning is so unique and tells a separate story totally unrelated. 20. The Tears Of A Clown by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - My dad must have played this song for me the first time when I was like, ten years old sitting in his music room in our basement. I definitely did not understand the massive impact that something so inventive like this track had on future artists and the music world in general, but I did understand that it was a great song. First of all, the awesomeness of male vulnerability and emotion displayed in this piece is so forward looking for the time it was written in. Second, the metaphor of a man behaving like a clown in the sense that he puts on a show for people, but then acts a completely juxtaposed way when by himself creates an image that leaves a lasting impact. Last, the usage of the circus fanfare music throughout the song drives the point of the song home entirely and also, gets stuck in your head for at least a week.

Thanks for listening and I'll catch your ears next week! Xoxo, Julia

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musicmixtapes · 5 years

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Halloween Mix (October 31 ‘18)

Happy Halloween to all my favorite witches, vampires and ghouls--This week's mix is pretty self explanatory but I had so much fun making it and think that it can be listened to even when it's not Halloween because we all have spooky hearts year round

Listen on Spotify

1. Witch by the bird and the bee - The beginning of this song with the xylophone sounds already sets us up for some interesting tones and makes it all the more spooky vibed throughout, which was automatically very ear catching when I first listened to it. But other than that, the entire love-lust-desire themed song of a witch entrapping someone in their spell and taking names without mercy is such a great trope for female empowered music. There are so many references to the "spells" "biddings" "conjurings" "hauntings" in this piece which makes it a classic halloween song. But I didn't find this during witching season, in fact, I discovered it over the summer which goes to show that it holds the test of time and can be enjoyed not just on this specific day (although I highly recommend it going on your own Halloween mix for sure). There is also another really cool instrumental segment in the mid part of the song where an electric guitar or string instrument of some sort is introduced followed by the step down chords of the synthesized creepy piano/string sound that is recurring in this piece.

2. Ungodly Fruit by Wax Tailor - This artist, who I have featured one other time on a previous mixtape, produces some of the the smartest and most unique pieces that I have had the pleasure of hearing with unworthy ears. There are not many words in this piece and in Wax Tailor true character, the words in the song are samples from different films. The first lyrics heard are Sampled from Professor Alexander Siletsky in the 1942 film To Be or Not to Be. The second portion of lyric is sampled from the 1934 film The Man Who Knew Too Much. Listening to the extravagant horns throughout the piece along with the interesting harp and assorted strings woven through create a vintage love/horror movie vibe that perfectly aligns with the samples of the movie lines that are showcased.

3. Black Magic Woman by Fleetwood Mac - Please for the love of halloween and all things magical, do not try and tell me that this is a cover of Santana's song because it is the other way around actually. His much popularized cover is quite fantastic, I agree, but there is something special and essential Fleetwood Mac about this piece that sets up the vibe of the band from very early on in the metamorphosis of the group. Now, if you are only familiar with the more recent group, you would be confused by this track because it sounds different and queen Stevie Nicks is not anywhere to be found. The group used to consist of Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and Jeremy Spencer before the grouping was changed to what we know now. Honestly, this song is just a prediction about the queen witch that would later grace the band, but also a desire song about a mystifying woman.

4. Monster Mash by Bobby Boris Pickett & The Crypt Kickers - If you have been living under a rock for every October since you were born, then you don't know this awesomely spooky hit. Otherwise, I'm absolutely sure you've sung, you've danced, you've enjoyed this graveyard smash of a song that has created a rippling effect over halloweens for over fifty years. I remember being in kindergarten at my Halloween parade and walking around showing off my angel costume to this song, so yes, it has had a lasting effect on me for sure. Lou Simon, senior director of music programming at SiriusXM Radio, says, “‘Monster Mash’ has timeless appeal. The generations who grew up with it have fond memories of the song from the ’60s and again from its ’70s renaissance. The familiar arrangement is uncomplicated and delightful. It’s just one of those records that wears well and makes people happy.”

5. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side by The Smiths - Ok starting this one off with a literary definition, just in case you don't know exactly what Morrissey is referring to... To have a thorn in one's side is to have something or someone that continually causes problems for you; my definition of this is when someone will not quit pissing you off and making life hell even if they are unaware of doing so, we all have one of these and they are utterly unshakeable such is the way of life. When asked if this song was inspired by Oscar Wilde in an interview, Morrissey replied: "No, that’s not true. The thorn is the music industry and all those people who never believed anything I said, tried to get rid of me and wouldn’t play the records. So I think we’ve reached a stage where we feel: if they don’t believe me now, will they ever believe me? What more can a poor boy do?"

6. Leave Me Be by Beau - This is one of two songs on this week's mix that does not exactly conform to theme I laid out but there was no way I was going to leave it out because the sounds and emotions included in this piece is perfectly in line with the general feeling of the playlist. The singer's voice is so weird and unique, I have not heard anything like it before, but it definitely reminds me a bit of Lene Lovich's (80s singer) voice when she does those big jumps in range and pitch in the chorus of the song. I guess the voyeuristic image of someone bothering the speaker of the song and pestering her like an impetuous ghost following one around does conform to the theme of ghoulish natures and general halloween-ness. My favourite line from the song is the repeated phrase "All I ever wanted was just to be left alone/All I ever wanted was something to call my own" because me too... me too.

7. The Piano Duet by Danny Elfman (Corpse Bride) - Sitting in the piano room of my college dorm in the East Village on a Monday night a couple of weeks ago, I was exhausted of studying statistics and needed something to bring me to a peaceful state of mind. At first, I tried playing other pieces of music, but they proved too complex for my muddle mind at the time. Then I came across this simple and wonderful piece hailing from the classic animated king of Halloween, Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride. I was fascinated by the wandering notes that can be played with literally one finger which turns into this complex two handed piano piece that takes more time than I had to learn in its entirety. Danny Elfman has composed a lot of music for Burton which has become well loved and renowned but this short piece is striking and emotional for me. If you have the chance and a piano, you should play around with it because I think it is so satisfying to play. 8. Agony by Yung Lean - Originally I found this song in another version, one that was done by the alternative band Beach Fossils and I was hesitant not to put that version on the mix, but in the end decided the original needed to be heard and loved more. Coming from the Swedish hip hop/rap/emo/etc performed and artist Yung Lean, this vulnerable piece of music which describes how it feels to become unraveled is unrivalled by a lot of other songs about chaos that traps you in your own mind. What's more is that the song comes from a place of truth because the artist, Jonatan Hastard's (Yung Lean), spent time in a psychiatric facility due to mental health issues which were making him unable to live successfully. I think that it is so important that mental illness be represented in the music industry because it shows not only that having illness is okay, but that you can deal with it and get through it. So, thank you for showing us yourself, Hastard, and encouraging us to do the same.

9. Skeletons (Acoustic) by Yeah Yeah Yeahs - How fitting for this celebratory day with none other than the queen of being spooky and distorted. In this track, the speaker asks her lover to basically tear her apart, to destroy her by any means necessary because she has already been destroyed by the love she has experienced. Now, one of the most important things to remember about a song that has very few lyrics is that the ones that are there, are there for a particular reason. The phrase "frost or flame" returns more than once, and it is due to the reference to the poem by Robert Frost "Fire and Ice" in which he details which way the world ending would be better. The speaker relates this to the way that her lover can destroy her: either by burning her or icing her out. I am going to include the poem because I love it so much: Some say the world will end in fire/Some say in ice/From what I’ve tasted of desire/I hold with those who favor fire/But if it had to perish twice/I think I know enough of hate/To say that for destruction ice/Is also great/And would suffice.

10. Femme Fatale by The Velvet Underground - I'm sure you've heard of this phrase before, but do you know why and when is became such an iconic phrase? No? I didn't either until I heard this wonderful song. This phrase has actually been around since the turn of the 19th century with the mass popularization of the gothic type of novel, but it resurfaced with this song in the 60s and has stayed relevant to this day. What I didn't know about the 'femme fatale' is what I found from contributors on Genius music (I use this all the time for insightful explanations): "Edie Sedgwick was an American socialite, actress, and model that came from a very wealthy and prestigious family. She was a part of Andy Warhol’s “factory” crew, and became one his closest friends and muses as Warhol brought her to fame." I think that this tribute to a friend and inspiration makes for the perfect song and gives a deeper meaning to a tale of a heartbreaker and 'take no prisoners' woman that is depicted here. 11. I Put A Spell On You by Annie Lennox - Classic. Breathtaking. Magical. Three words that describe this song and specifically the Lennox cover of this song. Something about the way the high chords of the keyboard are struck in the beginning of the piece is so gratifying, I just knew I would be in love with listening to this in the first few seconds. Honestly, and I never thought I would be saying this but, I have to thank whoever put together the 50 Shades of Grey film because that is the reason the cover of this song exists, which is kind of annoying. Nonetheless, it thankfully exists, and tells about a man who cannot be faithful to the woman who is telling the story in the song. So, she puts a spell over the man so he will not leave her and remains faithful to her instead. Despite having such amazing music to go behind it, this is such a wicked sentiment and fits perfectly with the season.

12. Found Love In A Graveyard by Veronica Falls - This song is really, really sad. And I wasn't sure I was going to include it because it is really striking and makes me feel very emotional due to the intense meaning behind it. But, I think that music is, yes, supposed to uplift you and put you in a good mood, but not always. Sometimes, songs have a power to touch the things deep and dark inside of us that are untouchable by anything else, and this is a beautiful concept; sad, but still beautiful. The minor and eerie chords and drumbeat that start the song off with the discordant "ooohs" let us know this is not going to be one of those sunny, uplifting songs, but one of the darker ones. This piece can very well be about the literal sense of finding love in a graveyard with someone who is no longer alive, but I think it's about finding love in someone who is not present in one's life and wanting them so much but not being able to have them anymore. Listen with caution if you are already in your feelings.

13. Zombie by The Cranberries - Let me paint a picture for you: it was summertime five years ago. A thirteen year old girl who was just discovering her musical genre for singing and listening alike stepped onto an outdoor stage in mid-June. The heavy guitar of a somber rock song come on and she begins to sing; surprise, the song is this one, and the girl is also this one who is writing to you. This song particularly has had more influence over my own writing and singing style than any other in this mix, both because it is beautifully metaphorical and because it is truthful to the point of tears in some respects. The song tells about the Troubles which occurred in Northern Ireland between the unionists and nationalists, the tensions and violence which spanned over decades and literally tore families apart. Dolores O'Riordan, the writer and singer of this song said, "This song is our cry against man’s inhumanity to man, inhumanity to child."

14. Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Not going to lie, I first heard this song and saw the scene performed when I was 12 and discovered the wonderful television program that is Glee. After that, though, I further investigated the chaotic goodness that is the Rocky Horror Picture Show and became enamoured with the explicit messages of open sexuality, breaking social norms and utter weirdness that makes up the show. This song is the most recognisable from the show, but by no means diminishes the other pieces that are performed. If possible, I really suggest either seeing a live performance or watching one online because all of the different characters, which you can hear in the recording are produced on the stage; the visuals make all the difference in the holistic experience of listening and I think in this instance, enhances the value you will hold with the song particularly the ever shifting point of views and voice sounds exhibited.

15. Werewolves Of London by Warren Zevon - First and foremost, all credits for this song being in my life go to my father because I have been listening to this with him since before I could write, much less write about music on a blog for my friends and family. Because it was such an integral part of my music experience from a young age, I enjoy examining not just what it means, but what it means to me. The song is based on the 1953 film "Werewolf Of London" and if you haven't seen it, I recommend the viewing of this, because it's a really good movie, but either way you can enjoy the song separately because it stands on it's own. It describes and details a werewolf doing all normal human behaviour and a man meeting him and being like "wow this is really strange". Even just the first line of the song depicting a werewolf getting chinese food at the store is so funny and strange, and then talks about in the next lines a woman being mutilated by werewolves. I love the contrasting images outlined in this piece with such a simple 3-chord progression that is so catchy.

16. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) by Jimi Hendrix - The distortion of the guitar in the intro for this track is so awesome, I cannot get enough of it and it is quintessential Jimi Hendrix classic rock. Hendrix's gruff and raw rock voice comes through amazingly in this song and tells us a story about psychedelic experience of exaggeration with voodoo practice that was popularized especially during the 1960s and 1970s. The image of chopping a mountain down with the edge of one's hand presented in the first verse suggests that this is a drug induced experience in which the narrator is having an out of body vision of this happening, or so we can assume (I don't think Jimi chopped down a mountain, but who knows). As for the much iconic phrase 'voodoo child', I attributed this notion to the feeling of some of the African heritage and cultural spirituality that centers around practice of voodoo which has traced back through centuries. The intervention of God given to shamans or mediums, the servants of the spirits, results in a magic of spiritual nature.

17. Blood In The Bathtub by Bonny Doon - I think the only scary thing pertaining to this song is the title and matching phrase that is repeated in the chorus of this low key song, but otherwise it is really of a loving, sensitive nature for year round enjoyment. Again, the guitar in this song is so present and the riffs included are indicative of some blues inspiration which is really nice and adds a lot of colour. As for the meaning, I ascertained that the speaker feels bad about his actions towards the end of his and the subject's relationship and is trying to explain his feelings about their demise. The aspect I appreciate about this song is that the speaker isn't trying to get back or win the affection of the subject, but instead agree that they have the right to leave and be lost or confused, which is a really valid feeling. The blood can be many things, but I like to see it as an impurity where the goodness (water) of the relationship was supposed to be.

18. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) by David Bowie - I often find that this spectacularly strange man can describe feelings that we all have in surreal ways no one would think to, yet do it so precisely we can't help but love it. This is a description I found online for the piece that I think is really perfect and I couldn't say it better myself: "The song title was inspired by a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes ad campaign: “Scary Monsters and Super Heroes”. It describes the feelings of an obsessive man when he gets a shy girlfriend. Though his influence on her initially works out well for the relationship, it becomes too much for her. She soon becomes a recluse, leaves the man, and descends into madness, seeing all strangers as ‘scary monsters’." I love this thought of being terrified of strangers and can relate on days in the city when I don't feel like talking to anyone.

19. Monster by ALASKALASKA - A new song for this mix, which was hard because surprisingly, not many artists cater to the halloween aesthetic genre of songs. I impose the thought that we need some bands/artists that only write for this holiday and season because I want more halloween music, not just the same old same old. This song is not about making someone else the monster, but the other way around of someone making you out to be a monster in order to place blame and flip the script. If you've ever been in a relationship where someone uses an ugly aspect of you in and twists the conversation to make you look bad, you can definitely relate to this song. The electro indie sounds in this song which are discordant and not so pretty go perfectly in line with the songwriter's intentions of meaning, in my opinion.

20. Which Witch by Florence + The Machine - A bonus track and a demo from the How Big How Blue How Beautiful album and quite possibly my favourite song from the album at the same time. This song makes so much sense coming from Welch because she exudes the witchy nature in every way and writes about pagan nature and deity folklore a lot in her music which is so outside the realm of regular music that we are used to, which makes her so likeable and a force in the music industry. This track describes a two fold witch trial: one in the realistic and historical sense of witches being put on trial for having sinister ways and doing unexpected things for women for their time period. The other is her having her heart put on trial for loving in a way that was not desirable from her lover, even though she never tried to hide what she was. Now that she is escaping from the relationship, she explains she has no regret for what has happened, no matter what the man says in retaliation to her opinions.

Thanks for listening and reading!

See you next week,

Julia

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musicmixtapes · 6 years

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October 24, 2018 Mix

Hello Friends-- This past week I introduced the idea of ghosts, the ephemeral and supernatural presences in our lives, whether it be love, confusion or a general air of mystery.

Follow the Spotify Playlist for easier listening!

1. Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts) by The Smashing Pumpkins

2. Salt Eyes by Middle Kids

3. Ephemeralness by Adult Mom

4. Broadripple Is Burning by Margot & The Nuclear So And So's

5. 2 Cool 2 Care by Anna Burch

6. Crimson & Clover by Tommy James and The Shondells

7. She's Not There by The Zombies

8. Why Even Try by Hippo Campus

9. Don't You Want Me by Bahamas and The Weather Station

10. Under This Moon by Rose Droll

11. Your Love Is My Favourite Band by The Vaccines

12. Monsters by Seafret

13. Space Cadet by The Technicolors

14. World Class Cinema by Gus Dapperton

15. Bitter Fuck by Joji

16. Body Talks by The Struts ft. Kesha

17. Made Up Lovesong #43 by Guillemots

18. Bleecker Street by Simon & Garfunkel

19. My Backwards Walk by Death Cab For Cutie

20. Love Like Ghosts by Lord Huron

Thanks for listening, @poetrygrljulia on Instagram @julia_vassallo on Twitter @onceuponthecity on Tumblr

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Interview with Dream-Pop Duo “Volunteer Cheerleader”

Last week, it seemed that grey skies and an air of autumn greeted me while walking down the street. It seemed that the city was quite transparent in its changing of the season, yet I still held on to a hopeful, warm behaviour because I got the opportunity to interview a band on the rise. The group Volunteer Cheerleader sat down with me in a bustling coffee shop in the Village to discuss methods of developing a song, inspirations behind their music and where the unusual name of their group stems from.

Read below for a more in depth look at the 28-year-old duo comprised of Chris Blackman and Jordan Sommerlad, who perform the stories we all develop in our subconscious:

Tell me a little bit about how you started out? Origin, age?

J: We met in 1998, in elementary school, our first conversation was about impeachment of Bill Clinton actually. But we started playing together in a variety of bands a few years later

C: Yeah we played in our middle school talent show as our first performance together and then while we were freshmen and sophomores we started to play in bars... sometimes we got kicked out.

Who were/are your music inspirations and have they shifted over time?

C: Punk and glam originally, but then My Bloody Valentine was big inspiration

J: Alvvays is a big inspiration currently.

What is each of your roles within the group?

C: Both do a bit of everything, Jordan does singing, we both play guitar and bass and Jordan does synth too.

Do you classify yourself to a specific set of genres or do you think you span over a variety?

C: I’d say we’re dream pop pretty much.

J: More broadly indie rock, but yeah, dream pop.

So, I love the group name. How did it come to be?

J: We’ve been in so many bands we’ve had a million names and only liked this one.

C: I was in a poetry workshop, and we were reading this article that was talking about college cheerleaders. We started discussing if cheerleaders received scholarships and my one friend was said that they might be “volunteer cheerleaders” and I wrote it down and said “I’m using that.” But basically it goes deeper and is about wanting someone to be supportive of you for free, and not wanting the reciprocation.

J: Whenever I tell people our name it gets a smile which is nice and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

What is your songwriting process like?

C: It usually starts with the music, I’ll have raw material, flesh it out, work on that and then we come together and figure out what’s gonna go together. We lay down an instrumental track, then Jordan will sing out syllables to get an idea. Then I will write lyrics based on that.

Now your first single is, The City Is A Bone, correct? Tell me about why that was chosen specifically, and a little more in depth about that piece.

C: As far as the music…

J: We did write several songs before that, but this is the first we finished, in a day, we got excited and kept working on it.

C: I took the train to Manhattan and was listening to it and it doesn’t happen often, but it just clicked

And what about the lyrical content? I love the metaphor and imagery created.

C: It started off as a poem unrelated, but we’re both originally from Ohio, and I realized it’s usually easier to write about a place when you’re gone. The image of the bone came because someone we knew and shared meals with in Columbus died of an overdose, and thinking about a city with an epidemic and has become a corpse of itself.

Do you target a specific audience that you cater your music to or is it the broad population?

J: I like to think that anyone would like it, we don’t have anyone in mind writing.

C: That’s how we’re different from mainstream dream pop, our lyrics are meant to be understood and heard.

Any new music coming out soon or shows in the future that we should look out for?

J: We’re pretty focused on recording right now, we have full length album in the works that’s scheduled for a 2019 release and then performing that afterwards.

Just for fun, if you could have dinner with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be?

J: Thom Yorke of Radiohead. I always think to myself, What Would Thom Do?

C: The Faces probably, I love them.

If you are interested in listening to this dream pop duo’s tracks, check out “Volunteer Cheerleader” on Spotify or their Soundcloud linked here. Stay tuned for more on them in the future, this will not be the last you have heard about them, trust me.

@volunteercheerleader

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October 10, 2018 Mix

Welcome to this week's installation of music! I loved finding tracks that blended well in terms of sound and meaning, as well as playing around with the pace of the pieces so not to cause monotony inside the eardrums. Enjoy and any suggestions/opinions, send my way

Spotify Playlist (Listen in order!) 1. Walls by The Lumineers - First off, can I just say how excited I am to see new music from a group who never seems to disappoint both my ears and my heart. While listening for the first time I thought, "Wow what a great song, but this sounds kind of familiar" so when I showed it to my mom she said "Of course it sounds familiar, it's a cover of one of Tom Petty's songs" and then it made my heart that much fuller knowing that. Petty is known to have the American writing way of describing through metaphor exactly how love and relationships feel at a moment suspended in time. Using that craftsmanship and words that cut to the bone, The Lumineers created a cover that is so folky and vulnerable sounding, I am sure that Petty would not be disappointed in it. 2. I've Just Seen A Face by The Beatles - Continuing with classics that we may find hidden in corners of our mind, that pop out into existence from time to time, is this wonderful treasure from the Help! album, a beloved album to me and most of the world, I'm sure. I specifically chose this track because the title definitely created a supernatural element in my mind that translated to the feeling that love often gives, which is that it transcends regular human volition. It causes this reaction that cannot be expressed through regular conversation and absolutely needed to be sung about, which to me, is fantastic. Also, the really fast and frantic pace of the song adds to the urgency of the message of seeing someone in passing and instantly feeling a surge of love and the need to be with them at the moment. Falling in love is sometimes done in a slow motion type fall, but in this instance, it seems more immediate. 3. Moon Barks At The Dog by Saintseneca - The lyrical value that this song has is endless, and quite honestly, I could spend a long time doing an in depth analysis of this piece line by line, but for now I won't. The main thing I wanted to go in depth with a little bit is this image of the moon barking at the dog, which is just such a strange and abstract concept to grasp. Of course, the typical thing that someone would refer to is the dog barking at the moon, which is apparently a reference to the famous statement (I had no idea this existed): "It is common for the dog to bark at the moon, but if the moon barks back, the dog becomes famous." As a person who loves strange expressions, this has quickly become one of my favorites. There is also an entire verse that nods to Bruce Springsteen and his music not being the singer's cup of tea, which I disagree, but appreciate the reference anyway. 4. Los Ageless (cover) by The Wombats - I would say I'm sorry about including another version of the same song within two months, but I am not sorry at all because it is my firm belief that different versions of the same song can change it entirely and bring fresh perspective and possibly a new interpretation of meaning. Originally a St. Vincent song from her amazing album Masseducation, it was a more techno rock sound for sure, but this alternative group brought it down with a more acoustic sound fleshed out through it. I don't think the sound was altered so much that it changed the composition entirely, but the male voice for sure gave it a perspective which I was not expecting. To have a male singer express the notion "How could anybody have you and lose you and not lose their minds too?" makes me feel a glimmer of hope to diminish toxic masculinity. 5. More Than Romantic Love by St. Lenox - I don't know exactly what to classify this as and to be fair, I'm not sure that putting this artist in a box would be serving him justice in any way. I felt that I was having a conversation with a fellow new yorker while really really cool, eclectic music was playing in the background. And I loved it. Just all of the references to living in a place in time where you are losing someone because you cannot accept the fact that they only want a platonic love, not romantic. This goes deeper though, and examines how to deal with someone who is going through personal struggle and how to reach them emotionally while being sensitive to their needs. St. Lenox has such a soulful conversational tone that speaks freely about mental health, breakup and the nervousness of the city, also shout out to Washington Square. He's an artist on the rise for sure. 6. This Is The Day by The The - This is a classic example of a song with an upbeat, generally happy sounding tune that literally step by step tells about the woes that a person with depression has to go through. It actually really reminded me of a Smiths song, where the mood totally does not match the words, and this is a trope I absolutely love to see in older music. The image of eyes being red and burning when seeing daylight is so profound because insomnia is one of the main traits of depression, so this feeling of always feeling tired in the daytime is so relatable to hear about in song, which I never have before. The synthesized sound and the acordion that are strung throughout the song really emphasize the dichotomy of the sound and feeling, which also add the layer of how you look on the outside doesn't always match how you are on the inside. 7. Greyhound by Calpurnia - Have you ever made future plans with someone you are in a relationship with, thinking that basically you'll be with them forever, and then suddenly, the time for that plan comes around, except you're not together anymore? Yeah? Me too, and apparently the writer of this song was in this exact position because that's essentially what it's about to put it in base question format. But what really satisfied me concerning this song was not the super relatable storyline aspect, but the sarcastic way of telling something pretty sad, which seemed like an epic breakup and heart break. The whole "hats of to you, for you to go" is so sassy and like a middle finger in the center of a song about still having feelings for an ex-love, which was so fun to see. I hope the subject of this song listened to this song. 8. 15 Minutes by The Strokes - Whenever asked my top favorite bands, they are always at the top of the list. I don't know exactly what resonates with me, but I have been trying to pin point the moodiness and exacerbated feelings for awhile that me and this band seems to always share. I think it's the way that Casablancas always mutters some really sad yet humorous things while hard core guitar comes in and really great drum beats and a bass line are right in line with it. This song is no exception because it totally defies the meaning of telling someone how you feel and being comfortable with oneself about it; if I may be so bold, I think it generally classifies how one with lots of anxiety would go about telling feelings from a real perspective, rather insecurely and with the approach of joking about emotions in a very honest way. 9. Think I'm Still In Love With You by Joyce Manor - A new album by an awesome punk, angsty, emo rock band, news I will never be upset to hear about. Specifically, this artist has so many different qualities going past the initial relatable angst you feel when listening to the many, many, many songs they have about not being able to get over something or feeling like a burden in someone else's life constantly. This song has a clear shift in feeling though because the uncertainty is definitely present in terms of wanting to still be in love with someone because of a past emotion, but now things seem a bit hazier and they aren't so sure if the feelings are still quite there. This song comes about midway through the album, a really great placement on their part because it signifies perhaps a shift in weather during a one sided relationship and perhaps things will change thereafter. 10. So Tied Up by Cold War Kids and Bishop Briggs - Oftentimes I speculate from an outsider's look at a song, and piece together the meaning in relation to both the music and my own life. In this instance, I didn't really have to do so because the artist actually shared exactly what his intentions were with the meaning behind this song. He said, "With every new relationship, you either talk about previous relationship stuff (warts and all), or you just pretend like they never existed. Both are kinda terrible. When you go the full disclosure route it’s probably sincere, maybe you’re even praised for your vulnerability. However, you know it’s probably gonna be used against you later, in a fight, in the worst way." So that's that, and in terms of the gospel vibes I received from this alt rock song, I am very happy and get really pumped walking down the street to it. 11. Days On A Wire by Case - This instantly gives me the image of watching a movie scene where one person is lovingly thinking about another and kind of like sitting on a train looking out the window and considering their feelings, all wrapped up in desire. So now that I have shared my mental scene, let me explain that the really awesome acoustic with horns sounds that are produced in this piece add to the love song vibes that is perceived while listening. Also, the singer's voice is super dreamy and light, at some points seeming like barely more than a whisper of phrases, adding to the whimsical elements involved in the song. Actually, the horns in this song kind of act as a guitar usually would in terms of a melodic riff that occurs between verses and choruses, and I love this difference of instruments, a unique sound. 12. In The Morning I'll Be Better by Tennis - Taking some else's pain away is the hardest thing to do, especially when it's something not curable by care and devotion on it's own, but that's precisely what the artist is intending to say in this piece, which is tragically beautiful. So originally, I perceived this to be about someone's mental anguish and a relationship of sorts attempting to remedy this suffering by acceptance and love. In fact, this is not what the artist meant, but it's still a cool interpretation if I do say so myself. It was revealed that the writer's friend was deemed terminally ill and this was their way of processing the emotions that go into realizing that someone is most likely not going to get better. It is a love song that goes beyond love, but more about the wanting to take someone's pain and endure it so they don't have to. 13. Clueless by The Marías - Yes, yes, yes. My exact thoughts when seeing that this group came out with new music, when listening to the first few bars of the song, and then again when hearing the song two full times through (once for sound and another for words and meaning). The palpable tension heard in the song is so real for so many people when having an argument and to match the tension is the dialoguing throughout that basically says they can't handle the ups and downs going through the relationship anymore. I read that this was inspired by a spat between the vocalist and her significant other, drummer-producer Josh Conway. This revelation was incredible because imagine being in a band and a relationship with someone and having to create music while a major fight is going on. Me neither. 14. Running by Nicotine's Famous Honey - If I could title this anything other than what it is, I would title it "The Art of Just Barely Getting By In Our Fucked Up World" but that would not be as aesthetic as this aptly titled name. In the past, I have publicly argued against certain styles of music, simply because I knew less about music and didn't listen to enough genres on a regular basis. I am still trying to broaden my horizons, especially in terms of R&B and the Hip Hop genre in general, but this under emphasized artist is such a beautiful example of taking one genre that is criticized for being cliched and overdone and taking it to a whole different level. I love this combination of dream-pop, low-fi indie and hip hop and R&B all in one piece, and if you haven't looked into them, definitely check out some of their other music, it is so enticing. 15. Weird Honey by Elvis Depressedly - I'm taking the meaning of this song entirely from the artist because I think it can be interpreted a hundred different ways, depending on who you are thinking about while listening to it and what kind of mental state you are in too. Also we love to see an iconic guitar riff thrown in sporadically to a pretty sad low fi rock song, so that's a pretty cool spot in hell. The meaning though: "I lied before. It’s just an homage to Jesus and Mary Chain, and has no direct meaning. This is a love song so it could be seen as a pet name, or even a symbol of a love that is strange and new but full of sweetness. I find it incredibly strange that so many people have interpreted this song to be so negative, or even a break up song, when it’s the opposite. It’s a song about new love." There you have it. 16. Wings In All Black by Gregory Alan Isakov - If you are looking for an acoustic folk artist who puts emphasis on literally every single word and note of a song, look no further, he is right here, and also in my soul forever. Hailing from his brand new album, is this gem which sinks your heart to your stomach almost immediately upon listening. I believe this to be about having to rise up out of a really dark time in your life, despite not wanting to, the fact that instead of feeding the beast of loss, you have to grow wings of your own and fight against the demons you are experiencing. The image of having "wings in black" is a nod to the struggle between staying down in a bad place and having to come out of it no matter how impossible it seems at the time. I am now noticing a lot of these songs have to do with dealing with loss and mental health day by day, which is very important. 17. Should I by Arum Rae - I have to give entire props and credits for this song to my wonderful mother, who is always good for sending me songs to listen to on a weekly basis. Particularly, I first heard this song on my ferry ride home to New Jersey for the first time since leaving for college this year, so it has earned a really special place in my heart for the year. The piano is so present in this song, which as I have mentioned in previous posts, you don't get to see a lot in newer slow songs, which have become taken over by guitar a lot of the times. Also, Rae's voice questioning her every move and overthinking all her choices for the future is so heart felt and honest that you can't help but empathize with these feelings. The message of the song is maybe taking things one step at a time is the healthiest thing you can do when things get overwhelming in life. Yes. 18. How by Daughter - Ok, so finding out that most of the songs I have chosen for this week's mix surround the topics of loss and grieving past versions of self has become super illuminating in terms of my own maturation process. Staying topic though, this group always sheds light on the painful emotions rather than the pleasurable ones, which sometimes creates a dreary mood, but I like to view it as not being afraid to voice some negativity in order to clear it out of one's mind, which many people are apprehensive to do. This song describes pain as being in slow motion and I can't explain why that is true, but it is. The lines "hold me back, hold me back" in reference to wanting to go get someone that they have lost is so crucial to the theme of the song which is moving on from something while still having regrets in regards to the situation, feeling cheated or let down by someone. 19. Killer by Phoebe Bridgers - This playlist began with this song all by it's lonesome, but all along I knew that the rest of the pieces would be built around this, so I guess this has to be the reason why all the songs are so deeply related with one another. You may be thinking, wow I can't believe this song is about one's own death, this is really morose and ominous. Yes, I totally agree and think that it's really sad and death related, but knowing that it goes deeper than that is really vital to appreciating it's beauty. This is about a relationship being buried away and while doing so, dredging up all the past memories of loving a person. There is no remedy for knowing that two people are too much for one another, but this soulful lament is definitely a start. Also, Bridgers has noted that this song is in reference to Ryan Adams, famed songwriter who had a short fling with her when she was pretty young. 20. WALLS by Kings Of Leon - I did this on purpose, I made the first and last song both titled "walls" for a particular reason. I think they both serve very different purposes and perspectives to the metaphorical walls that are being broken down and simultaneously built up within a relationship. In the covered song that the Lumineers did, we see a shift to a more positive message of hearts having walls and climbing them is a struggle, but that it is worth it for the love we get to experience on the other side of it. In contrast, this very low tempo song (especially for Kings of Leon) is about kind of the exact opposite. This is about a man's ego being utterly shattered, exemplifying walls being torn down, in order to love a woman who just took his heart with her when she left. I don't think it's all sad though; I think this experience of walls coming down around someone to experience true loss of a person is so important for personal growth and strength. Thanks for listening and reading into things really deeply with me, catch you next week! Love & Listening,

Julia

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musicmixtapes · 6 years

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October 3, 2018 Mix

As you all know, we celebrated the beginning of quite arguably the best month of the year: October. The gothic and supernatural elements that shift into view for the next few weeks are seductively satisfying beyond words. In that vein, I included a few supernatural themed songs, as well as regular tunes that make me feel the same sort of satisfaction.

Spotify Playlist 1. Vampire Again by Marlon Williams - From a surface level, this is like a bluesy-rock British version of Michael Buble singing a scary love song, and I fully support that. Besides the general outlook of the piece, the mmm bop sound of the music is so catchy and the power chords of the guitar are so striking, really adding an extra layer to the song. I have to say, while listening, the references to vampirism and making someone eternal with you are extraordinary here because it sort of has a negative connotation, so not your typical "Twilight" vampire way. But my favorite line has to be when he sings, "Felt only yesterday/I was weak as Woody Allen" which both pokes fun at the physical state of the man, but also the mental/emotional state because Allen has been known to be f***ed up for years. 2. Can You Tell by Ra Ra Riot - The beginning with just synth sounds and the drums with the vocals is such a nice contrast to when the full band comes in afterwards in a much faster pace, it is such an uplifting sound shift and generally enjoyable. The title itself is interesting because it has two meanings; one being, can you tell that I like you, the second being, can you just tell me what you want from me. Both of these meanings fit perfectly to the song that follows, what with the speaker explaining that he cannot sleep alone without the object of the song anymore and he needs to find out what she's thinking or else he's a nervous wreck and can't think straight. I love the honesty and vulnerability shown in this track, there's no fluff or crazy exaggerations, just raw feeling. 3. Bite The Hand by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers & Lucy Dacus - These three well known young indie female voices came together in one cohesive group to produce a song that is just as youthful and truthful as the ladies themselves. The group named themselves "boygenius" and this track is off of their self titled debut EP album. Dacus, taking lead vocals on this song, expresses the feeling of knowing that you can't give someone what they want, no matter how badly you want to make them happy and do it. The choruses are especially striking for me because of the awesome harmonies that occur between the three and the repetition of the phrased questions "Who do you think you are/Who do you think I am" thus showing the multiplicity of meanings a relationship can have based on perspective. 4. Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90, B 166 by Antonin Dvorak - Classical genre music has always been an interesting thing to try to comment on, in my case, because obviously one of the most important aspects for a lot of music in my case is the lyrical value and depth. But having been a listener of classical music since I was five years old in piano lessons, I have come to really see past the sometimes thought "one layer" of music and notice that because there are no lyrics, the instruments themselves act as singers, as lyricists, as living and breathing words. For some reason I always gravitate towards pieces in a minor key, what with it's nostalgic tones and ever changing motives throughout. This particular piece is fun to listen to because the tempo often shifts from slow to fast, from reminiscent to frantic. 5. Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen - If any artist can both tell a really specific tale/story and make you want to cry whilst walking down the street, Cohen always comes to mind as one of them. Specifically, this song drew me in with it's specific reference to Clinton Street in Manhattan and the fact that it had good music back then, because I was recently walking on that same street and thought of this lovely song. Songs about New York or references to specific places when you are actually there mean so much more because you are able to feel at home while relating to what is being said a lot of the time. The overtones of sombreness and coping with someone leaving are really vital to the feel of this song, as is the metaphorical (and possibly real) blue raincoat that is mentioned just once. 6. Bambi by Hippocampus - In sharp contrast to the sound of the last song, this upbeat low-fi tune still shares the sombre attitude that was aforementioned. It's basically about going through a really difficult time mentally and how that not only affects your decisions and actions, but also the people that are closest to you. It is always really strange to hear an enthusiastic tone of a song when it is about something really serious, so I think of songs like this as like "dark humour" genre in a sense. We decipher that the speaker of this song has changed his behavior since acting in this abnormal way and we can tell that through the chorus that explains "I'm serving myself now" which is a really powerful message of not caring about the norm and doing what's healthiest. 7. The Less I Know The Better by Nataly Dawn and Sarah Clanton - A really well done cover of a song that I never thought I would include in one of my mix tapes, simply because it is so well known and I share this song on various platforms so often. But this female take on the originally male sung song becomes so much cooler and tonally shifted. Honestly, there is never a wrong time to listen to this because the meaning is one of the most universal messages which is: I want someone who is already with someone else and they are keeping me on the hook as a backup just in case their relationship falls apart. I love the original and will always be partial to it, but this is absolutely on my new favorite covers list. 8. The City Is A Bone by Volunteer Cheerleader - This duo is little known to the world outside of Manhattan, but I am so happy to be sharing them with you. I was approached via my blog by this band saying that they liked what I was doing with commentary of songs and asked me to listen to two of their songs. So that's what I did. And I'm so glad that they reached out to me because not only did I fall in love with their sound, but this song specifically fits so well with the supernatural, out of body theme I was trying to cultivate for this week's mix. I never thought about the relation of the city to being like a bone, both structurally and aesthetically, but now that I've heard it, I simply think about this metaphor all of the time. 9. Shameful Company by Rainbow Kitten Surprise - If you have been following these mixes for more than a week or two, you know how much I will praise Rainbow Kitten Surprise for having such a unique strange quality to their music while retaining the alternative rock genre which we love so much. This song, hailing from their first album, "Seven + Mary" is one of my all time favorites because of the lyrical genius along with the guitar melody that is so striking in accordance with each other. Just for example, "Am I hearts to your spades/If I don't suit you" is one of the most clever lines I have seen, what with the double meaning of "suits" as both being a good fit for someone and the actual suits that are on cards not matching with one another. I urge you to listen to both this and the rest of their music. 10. Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones - This song has been apart of my life for however long I have had an iPod (so about 10 years at this point) and I don't think I ever appreciated it so much until now. It's not so much a complex meaning, but one that was original for the time that it was established. The spanish style guitar along with the castanets adds an added essence of "bull fight anger mystery" vibe which basically is depicted in the lyrics which are about having really dark thoughts and no one being able to understand but judging the speaker for it anyway. For their time, this was a groundbreaking thought because depression/sadness wasn't as acceptable as it is nowadays so I really liked this. 11. October by Broken Bells - Well, it's only appropriate that I included at least one song with the word 'October' in the title and this one is deserving of it's place on the list because it is definitely matches the season. Coming from a commentary added on Genius Music, "The person the singer is singing about feels the need to establish what they believe is ‘right’ and justify it to others over and over again. This stems from insecurity brought about by a feeling of being judged by other people." I thought this was accurately described because season of Autumn is often seen as one of shifting and growth from innocence/playfulness into the middle stages of life. As you get older, you care less about judgements and realize only those who accept you are worth being in your life. 12. Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran - Maybe I added it because of the title, maybe I added it because I heard it covered on "Glee" 5 years ago, but maybe, just maybe, I added it because this New Wave 80s pop song is exactly what you all need to hear this week, what with the beginning of our spooky season. There's not much to say lyrically just because it's kind of all put out in the open and the simile is very openly given without needing any prior context. But the awesome synthesizer sounds with the really aweosme bass line that can be heard underneath everything else are driving forces of the song that make it so dance-y and so likeable to our ears. I just have to say, 80s pop is so much better than modern pop. 13. The Hardest Button To Button by The White Stripes - Yes, Jack White is a musical legend and genius, this much we know. But what I didn't know is how much I would feel whilst listening to this drum and guitar heavy absolute jam. This song is about a child growing up in a broken home and basically how nurture affects the outcome of a person, the underlying psychological concept I derived from this song. I also think that on another level, this can be taken as a narrative style story, as seen from the lyric, "I had opinions that didn't matter/I had a brain that felt like pancake batter" which describes how it feels when your thoughts are not validated, the brain comment was really cool because it verifies my belief that this could be a psyche drive song. 14. oh baby by LCD Soundsystem - I have a short quip about my love for LCD Soundsystem, here it goes: I was talking to a guy in a writing program I participated in this summer in Paris with about music, which is always a long winded conversation to have with me anyway. But I asked him a simple question of "do you listen to LCD Soundsystem at all? there's this one song that reminds me of how I feel when I'm in the city" and he replied, "Well I don't ever specifically sit down to listen to them" with a snarky expression, and that's how I knew I was dealing with someone I simply should not have to deal with. But anyway, this is a song you definitely DO want to sit down specifically to listen to as it's not just a love song, but one of waiting, understanding and patience. 15. You Can't Live There Forever by The World Is A Beautiful Place - This is essentially an ode to human beings in general and our tendency to believe that the world revolves around us at all times and the fallacy that things are meant to happen for a reason or that because something is natural, it is good that it happened. The mellow, almost whispered phrases proving these points along with the buildup of strings about midway through the song shifts the song from a tragedy based acoustic ballad, to one with a little more gusto and general change in that things stay helpless, but the way we view them can make them even more harmful than before. Basically, if you don't think about something, you think that nothing is wrong, but it's a big lie and you have to own up to reality at some point. 16. Cornflake Girl by Florence and the Machine - Oh. My. God. I am so entrapped in her voice in this cover of the well known Tori Amos song, which is just really different when done by Welch in this studio recording done by Spotify from their wonderful "Spotify Singles" recordings that they do with numerous artists. The dichotomy of cornflake versus raisin girls are as such: cornflake girls are the white bread, closed minded types who are kind of bland and one sided in ways of thinking about issues, whereas the raisin girls are depicted as multicultured, open minded, and interesting types that do not conform to what everyone expects them to be. So the lyrics "peel out the watchward" mean even more because here they mean to betray what one believes or holds important as a value. 17. A Toast And A Spirit by Vacation Manor - Okay, so this song clearly belongs on an October mix, but why specifically this one? I think that the beginning of am unhealthy style relationship, just like the beginning of October, is like the beginning of a horror movie, where someone does something seemingly innocent and then it becomes twisted and changes in a multitude of ways, ending with a fright fest. This is what this song is about. A girl invites a guy into her life and then locks the door behind them and sets it on fire, thus throwing everything the man had previously believed into the abyss. The speaker expresses how unhealthy and unsustainable this relationship is and how he still wants her, but not if she is a dark figure. 18. Two Ghosts by Harry Styles - Another studio recording from "Spotify Singles" except this one is really well known off of Harry Styles' self titled debut album. Although it has a creepy title, the context is definitely more sad than anything, basically saying that the relationship he once had with someone is dead and all that remains is them as "two ghosts" who wish they could feel something for each other anymore, knowing that the end has basically already happened. Although sad, I view this song as one of growth and maturity because as people change, sometimes they outgrow each other or go down different paths, and no matter how tragic it seems, sometimes it ends up being for the better. 19. One Day by Sharon Van Etten - Not being loved by someone absolutely sucks, but perhaps even more torturing is not knowing if someone loves you or not, and being stuck in an eternal limbo of the viewed ambivalence. Van Etten's souful and folk voice that goes along with the ever so light and airy sound to this acoustic song really makes you feel as if you are sitting next to her while she is talking about someone she cares about and questioning if they reciprocate such feelings. But going beyond the ever so well known trope of wanting to know someone's feelings about you, this song goes further to explain that "one day" peace will be made with the fact that sometimes you will never find out someone's feelings. 20. If We Were Vampires by Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - Bringing the word vampire full circle, a sort of pun of how eternity is a circular motion, we have this honest to god, tear jerking, folk/country song about how life does end, and that people only have a limited time together, that people will be left alone eventually and forever is a concept that does not come to fruition in real life because there is always a survivor left behind by death. But, Isbell sings that "time running out is a gift" because instead of taking love for granted, the measured time is held so preciously and valued so high because the concept of time does in fact exist. I saw them perform this song live, and I can validate, that yes, you can easily cry to this. Thanks for tuning in, catch you next week! -Julia Vassallo

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musicmixtapes · 6 years

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September 26, 2018 Mix

This week as I was curating the playlist, I got to thinking a lot about the way that our mood at a particular moment affects the music we choose to listen to. Some people say that they pick music the opposite of their mood to counteract a bad day, some choose to delve into that feeling and get in touch with it. I, being the latter, am having a memory ridden, reflective sort of week, so I chose songs that talk about the past a little bit and how they can influence the present/future. I hope you enjoy and find something that suits your mood.

Spotify Playlist 1. Planet Hunter by Wolf Alice - This song is all about trying to recreate memories of something or with someone that happened awhile back, events which were really positive, but they cannot be rehabilitated. The artist reminds me of if Taylor Swift had not become a pop music sellout and instead taken a dark moody indie music route, and well, the results are stunning because she creates a depth of feeling to the music that most pop cannot do, in my opinion. The part I relate to the most that struck me was the repeated phrase of "I left my mind behind in 2015" which reaches a point where we, as listeners, realize that there are peaks in our lives that we wish to return to, especially at some of our valleys. I love this because it is an upbeat song about feeling out of place in the present, which is really fascinating. 2. St. Paul by Ritchy Mitch & The Coal Miners - Honestly, the piano that tinkles into a wonderful melody/rift in the beginning has to be the most alluring part of this song, which eventually becomes a much bigger feeling as it continues on. There aren't many striking piano-driven songs these days, so I was impressed with that along with the fact that this song clearly disses a saint, yet doesn't seem offensive in the slightest because it is so personal and not an attack on anything but oneself's feelings. The instrumentals and their uncertainty directly correlate with the restlessness of the lyrics and the crunchy sound of the singer's vocals; we love to see a parallel of the sound of the music to the actual meaning behind the song. All the literary techniques used to write a song is the reason why our ears are so attuned to it. 3. Window by Nana Grizol - Going along with the recurring theme of memories and the past, this song is literally a metaphor for a window looking into the past of what something once was. The defining line of this song comes when the singer refers to the window of the past and saying that "we can lift them/and focus on the moments that we lift in" which is a beautiful shift in tone from a reminiscent tune to one that look towards changing for the better and leaving the memories (whether good, bad or ugly) behind for someone else to revolve around. The artist, Nana Grizol, often covers really broad topics, such as negative feelings, the passing of time, moving on in a really succinct way that reaches an audience who needs to hear mantras in a refreshing way. I like to think of this song as a meditative yoga for the ears, please practice daily. 4. Solitary Daughter by Bedouine - I found this song in the most interesting way, so here it is: I was in the Mcnally Jackson bookstore on Prince Street in the city, rifling through the poetry section (as one does) and stumbled upon a book that transcribed songs into poems and included commentary from other writers and from the artists themselves, in a lot of cases. Reading these lyrics as a poem in a book was so thrilling because I often talk a lot about how some songs are really just poetry set to music, and in this case, other people must have thought so too. This piece is incredible in its way of speaking about a woman not needing someone to rely on or anything to sustain her, except for her own self, her home is herself, which is so liberating to both hear and read. I highly recommend reading the lyrics alongside listening. 5. Chemicals by Gregory Alan Isokov - Off of his brand new EP "Dark, Dark, Dark" which was released not but six days ago, is this peaceful and meaningful acoustic folky ballad by a personal favorite of mine. This piece is especially interesting because it plays off of the notion of the different ways in which chemicals can affect a person's body, kind of like the way a person who is really important in one's life can do the same. An image that I love to see showing up in art is the trope of hands trying to reach one another, whether it be in the "Creation of Adam" or an old film. This song plays with this lost hands imagery, in the line "how my hands can't seem to find your hands in the dark", which if I wasn't already in love with the song, sealed the deal for me 100%. Definitely check out the other two tracks off of the EP, they are wonderful as well. 6. Slipped by The National - This week's mix all began with this one sad ballad by my current favorite group and it just built off of this. I cannot express with words, on paper or in person, how much I am tethered to the lyrics of this song. Something about the raw and honest way that this was strung together speaks to a person who is done with being vulnerable to someone who has no intention in showing hidden parts of themselves back. In this narrative song, the speaker is talking to a girl who left the city to go to a more rural area in the South, thus separating the two, and telling how tragic it is to break away from something when he could not be what she wanted him to be. This is a solemn and intense vow to oneself that they will not break down and fall apart because of a love ending, this is another mantra. 7. We're So Lost by Voom - Upon first instinct, I would like to classify this song under tracks I would listen to whilst laying under the stars and thinking about our existence in such a big place or while slow dancing with someone and contemplating what is going on. But now, even in a good mood this song makes sense because no matter how you feel in terms of being in this world, everyone can agree that we have no idea what we're doing most of the times and are mere beings that are floating through time and space, trying to determine why we were placed here in the first place. In some ways, this can be thought of as a slow rock philosophical crisis song, or you can just love it because of the waltz like beauty of it. Your choice. 8. Fuck Love by Lalić - I definitely expected a cynical, bitter, anger driven song when looking at the title, but if I can say any cliché here, it's don't judge a song (book) based on its title (cover). If anything, it's more of a love song, explaining that the speaker has no real reason to be saying things like "fuck love". I think this is interesting because oftentimes, people don't like to be honest with themselves about their emotions, so instead they put up their walls immediately and turn to sarcastic, defensive comments like "i hate everyone" "love suck" or.... "fuck love". Being one of these people, this song opens up that term and exposes us hate poseurs who are very sensitive and truly love to love. The low fi rock sounds with a strong guitar line is nice to hear as well. 9. Blood Bank by Bon Iver - He is so detailed in his description of bags of blood, I have to believe that he actually had a conversation with someone he loved at a blood bank, discussing the differences between people's blood... which is... interesting. It is also vital to this song to understand that the two separate memories he tells about are very closely related because he is explaining the variability of relationships and how to decide whether it is prudent to enter into an affair or to be your own person and indulge in lonely behavior. Of course, it never hurts to be told really emotional things like this with Bon Iver's delicate crooning and layered harmonies that build throughout with such simple complexity, unmatched by other singers in his genre. 10. How It Gets In by Frightened Rabbit ft. Julien Baker - Your first question after listening may very well be "how what gets in?" as my first question was this exact thing. Maybe what gets in is this undeniably wonderful call and response song along with angelic harmonies. But maybe, what gets in, at least in terms of this song, is the literal healing of an open wound and how to properly dress it and make sure it doesn't get infected, or at least that was what was accounted by the singers in question. I interpreted the song to be a recounting and lesson on how love can come into one's life in unexpected places, and how just because there was hurt and pain in the heart for a long time, does not mean it has to stay that way forever. 11. NFWMB by Hozier - This acronym is probably the smartest thing I have experienced in a song's title in a long time: NFWMB is really Nothing Fucks With My Baby, expressed in a classy way, courtesy of the forest prince and love of my life, Andrew Hozier-Byrne. As always, there are several biblical references and apocalyptic death metaphors, which always leaves me feeling very confused and inspired at the same time. The very jazz and blues influenced low key rock song is so different from other love songs that it kind of creates its own category in that sense. It is described by others as "the love song for the end of the world" therefore going back to my feelings of apocalypse, decay and biblical tellings. 12. One In A Million by Hudson Taylor - "You gotta be cruel if you wanna be kind" ok this just hit me way too hard and true. The only way I even discovered this artist is actually because they are opening up for the Hozier concert I am attending tonight and now I am super excited to see them perform as the opening act as well. They remind me of a toned down version of The Kooks in a lot of shared vocals and chord progressions and upbeat instrumentals, except they are a duo hailing from Ireland and they classify themselves a folk band, though the punk/alternative rock influences found in this song are undeniably present. Also present is the message of knowing someone doesn't care about you the way you care about them and needing to be released from that sort of madness... cool. 13. Into The Mystic by Van Morrison - I'm probably not introducing anybody to this song for the first time right now and certainly not the last, but something about the changing of the seasons and the shift of weather from summer to autumn calls out to the mystical and slow dance vibe that this classic and iconic folky rock song inspires. There is absolutely nothing better than the buildup from quiet lull to the horn heavy chorus and interlude that just makes you want to stop and dance wherever you are in your day. Another musical aspect that is highly appreciated by yours truly is the intricate acoustic guitar rift that is taken and shifted into a lot of newer acoustic based songs that we hear all the time these days. The past influences the present and the present is heard in the past all the time, especially in music. 14. Size Of The Moon by Pinegrove - Shifting into a more heavy punk, angst themed style of music is this memory driven song which tells us about a time where the speaker is thinking on the communication issues that occurred in a relationship and how they could have easily been remedied, but there was no effort on the other half's side. From an interpretation of the song, one person smartly said, "It’s really easy to indulge in nostalgia when you’re at a rocky part of a relationship. Suddenly everything appears better than the present, no matter how imperfect those times were." I have to concur with this notion because our perception of the past changes over time and when we miss someone, at times, we look at bad memories and they even start to seem better than being alone... but they are not. 15. Kathleen by Catfish and the Bottlemen - Another song geared towards a relationship not working out the way it's supposed to is from a band that is one of my all time favorites. Their comical British style of lyrics is so appealing to my American way of thinking of things and the heartfelt honesty heard in their songs play along quite nicely with the super power rock style in which they are written. This tune in specifics, is not about the past, but the present and trying to reflect on what is going on in the "now" which is a really complicated thing to try and do, when you are infatuated with someone. The instability is heard not just in the lyrics, but also in the interchanging chords of the electric guitar and the fast paced anxiety ridden drumbeat, which is awesome.. 16. Holland, 1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel - This band is one of the weirdest, coolest ones that only the people who love grating vocals and intense lyrics can truly appreciate to the desired capacity. The whole album, from the 90s, "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" depicts the story of Anne Frank and the tragedies behind what happened to such an innocent person, along with her youthful romance and how it all devolved in such a short time. A lot of fans of this album have also speculated that there is a second layer of meaning between the World War II references, being that is expresses the kind of tension and tragedy that occurs when you lose some so important in your life, and how the mourning of this loss can only be remedied through appreciating this person afterwards. 17. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You by Black Kids - Okay, so I'm pretty sure that we can all understand the meaning of the song strictly through the title of this song, negating my opinion before on how you should not judge a song based on its title... well in this case, you can absolutely do that. Not only does it have the best dance tune in the world, but it is also so adorable that the singer's only common connection with the girl he is speaking about is their affinity and adeptness with dancing. Although I definitely have "two left feet" as the singer describes the boyfriend having in this song, I relate to this in terms of music. If there is a person who I really care about, the connection I automatically have is usually in a musical sense, and I am greedy about this relation. We all have something we won't teach someone else's boyfriend/girlfriend if we care about them. 18. 123 by Girlpool - I love this so much. It depicts a relationship where the speaker is asking the partner/SO to tell them everything that is wrong with them in a really sarcastic and aggressive way. It's comical and honest and vulnerable all at once which I have to give a hand for because mixing comedy with painful relationships is something that I always attempt in my writing. The song deals with an interpersonal relationship that is simultaneously “toxic and loving" as described from a contributor on Genius Lyrics, which is a website I often refer to on advice and other commentaries on music I really enjoy. The girl rock power that is disseminated with this track is so strong and empowering, for any gender, so please don't hesitate to sing this when you're feeling angsty about someone. 19. Million Years Ago by Adele - I don't think I ever really talk about my deep appreciation for Adele on here, because I try to branch out from popular artists and focus on more under-appreciated and undiscovered types; but I'm making an exception because although she is one of the most iconic voices of the modern generation, this specific song is so underrated in terms of her best songs. It sounds so french/spanish acoustic ballad inspired and makes me feel like I am transported to a black and white film from the 50s with the sadness and depth that it gives me in such a simple way. It ALSO follows along with my theme of the week, which is looking back in order to look forward, because she sings about the troubles of missing things from the past and dealing with the issues of transforming into a different person. 20. Apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex - Finally, one of the best mixes of every song I have spoken about previously, is this moody sad love tune by the moodiest, saddest, love bands of the modern generation. There is an unspoken cheesiness of Cigs After Sex songs that for some reason, I am completely enamoured with because I feel like the notion of expressing things in a hyperbolic way has been tossed by the wayside. This group brings back the feeling of needing to tell someone how much they care and not caring about what anyone else thinks, which is important in a world that so often ridicules the ridiculous emotions that love brings about. In particular this song speaks to the feelings of needing to get someone out of a feeling they are trapped in, so to be with them fully, and telling the person they will be there in their lowest and darkest times.

Hope you enjoyed listening with me, see you next week!

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musicmixtapes · 6 years

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September 19, 2018 Mix

Happy Thursday! I curated my mix yesterday, but needed the extra day to consolidate my thoughts on these awesome pieces and am ready to share! Hope you enjoy this indie mix with a splash of retro.

Spotify Playlist

1. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo - With the quickly approaching fall season and the changes we all go through to match the weather, a song that fits this feeling only seems appropriate. A low fi indie song of the 90s that is the music of Yo La Tengo enters my ears at a wavelength that is both inspiring and mellow at the same time. The singer plainly says that he and the subject of the song are coming to a standing point in their relationship where he can tell that it is basically over, but can't seem to vocalize it blatantly enough for the subject to understand. At the point of the start of the song, the narrator is avoiding the girl because of his built up anxiety over ending the relationship. The ever present sustained organ chords throughout the song add a very important layer alongside the drumbeat and cool bass line. 2. Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles - This is one of my all time favorite songs and I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it always makes me think of the easiness of the summer and how yes, the new start of term becomes increasingly stressful and monotonous, but we can still retain some of that carefree nature, especially through songs like this. One of my favorite lines from this song is "Living is easy with eyes closed" because like many Beatles' songs, it has dual meaning as good poetry often does. The time of ignorance, as it is referred to, when people prefer to turn their heads away from the injustices being done in the world, is easier than facing up to the facts. Musically, this piece is obviously a masterpiece combined with each member's extreme propensity for talent in coordination with George Martin's incredible ear for instrumentals never seen before by popular bands of the time. 3. Girl Of The Year by Beach House - A fun fact about this song pertaining to myself is that I was listening to it whilst I walked in Washington Square Park, sat down, and saw Timothee Chalamet (star of Call Me By Your Name) who I am immensely infatuated with. But besides that little side story, this song is so psychedelic moody, which makes perfect sense because the artist revealed that the inspiration behind the song was one of Andy Warhol's muses, Edie Sedgwick, who thrived in the psychedelic mood era of strangeness and troubled behavior that was glorified and romanticized. This song basically captures the tragic nature of how it is to be in the spotlight for such a long period of time and the captivation others have with someone considered to be a superstar in contrast with how they actually feel about themselves, and how this takes a toll. 4. Case Study by Jenny O. - This is a really uplifting, positive energy giving track, which isn't something that I'm always attracted to, but the heavy rock influence makes it not so annoying and flowery. At the same time, Jenny O's voice is so not the typical female rock sounding voice, but instead really delicate and beautiful, not requiring much effort to be wonderful. There's no better way to describe this than a "wishful thinking" song because, well, she repeats several times "wishing..." followed by a different phrase which is a clever tool in creating a memorable song that I simply cannot get out of my head. The guitar is probably the most impactful instrument featured in this song because the powerful strums are just the driving force in making it so high energy rather than like a lot of other indie rock songs that I've heard in the past. 5. I Don't Know How To Love by The Drums - We love to see a story play out in a song no matter how cliched or simple or short it is. The Drums do that exactly in this song by setting up a context for what is going on in this relationship between two people who quite honestly don't understand each other's intentions or what they can give to each other. This really resonates with me, concerning the modern generation of teens/adolescents not being able to reciprocate love and the vast differences in young people's definitions of love and what it entails. Here is a perfect example of two people's varying definitions and one side of the argument being that they are confused in general about life (too immature) and incapable of being in a relationship anyway. I am wordy describing a 2 verse 2 chorus song but the notion that it introduces is really quite enamoring. 6. Death Cup by Mom Jeans. - First off, for anyone who does not know, the "death cup" is something that comes from a number of drinking games, where the person who loses or hits a ball into the cup, has to drink the most liquor or the most disgusting one. In this specific song, the death cup is a metaphor for how it feels to have to lose someone when you are not ready to and the game is finally coming to a close with a drink that's not easy to swallow. This song is a truly good example of a mixture of pop punk and indie rock at its finest with a splash of emo rock thrown in. The power chords that happen in the last chorus are especially striking because they emphasize the point that the singer is driving home which is "How the fuck am I supposed to deal with losing you" a sentiment which many can sing along to and know how it feels. 7. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) by The Tune-Yards - A cover song! I am constantly looking for remade versions of songs that are favorites of mine already and in this case, the remade Eurythmics song ended up being really striking to me because I usually have heard slowed down or acoustic versions of this song, but never a true 80s copy/remake. I am really happy with this version because of the strong essence of the dance techno pop vibe that is the same as the original. Coming from a low fi experimental folk band, I wasn't sure what this was going to sound like, but they really impressed me. And honestly, I can never get enough of the lyrics of this song because it is just so easy to think about how all of us have been in a situation where we have either manipulated someone for our own good or on the flip side, felt used or manipulated. Why not sing about it? 8. Sincerity Is Scary by The 1975 - The slow heavy drum beat that starts out this jazzy pop song is so enticing accompanied by an echo-y lulling synthesised voice. I am really happy with the new music that the 1975 have come out with lately because of their wide range. From contributors at Genius, the meaning of the song has been speculated strongly as, "a feel-good song that addresses one’s tendencies to put up a facade out of insecurity and anxiety, with the realization that this type of illusory behavior will tend to breed confusion and conflict in a relationship with others. It is a piece of social commentary on the postmodern obsession with irony and cynicism, where sincerity is often ridiculed." The concept that is addressed in this song of being friends while being lovers is so interesting because it expresses the true dichotomy of like versus love, which are two very different things. 9. The Killing Moon by Echo & The Bunnymen - This is one of the title songs from one of the cult classic movies of our time, Donnie Darko, which is the perfect mood for this dark twisted reality film that depicts a boy who is caught between meeting his inevitable fate of death versus an alternate reality where everything else basically goes wrong in a matter of days. But, before Darko was released in 2001, this song came out a whole 17 years before and was a chart topper of the 80s for a decent amount of time. I cannot pinpoint one specific thing I love about this track, simply because there is nothing I don't love about it. All together, from a holistic standpoint, it is a masterpiece of rock and strong alternative rock in its early period. The lyrics can be really studied as a love piece as well as the process of believing in fate versus making one's own in order to achieve a goal of what you really want. 10. No Destruction by Foxygen - Another song that is heavily packed with meaning and reverence to music that came before them, Foxygen's anti war and pro love vibe that is spoken in this song is so warming to hear and really necessary during a time in our world where there seems to be so much destruction. One of my favorite parts of the song is when the singer/songwriter, Sam France, takes a jab at the aggressive and hostile seeming nature of New Yorkers when he says, "There's no need to be an asshole, you're not in Brooklyn anymore" which is really funny living in New York to listen to while going for a walk. Another interesting point to notice in the song is the term "door of consciousness" which I have looked into a little bit further. This is a term used in a lot of Eastern religions to describe a goal achieved through mindful and meditative practice. France is yet again poking fun at someone who is high strung and fake and faking enlightenment. A clever, thought provoking, peace driven song. 11. Talking To Fog by Iron & Wine - Taking the pace of things down a few levels is a group who never fails to make me cry a little bit and get down to real rawness of love, loss and surrendering to both. Off of the new EP which was recently released, is this song which narrates the path down losing someone and the difficult ways in which we must let ourselves break down sometimes in order to really feel the lasting impact that someone left in our lives. In the Pitchfork Magazine's review of this song they noted, "In a song about sorrow and depression, he’s hopeful enough to dream up a beautiful space of healing and nourishment, but realistic enough to know that it’s almost impossible to get there." The personification of the emotion Sorrow in this song is especially hard hitting because it allows the listener to imagine sadness calling out to someone as a person would and it feels more tangible. 12. Stoned by Widowspeak - If I thought about the way that young love was supposed to feel in an idealised life, I would say this is a good description of how that would feel. Personally, I don't think this is what falling in love is actually like, but I do think this is an accurate representation of what it's like to get a "crush" on someone before you get down to the nitty-gritty of a relationship, per say. Smartly, the singer changes approaches to the topic of love and feeling stoned, where she shifts half way through to looking back at it nostalgically and wishing she could return to the lighter feelings of romance and wanting to feel that way once again. The Hawaiian rock (does that make sense) feel to this song emphasizes the carefree attitude of the song although the emotional is pretty intense that she is telling about. 13. Mariners Apartment Complex by Lana Del Rey - A sad, narrated, story piano ballad including lots of string instruments is exactly what I would expect from Lana Del Rey. What I didn't expect was every big band vibe to die down almost immediately and the beginning to just be acoustic guitar and drums which was so amazing to hear. Stripped down and clean is the way I now wish I've been listening to her all along because it really enhances her sultry smooth toned alto voice that lullingly croons about someone not understanding her emotions and someone mistaking her for something she is not. This struck a chord. In an interview about the song Del Rey said, "The song is about this time I took a walk late at night with a guy I was seeing, and we stopped in front his friend’s apartment complex, and he put his hand around my shoulder, and he said “I think we are together because we’re both similar, like we’re both really messed up” and I thought it was the saddest thing I’d ever heard. And I said, “I’m not sad, I didn’t know that’s why you thought you were relating to me on that level, I’m actually doing pretty good”." 14. Today by The Smashing Pumpkins - My mom had purchased this song on our iPod Nano probably something like 10+ years ago or whenever iPods came into existence and it was an eye opening experience for little 9-year-old me. I remember hearing the really delicate guitar melody followed by such strong and intense sounds and being confused at first, and then found myself listening to it again and again. I'm so grateful that I did because now when I listen back to the song it fills me with such strong emotion that I didn't understand when I was younger. The song is actually NOT about the greatest day ever, but in fact, the singer having the worst day ever and feeling incredibly depressed, so he wrote about the opposite to persevere through a really horrible time in his life. The singer himself says he wrote it sarcastically and now looks back at it as a positive song about survival. 15. Used To Spend by Chastity Belt - A song that seems to have been written really simply without too much complex thought is actually so important to delve deep into because you will often find something relatable and recognisable from your own life. This was my experience from this sad and heavy sounding song from Chastity Belt, where I actually understood that this is not a sad song at all, but instead a funeral for sadness and depression and dealing with constant anxieties that course through life for any number of reasons. Being "out of the fog" is referred to a lot in literature and music about not being inhibited by mental illness, drugs, etc and I think that it can go down a number of routes in this song, but I like to think of it as overcoming something and not wanting to be alone anymore. 16. Mice by Billie Marten - I don't know what I love about this slow tempo, requiem for self care and having internal issues... maybe it is the fact that it is just simply beautiful and really important to listen to if you feel like you are not good enough or don't fit in with societal norms as you are ever so expected to on a routine basis. It's one of those ear worm songs, where you don't know why but find yourself constantly humming the main melody over again because something about it is just so likeable. Billie Marten is a singer who started putting her music on YouTube when she was like 12 years old or something, and is now taking the youth music scene by force. On writing this song she explained, "It seemed there was only good and bad people in black and white; I was the anomaly in the middle. 17. Outlandish Poetica by Jonathan Something - From the tinkering of the piano in the highest octave in the first few seconds to the groovy tone that overtakes the whole song in the next few, I am completely eaten up by the old school Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band vibe that I received while hearing this for the first time. This song’s ability to both tell a vivid and compelling story while being surrounded by surrealist instrumentals that keep your ears buzzing for minutes after listening is it’s greatest feat. Something wrote this song telling a story of Larry Bird and his team beating him up and it is just so weird and unrealistic that makes it so much more fun to listen to. You can definitely hear his musical influences throughout the song from bands like The Black Keys to The Flaming Lips as well and I think it is a great way to incorporate expressive imagery into lyrics. 18. Hang Your Heart by Tokyo Police Club - This is such a typical indie rock song about wanting someone to give their heart to you and the basic profession of love. I could easily listen to this song at any point in my day, though, which proves the point that just because a topic is written or played a lot doesn’t mean it is not worth writing about. On the contrary, I believe it means the reason there is so much content produced surrounding wanting someone to love you so badly is that it is one of the basic human emotions that is still trying to be understood and processed fully. On top of that, I enjoy the imagery of taking someone’s heart and hanging it on a wall because it creates an almost possessive like need to have someone in your life, another relatable topic I like to see. 19. Takes So Much by Waxahatchee - I have so much respect for this new found love of mine that is Waxahatchee... I never knew how powerful her piano ballads were and am now completely overwhelmed with listening to her on repeat, especially with the rainy, moody weather I have been experiencing here in New York. Something about the raw way she sings about caring deeply for someone who is really struggling and blaming it on her, she says she can take all of the blame and that the person can take it all out on her, which is so deeply striking and emotive. For some reason, I didn’t equate this with a intimate relationship, but instead one from a mother’s POV because I often think of my mom as the person who when I’m going through something, I run to and take my emotions out on her. So this one’s for you, mom. 20. Nocturne in C Sharp Minor by Frederic Chopin - Finally, ending off this wonderful week of wistfulness is the darker toned and definite autumnal feeling classical composition by quite possibly my favorite composer to come from the Romantic period of music that is the genius, Chopin. I feel like I am thrust into the scene or spot of time that he is describing through his breathtaking solo piano piece that is unmatched, in my opinion. This piece is also sometimes referred to by the name Reminiscence which I think basically sums up the mood of the piece which is looking back at something you once had and longing for that once more with even more intensity than before. The last few bars of this piece are so incredible because of the arpeggios stretches out in such a graceful way.

Thanks for listening with me and always keeping your minds and ears open! Come back next week for more

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musicmixtapes · 6 years

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September 12, 2018 Mix

Spotify Playlist 1. I Wish I Missed My Ex by Mahalia - This song is so uplifting and catchy and about something that is so empowering to listen to, especially after someone important comes in and out of your life, and for some reason, you just don't feel so strongly about it. The large vocal ensemble that is incorporated in the beginning as well as the choruses really magnifies the backbeat and the strength behind the words. From the artist about the song, she says, "...the inspiration came from the fact that I was like, “Why don’t I miss that person?” Like, “What is it about that person, and what is it about me that is making me really not want that lovely person over there?” which I think can be a very relatable feeling to the younger generations where things falling apart is not given the time of day as it used to. Also a great song to sing along and dance to. 2. Hair Slick Back by The Sneaks - One of my best friends Maeve showed me this awesome, totally underrated jam which has one of my favorite, cool bass lines ever. It basically drives the whole song and makes the eerie layered vocals stand out so much. It basically is comprised of a basically drumbeat, the vocals and the bass which is so low maintenance in theory, but when put together creates such an old school low fi punk vibe that new music generally misses out on. Personally, I love to listen to this song when I'm needing an extra boost of confidence and reassurance whilst walking down the streets of the city. It gives that perfect amount of "I don't give a fuck" and also "I care very very much about everything to the point of anxiety" which is a good aesthetic to try to harvest. 3. Consideration by Rihanna & SZA - The ANTI album is iconic and become a staple of many people's lives since it's release in 2016, but some of the songs become an integral part of life at various times and flow in and out based on the mood of life at a current position and time. As of late, I have been deeply reflecting on the emphasis other people put on one's own career and how other people's judgments tend to weigh one down and maybe do things a different way because it seems like the appropriate thing to do. But Rihanna and SZA negate the notion of fitting to people's expectations and sizing down in order to make other's happy. Instead they tell us to "do things my own way, darling" and not to take opinions of other's into too much consideration, to go against the grain and succeed in spite of and because of other's wanting you not to do so. Very empowering. 4. Swoon by Beach Weather - Being a picky snob with music selections is really difficult because it means that in social settings, you automatically judge what music someone else decides to recommend or chooses to play, right? But in a school where so many people have eclectic indie tastes of music, it is also a great things because it means connecting through cool, under appreciated artists and music, such as this song. Someone I'd never met before told me to put this song on when I had people over and I instantly loved it. It is essentially about a person falling for a woman who is both a horrible and wonderful person at the same time, because she has great qualities but causes so much pain and heartbreak to the speaker of the song. The beat behind it is also just super awesome to chill out to, which is always a plus. 5. I'm Not Crying. You're Not Crying, Are You? by Deer and the Headlights - This song is like... 10 years old, which is crazy because it's so awesome and I've definitely never heard it before, but am so happy I'm able to appreciate it now. My favorite line from this is definitely when he sings, "agressively mediocre in every single way" because it totally sums up how most of the world sees themselves and the difficulty in believing in oneself that one is talented and deserves to be where they are. Specifically, this track is about the struggles of being in a band and performing, but I see it as going much, much deeper than that. It's about things not turning out the way they had been pictured or painted out to be and having to deal with the effects of life's way of making things dull after a period of time, even if at one point, we really enjoyed these things/activities. Also the singer's voice is just so quintessential of modern alternative rock and is very along the lines of The Killers, The Strokes, etc... 6. Disorder by Joy Division - Well, I'm not sure that I can really explain this song any better than someone else already has, because it is one of the most popular tracks that Joy Division has released, with good reason (it is SUCH a jam!) As generously described by someone else, this song is about going through a cycle of depression as artists often do and, "This is the struggle of an artist, an unhinged and disconnected artist: how to take pleasure from the things around him, how to use them to make and create, instead of growing bored and detached from them and living solely inside his own head; the protagonist has an artist’s spirit but he can’t live in the normal world, he can’t take the banality of day to day existence as it wears him down and dilutes his artistic purity (spirit) and makes him lose his feeling." As a writer myself, I can totally understand the underpinnings of this song and how the spirit of sensation is so necessary within an artist's life. 7. (I'd Rather Be) Anywhere But Here by Honeyblood - Basically perfect for a person who feels like they are stuck in a relationship that is just unhealthy, boring, toxic, etc and would want to go away, but feels very tethered and then, finally, the other person detaches and the emotional struggle with knowing something is truly gone. On another layer, it also depicts being in an actual place, (city, town, suburb) that is just bland and dull and uninspiring and wanting to escape to somewhere new and seeing someone else being able to do that and the feelings that go behind that as well. The singer's voice is really modern indie style which we always love to hear because it paves the way for women not always needing to belt their entire throat out to sound good and get the attention they deserve. Oftentimes, I feel that this song is important to recall what it is like to be in a liminal space with another person where there is lots of tension, but not the good kind. 8. Copper Mines by Mothers - I think a lot of the songs I have been choosing lately I would enjoy just as much if they were poems instead of songs, which is very interesting because they don't follow the everyday format of a song as one would typically expect. This one is chock full of really intriguing and weird metaphors that don't usually come to mind when describing a person that you would care about or have mixed feelings for. The whole basis behind the "copper" part of the song comes out of the first verse when the singer sings that the person is like when you stick a penny under your tongue and how strange the sensation of that taste is. Just thinking of that mental image is really sour and stinging, which is probably the intended meaning and general emotion of the song. Musically, I really enjoyed hearing the strange melodies that the guitar took on in this piece and how it kind of ended up discordant with the vocals which is very connected to the meaning of the song. 9. Is There A Place I Can Go by Trudy and the Romance - People have discarded songs that are just generally "sweet and cute" themed as of late, because they are not cool and fresh, but why can't they be? I think this track perfectly proves my point because it doesn't do anything so extra and post modern, but just puts a sweet message in a very low fi jazzy kind of way. This is part of a kind of music where it can be regarded as a return to love songs, not because they are copying anything that old love songs used to do, but instead reinventing them and adding freshness to the genre and making love okay again. Just like the revival that many forms of art often has, love is one of them and we should appreciate that in a world that is so twisted in so many ways; in essence, we need love songs again, we need to see that sometimes darkness is okay to dwell in, but so is the light and so are the rose colored shades that those in love look through with such pleasure. 10. Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole by Martha Wainwright - On the other hand, this song is basically the anthem of the opposite of a love song. It's an anger song, a revolution song, a self message song, a song to say FUCK YOU to someone that really deserves it because they have made you feel down trodden and unwanted and unworthy. Very important as well in this day in age when people don't pick their words carefully and basically feel like they can say anything to you without any sensitivity training before it. "I will not pretend, I will not put on a smile, I will not say I'm alright for you, when all I wanted to be was good" is such a mantra that hits way too close to home for anyone who has every dealt with feeling inferior at the hands of a bloody mother fucking asshole who has made you feel that way. Wainwright's passionate and angry tone in her voice with only really an acoustic guitar playing behind really makes the meaning of the song slap you in the face with straight up truth. 11. Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl by Broken Social Scene - Please don't be automatically creeped out by the muffled, alien sounding layered voices that appear in this ever cool and futuristic sounding monotonal song. It describes an insight into the life of a reckless teenage girl who wants love and wants to fit in and how she acts in order to have those things. This is taking that mantra of what being seventeen is like from an older perspective and grieving the loss of youth and innocence. It is described by another reviewer of the song as, “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl” is sung from the perspective of a woman looking back on her days as a fresh faced seventeen year-old. A melancholy nostalgic chant pervades the song as the speaker comes to the realization that her present self is a far cry from the girl she used to be." The repetition of the lyrics are important because it portrays nostalgia as a time cycle that one keeps going back to. 12. Eulogy For You And Me by Tanya Davis - I don't know that I would necessarily regard this piece as even a song so much as a performative art piece because it is all spoken word except for the last two lines of it, which is sung very simply but aptly. Hearing these words ring through your ears is very important during a period in your life where you are trying to rebuild yourself when you have been torn down by any number of things (a love, a friend, time, a loss, family, depression, illness, etc it goes on forever) The metaphor of having a clock in your life at all times and having to deal with moving on and starting new and how to get on without a person who was a constant in your life for a long time. The thing to remember which definitely reminded me of this song is that people are not always going to be constants, like a math equation, they will be undefinable variables who sometimes float in and out and sometimes that has to be accepted. 13. Painter In Your Pocket by Destroyer - I'm sorry that I'm unoriginal but this song definitely isn't because of the whirlwind of metaphorical language and sensory images we get to have. But the song is told as being, “'Painter In Your Pocket”’s protagonist drunkenly confesses his love to a woman with which he has become infatuated. He’s admired her for years, and although he finds many of her behaviors and dispositions to be abhorrent, he is still fascinated with her. The song’s subject matter is examined through Dan Bejar’s characteristically charismatic and erudite lens." The trope of the woman described in this song is one that would typically be seen in movies as the woman who takes people for granted and thinks the world revolves around her but then still relies on one person to fall back upon because she knows he will be there to pick her up if something goes wrong. 14. Give It All To Me by Black Pool - The chords at the beginning of this song are literally identical to the ones at the beginning of Hallelujah and has the doo wop style of rhythm too which was automatically very pleasing to the ears to hear. Black Pool always has the ability to make a really simple tune very deep and emotional because of the passion and intellect behind the crafting of the words and the innate ability to create a short story out of something very basic. I think this song really points out the regular desire that all humans experience at one point or another where they want someone to devote themselves entirely to them and be the most important thing in someone's life, even if that is kind of an overbearing or ridiculous notion. But honestly, the notalgic 50s doo wop vibe of this really creates the going back to the ways of going steady in a relationship and caring about someone fully and truly and deeply. 15. Life Is Confusing by Langhorne Slim - Since I found this song last week, it has been constantly running through my head and on my brain pretty much all the time. I haven't felt so akin to a song in such a long time, but damn it if I don't feel every part of my soul in this short diddy about life being confusing and people being insane and having to accept that as something that will always be. It is also about the feeling of becoming super busy with all of these confusing nuances of life and having to see someone you care about less and less because of this hectic way of life. I think especially now I relate to this song because being in New York City means that you are constantly moving at the speed of light and even faster most of the time and that means that seeing people you care about becomes really difficult and forging close relationships can be seen as a challenge of sorts. The very folky acoustic sound of this meaningful tune is a really nice transition from summer carefree to fall chaos and all that a new start entails. 16. Shrike by Hozier - Ok so for anyone who doesn't know what the title means (neither did I when I first saw this come out the other day) it is defined as: "a songbird with a strong sharply hooked bill, often impaling its prey of small birds, lizards, and insects on thorns." This ended up making so much more sense in context paired with the lyrics of the song, which is such a Hozier thing to do, thus putting in a lot of thought to a title in order to make the holistic approach to the song that much more in depth. In terms of the song itself, I felt an instant connection while listening, not just because he returned to his roots of soulful guitar and singing, but also because the song's poetic flow is so strong and sparks the writer's mind within all who listen and appreciate writing. In terms of the EP as a whole, "Nina Cried Power" which was released just a few days ago, I cannot stress enough how amazing all of the songs are on their own as well as a collective whole and how much everyone NEEDS to go and listen to it at least once full through. I guarantee you will love it... I love it. 17. Sixty Charisma Scented Candles by Gabriel Meyers - This song kind of sums up all of the other songs that I have previously put in this mix, mostly because it talks about feeling lost, confused, searching for love and not knowing how to find it, trying to decipher where one is in time and space in the grand scheme of things and also just trying to make someone else proud and how others especially close to you perceive you and all the things you try to do. Honestly though, the title of the song drew me in which usually happens to me because of my incessant pension for lyrical greatness. Meyers crooning and soulful voice while he sings about the topics that most people can't fathom to pen down, let alone perform on a track, becomes such a visceral experience even just by listening to it. The repetition of the phrase "When time and space collide I hope I'm by your side" is so intense to hear especially in a musical form. I think this notion is pretty philosophical and music, in a way, can be pretty much a modern form of philosophy that we can understand. 18. This House by Japanese Breakfast - Off of her album, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, comes this beautiful ballad/indie piece that is a slow understanding of what it's like to return back to a place where there is a mixture of trauma and love and how it takes time to try to recollect all of the memories of a place that you once lived and how it can be painful to go back and restart while retaining a sense of who you used to be. Zauner, who is the main singer/songwriter of Japanese Breakfast, told that the song is about, "This was the last song I wrote for the album. A ballad about returning home after a long tour, waiting for your someone to come home. It’s also about the confused desires you feel for someone you once loved, and coming to the realization that it’s not actually the person you miss, but who you were before. A time when you were younger and felt more and didn’t think so much about death all the time." I feel such a deep connection to this song because I love where I am from (suburban NJ) and I have always felt a mixture of sadness and love returning home for a variety of reasons and how pain mixed with nostalgia is very important to feel. 19. Forget Me by Born Ruffians - The first song I found by this artist I included on an older mix and it was the track "Fuck Feelings" which I think should be listened to in tandem with this song because they kind of work as a venn diagram in the sense that there are a lot of shared themes and feelings within both songs, but they depart in the way of that this song is about staying with someone through really difficult times and having a stronger sense of love because of those hard times. A phrase from this song which is central to the theme is "you'll face the light with me". I think this goes to say that two people, when faced with something as intense and scary as death, if they really care about each other, will make it through to the other side and still survive in an afterlife or space of some sort with one another. I would categorize this kind of genre as a soft alternative rock because of the light feeling mixed with a still present rock vibe. 20. Upper West Side by King Princess - Finally, rounding off this week's mix is a Brooklyn native young and fresh artist new to the indie pop scene, who is amazing for incorporating feelings of acceptance, empowerment, equality and queer love as well as general feelings of love and light. This particular track is about being apart of a so called privileged generation of young people who try to portray themselves a certain way in order to feel accepted by the general public society. In an interview with Coup De Main magazine, King Princess commented, "The song is about somebody who is wealthy and all that, and interested in this concept of disguising their wealth to be cool…I think especially in our culture, a huge part of the way that we present ourselves to the world is edited, and it’s digital. You have the luxury of touching things up and editing them and changing them before they hit the real world, and the reality is that a lot of the parts that we show isn’t the core and isn’t the heart of the matter. I talk about that a lot as well in the music because I am definitely a product of that generation" which I think sums the song up perfectly.

Thanks for listening with open ears and hearts

Much love,

Julia

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musicmixtapes · 6 years

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August 15th, 2018 Mix

Happy Thursday! I hope you enjoy this mix, I had a lot of fun curating a wide variety of songs that span over several different genres. Spotify Mix 1. Changes by Langhorne Slim - This songs moving acoustic sound and light hearted sound really correlates with the meaning behind it, the flowing feeling of life changing and the confusion of stepping into a new phase of life and being in the dark, but being ready for it at the same time. I think that this song really emotes the way that people grow apart during important shifts in life and how there is both beauty and sadness in this, it can be viewed as both because it represents growth and maturity. 2. Peach Scone by Hobo Johnson - Quite possibly the weirdest mix of musical genres in a song that is very strange but so much fun to listen to and very easy to sing along to also. Johnson combined a conversational spoken poetry and letter style message to someone he is in love with unrequitedly and adds a really cool guitar rhythm and beat to the back to turn it to a funny song. It makes you think about a first love or crush that you've had and for some reason can't let go of. I definitely never thought I would be into a song like this but the easy going vibe to it and the reoccurrence of the "maybe it's the thought of not being so alone" adds such a powerful to the center of the song. 3. The Record Player Song by Daisy the Great - The harmonies in this song immediately attracted me to this niche little artsy indie song that describes the ways that girls with a certain aesthetic try to portray themselves as being elusive and musically inclined, but in all reality are just misunderstood and a little self centered who don't really understand themselves. I think its so important that there is a song that pretty much outlines the "manic pixie dream girl" trope while validating that there is an issue with categorizing girls into one big lump even though they too are confused with their identity. 4. I Can't Tell What The Time Is Telling Me by And The Kids - I was so surprised to discover this perfect blend of rock and pop and that it was a sound that wasn't overplayed at all, mostly because, well, this band is pretty low key on the alternative rock scene. The musicians' proficiency is equivalent to the song's meaning which is always really cool to see with young bands. The essence of the song combines a person searching for deeper meaning with the current generation and the problems that lie within it concerning poverty and the epidemic sweeping the country; but it also talks about caring about someone while being unsure if they reciprocate feelings, smaller topics embedded within a bigger issue. 5. Bad Girls by M.I.A - This was a fun choice for me because I am in love with the show "The Mindy Project" and this song reoccurs in several of the episode when the main character, Mindy, is going to work and doing something that exemplifies strong female power, which we always love to see. I think that MIA the artist always adds a badass female persona to her music and opens up the possibility that not just male hip hop artists can be badass and have that gangsta style in their music. The beat along with the synth sounds is really catchy and great to pump up a night or a morning workout. 6. Art School Wannabe by Sorority Noise - I think the title basically sums up what the song is all about: basically the trope of having a tortured artist life and having to realize that maybe suffering doesn't always have to occur as much as artists think it needs to in order to create "good" art. I like the fact that a post punk garage rock band can laugh at their own perceived artist persona and that maybe life is a combination of highs and lows and the happiness can be portrayed within music too and can make enjoyable content as well. From a review of the song, a critic compared the song to the expression, "You can wear black on the outside and still be happy on the inside" which describes it quite well. 7. Hannah Hunt (cover) by I'm With Her - I am pretty sure I included the original song by Vampire Weekend in a past music mixtape, but my mom played this version in the car one day last week and I completely fell for this one. Something about the female take on this male to female love song made me think of it in a completely new light and the use of the mandolin and violin as well as the acoustic guitar completely transformed the song from a "feels" indie slow song to a folky indie song that breathes new life into it. The mandolin solo in the middle of the song combined with the violin solo made me feel l was kind of in the middle of an empty field listening to it. 8. This Is The Last Time by The National - Completely not acoustic or uplifting, in comparison this song is all about something ending and not wanting it to, but knowing it needs to because it is unhealthy and addictive. The National has come to my attention more and more recently because of their ability to include so many pieces of a band and make such simple sound at the same time, with such precise musical technicality. Berninger is such a proficient songwriter and is able to put a name and metaphor to feelings about relationships that us mere mortals are not always able to do. I think it's interesting that he has said in the past that he is very influenced by the writings of great poet Walt Whitman, as his influence is very clear in The National's song lyrics. 9. Table For One by AWOLNATION - This song comes from AWOLNATION's most recent album that was released a few months ago called "Here Come The Runts" which includes a lot of rock heavy ballads with very different storylines all centering around feeling like the smallest person in a group and being an underdog all the time, which I think is very relatable to a large demographic. I liked this song in particular because of the large swell of the chorus and it's sound shift in comparison to the very chill verses. The song's meaning is not that hard to understand from just listening to it once or twice, being that a summer love occurred and now one half of the equation is done with it, leaving the speaker at a "table for one". 10. Lady Grinning Soul by David Bowie - This romantically styled piano ballad is the last track off of Bowie's iconic album from his persona's Aladdin Sane perspective, which is a lot of people's favorite and has since then turned into kind of a cult classic in terms of music. The title, of all things, perplexed me the most and upon further inspection I discovered that a "lady grinning soul" refers to the feminine characteristics of a man's persona, which is so modern and ground breaking, especially for 1973 when this song was released. Bowie often talks about having a fantastical and idealized romantic obsession with people which didn't always pan out to be releastic, which totally correlates to the eclectic sounds of his music. 11. The Little Things That Give You Away by U2 - Taken from a commenter on Genius Lyrics this song is about: "Bono surviving an accident; a car accident it seems. He’s leaving clues all along the album about “a near death experience” that he has stated having no much long ago." This made me definitely think about the song in a different light and added much more depth to it for me. It has a classic U2 original sound that only the voice of Bono can give to a song, especially the deep writing that is focused in on a specific experience but can translate to much bigger world issues at hand, in this instance, communication and the trouble with people not being able to speak to each other normally. 12. Smoke Signals by Phoebe Bridgers - I could totally see this song being written as a poem first, being primarily that it follows like a storyline entirely and tells about a person reaching out constantly to the speaker in several ways in metaphor of a smoke signal on a beach. Bridgers voice is so soft and beautiful and makes you lean into the meaning of the song and listen carefully to every word there. I'd also like to point out the main use just of the bass guitar, a very quite additional guitar and the swell of string group that swells during the chorus which adds a very cinematic experience to the listener. She later revealed in an interview that this song was written to an ex lover and about their relationship and the complexities of it which is very heartfelt and personal. 13. Wes Anderson by Alex Lahey - Titled as the iconic director of our time who comes out with quirky adventure and life stories, Lahey created her one Andersonian love story within this song and brings us through a journey of her own with someone and the small things that one does with a lover can be the most special just because it's with that person who is held to such a high importance in our live's at the time. This song is just very simply written and laid out, not having to figure out that much to enjoy it because it's clear and concise about being a love song and it doesn't need to do anything more than that to be good and appreciated. 14. Big Sis by SALES - Very much reminded me of the beginning of Sonia Richardson's "Ruin Your Night" except instead of swelling and becoming a rock song, it was content with remaining a bedroom pop/dream pop style of song which I really liked hearing. I think the meaning behind the song can head in a few different directions but I heard it as being with someone who isn't content with themselves because they are trying too hard to be like someone else, most like their "big sis" which is well understood due to the repetition of that line which is pretty crucial to the song. But I think that the minimalistic style of song that is becoming popular in the indie world is really likeable. 15. Gap in the Clouds by Yellow Days - A singer and bedroom producer, artist Yellow Days came out with this song when he was only seventeen years old which is in itself impressive, but the fact that the music is so soulful and vintage sounding made me appreciate his youth behind the song even more. The artist explained about the song that, "It's about being in a depressed state for so long that your sky is full of clouds, but then that special someone makes a gap in those clouds and they can light up your world again" which is so beautifully put because it definitely describes love's ability to influence such a diverse range of music, even from someone with so little years on the earth. 16. Two Slow Dancers by Mitski - This track was released just a few days ago and I was so excited about more new music from Mitski, an amazing artist who is coming more and more popular on the alternative scene, having toured with Lorde on and off throughout the past year and doing shows on her own as well. This song lives and breathes nostalgia and the feeling of being young and slow dancing in a school gymnasium and wanting to recreate that feeling with a new love no matter what age you are. The feeling of being the only people in the whole world while in a dinghy school dance is so special, and as older people trying to stay the same is so difficult and sad. Needless to say, Mitski got it perfect. 17. 4am by girl in red - If a song were to correlate to anxiety and the overwhelming feelings one gets while trying to fall asleep, this would surely be that song because it's exactly what it is. Another great example of a young artist who is breaking onto the bedroom indie pop scene, girl in red describes how the feeling of thinking too much can cloud judgment and create this bedtime hysteria and creating an insomnia nightmare in such a short song. Songs like this are so good to listen to in order to gain the insight that music doesn't need to be seven minutes long to give a deep meaning into someone's emotions and thoughts. 18. Feeling Whitney by Post Malone - I'm not going to lie, when my little brother first put this song on in the car, I did not expect much from it because of his pension for heavy rap music that breaks the bass stereo system, but I was completely taken aback and completely shameful at my snap judgment just because of the artist that had created this song. Malone's completely unabashed story of his drug addiction and the struggle to try to find good influences who could help him get through a hard time in his life tugged at my heart strings so hard. The really interesting chord progressions totally impressed me along with his super folk inspired voice which rivals sounds that come from The Lumineers and Mumford and Sons. I would like to hear more of this from him for sure. 19. Someone Great by LCD Soundsystem - At first, I was convinced this song was about losing someone that the speaker was in love with but didn't appreciate fully and now wasn't able to talk to. In fact, it definitely could be perceived as a multifaceted song in terms of meaning, pertaining to losing someone and how everything that happens in life is colored gray by the loss of that person because it can't be shared with that person anymore. Upon research and reading I found out that this is actually about the death of James Murphy's therapist of all people, and then all of the details of the song really clicked into place for me and reached new levels of love for this track. I think it's so important to write about losing people that aren't just family members or loved ones, maybe just people you grow to care for platonically or professionally. 20. Los Ageless by St. Vincent - I have featured St. Vincent many times on my mixes by now because she deserves that and more at all times in her musical career. I believe that she has released this track as a single recently, as I have heard it a couple times on the radio recently and it has become one of my favorite car bops to dance in my seat to and then realize that the person in the car next to me is looking at me singing and dancing in the car. But although it is very much a dance electronic song, it still goes to the regular depths of meaning that all of St. Vincent's songs have, as it's about the complete juxtaposition from her other favorite city to talk about (New York). The you in the song can refer to losing a lover, a friend, a place, youth, fame, money, etc... I love this because the interpretation is left up to the listener. Thanks for tuning in, see you next week! Julia

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musicmixtapes · 6 years

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August 1, 2018

Happy to say that the mixes are back from a brief hiatus while I was in France. So happy to be curating unique amalgams of melodies again and hope you enjoy this week! Spotify Playlist 1. Four Leaf Clover by The Kooks - So happy one of my favorite bands came out with another single that's going to be on their upcoming album. This is really classic Kooks song featuring their elements of electric guitar heavy sound, british humor and an upbeat pace which is really sharply contrasted by the dark lyrics that the song holds. The metaphor of the four leaf clover for being sheer luck as the only thing left that the person has at the end of the night is genius. 2. Lose Your Mind by So Many Wizards - A song that's based around the speaker trying to calm someone down because they are too worried and can't pause for a moment and enjoy anything, relatable. I love this song because it doesn't try to be anything more than a regular indie soft rock song that can just make you feel out of yourself for a little while. What specifically attracted me to this song was the unique timbre of the singer's voice. 3. South London Forever by Florence and The Machine - I cannot rave enough about Florence Welch's new album, all I have to say is listen to the entire thing twice through on a loop because that's how great it is. I could've included any of the tracks, but this one tells such an uplifting, free flowing story that is so enjoyable to listen to in addition to her crazy vocals that just drift through as if they're simple. 4. Rich Girl by Lake Street Drive - A cover of the old Hall & Oates song, I was so drawn to this version because of the female singer, which changed the context of the song a lot for me listening with a different perspective. But besides that, this jazzy track is one of LSD's early tracks and you can definitely hear the influence that this style of music has had on their later music, which is also very good. 5. I'd Rather Go Blind by Etta James - This is one of those songs that can basically make you feel a pang in your chest every single time it's played and personally, I love that feeling because it means that music is eliciting such a powerful emotion. Etta James has the keen ability to do that with the shoo-bop style of instrumentals and the sheer power behind her voice that can only be present from a lot of endured pain and heartbreak in the past, both of which James went through. 6. Nothing To Me Now by Bahamas - By now, I have included several Bahamas tracks on previous music mixes, and I will continue to do so because I am so taken by the artist's ability to write equally strong instrumental and lyrics, not many people can do both well in my opinion. I also recently found out that Bahamas is the artist Alfie Jurvanen, who was a part of the popular group Feist, an indie band. He separated from them and then started Bahamas for himself, which has similar tones to Feist but is so different stylistically. 7. Razorblade by The Strokes - I can never go too long without uncovering another Strokes song that I had not given attention to previously and once again, it has happened. This song is basically about the inequality of relationships and how people realize they are growing apart and how difficult coming to terms with that can be. He uses the razorblade as a metaphor for the feeling he wants to get back from a relationship, which is obviously self-harming and abusive. I really like the tempo and drums in this track. 8. Soft Stud by Black Belt Eagle Scout - Typical to sound like an angsty alternative song, which in a lot of ways it definitely is, but for some reason it resonates with my ears so well because although the guitar is so grungy and thick, the rest of the song really isn't, including the airy sound of the singer and the cool synthesizer sound that comes in the chorus. And of course, the lyrics are always an important factor of how much I'm interested in a song, and these have very clear and decisive meaning, which is nice. 9. Lost In Your Love by Colyer - This song is the essence of a summer love, combining acoustic sounds, a reverb that gives the most summer vibe ever, and a super awesome chorus that is kind of tropical sounding and kind of beach sounding. Also at the core it's just a simple song about a guy who is falling in love with someone and is overwhelmed by just how strong he feels about this person, which is of course only the most relatable feeling ever. 10. Dancing In The Dark by Paradisia - I didn't realize how "cover-heavy" this mix was but yes this is another cover of the original by Bruce Springsteen which is obviously iconic. I really appreciated how different this group made such a summer rock song sound and how the changing of simple things like pacing and tempo and vocal quality can alter the perception of a song. I also thing the beginning of the song with the harp and piano is just the most beautiful thing ever and that's why I listened to the rest of it. And those harmonies in the chorus is just amazing, in love. 11. Milk by Samia - Kind of a poem song to me, I feel that there are many elements of this in which I could see were taken from writing thoughts down in a journal and then combining a bunch of lines into a song, which is so interesting. Also, it's so smart to take a simple phrase like "don't cry over spilt milk" and literally playing around that concept for a whole song, we need to see more of that. I had never heard of Samia before hearing this song, but I have a feeling that she will draw to a young audience and she kind of gives me a Mazzy Star and Sara Bareilles combined vibe. 12. Horizon Aldous Harding - Wow. Yes. Everything about this song is so attractive and I always find that although Aldous Harding doesn't have that much content out, I am always bringing myself back to listening to her songs because they are so deep and multifaceted in the way that they are beautiful to listen to and hear for the first time, but I gain more insight to what they are really about with a second, third, etc. listen, which is the way that good music should always be heard. Also, her voice is just absolutely stunning and super weird. 13. Harvest Moon (cover) by Lord Huron - I really didn't realize how many covers there were, but I am really pleased with the outcome because this is another incredible take on an older song by Neil Young. I am so impressed with the alterations he made to the instrumentals while still retaining the majority of the sound that Young envisioned for the song. And his voice was PERFECT for the song and he brought a different tone out in his voice which I have never heard before and it was so satisfying to hear. Make covers popular again :) 14. Shiggy by Sports and KeithCharles - Such a psychedelic and vibey song, definitely serving some Daft Punk and Tame Impala looks here which I'm guessing wasn't an accident because they are amazing and big influences on many new, fresh psych rock bands. Unlike most instances, the words were not the most important part of this song, but instead the general feeling I got while listening to it, which was just so relaxed and contemplative. But that doesn't meant the words aren't great, because they are. 15. That I Miss You by Vansire - Ok in the beginning of the song I legitimately thought this was The Less I Know The Better because the bass riff sounded so similar, but upon further listening I was so pleased with how different it was from that song and totally just a super bass heavy song with a lot of synth sounds incorporated and a monotoned voice that makes it all the more interesting. This is a brand new song, released only two weeks ago so I'm excited to see the general audience's reaction to this, I think it will be well received. 16. Solitude Is Bliss by Tame Impala - Staying on theme with the past couple of songs, we have the ultimate psychedelic electronic indie rock artist who is literally the best in the entire world, can you tell this is going to be a really biased opinion already. Anyway, recently I've been going back and listening to Parker's older stuff, in particular tracks off of InnerSpeaker because they seem SO 70s Beatles' music influenced which is so great and gives me such a nostalgic tone when I'm listening along with the regular electro misty vibe. "There's a party in my head and no one is invited" that line is genius. Ok I'm done. 17. Hideaway by Jacob Collier - If you like Bon Iver, Hozier, Mumford & Sons, along those lines, I think you'll really enjoy this track because it borrows sounds from all of those artists in my opinion. At the same time, it totally has it's own unique tribal beat with an layer over of acoustics and these absolutely incredible layering of harmonies that took my breath away. Musically, it is much stronger than the words which are definitely more common sounding, but the sounds are just so interesting and enjoyable so I honestly didn't care. 18. Love Drugs by Jude Shuma - Upon good recommendation from my friend Noah, I listened to some songs by Shuma, who is seemingly a smaller presence in the alternative music community, but one of his songs "Float" gained a good amount of recognition which is also a great one to listen to. This song really appealed to me because of the definite psychedelic tones and influences that are modeled from the late 60s and 70s, where some of the best psych rock was invented. This was like stepping into a time machine and transporting back to that grassroots of psychedelia. 19. What Hurts Worse by Iron and Wine - I think we can all agree that Iron and Wine has been a force to be reckoned with in terms of dominating the soft acoustic harmonies of sadness, nostalgia and heartfelt meanings for a long time now. This brand new album of theirs is so exciting because I don't think I've ever been disappointed with new music of theirs and you know there will be a good mix of feel good songs and sad heart breakers on there too which is a perfect reflection of the balance that life has to have anyway. 20. Famous Flower of Manhattan by The Avett Brothers - Not going to lie, I clicked on this song in the first place simply based on the name and I know you're not supposed to judge based on titles, but I was glad I did for this one because it is so along the lines of a raw, vulnerable but powerful acoustic song that I had been searching for in the recent past. The song entails using a flower as a metaphor for a girl who the speaker was trying to save from the jaded city of Manhattan and bring her to the countryside where he was from. In the end, he realized he had to let her go because it was selfish to trap someone so amazing. So sad, but so good. Hope you enjoyed this week's mix, can't wait for the next one!

Xoxo, Julia

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