Darkness Falls bookends some moody and heartfelt dream/goth pop.
Playlists brief enough to pay attention to, songs hand-selected to make it worth it
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Monday, May 28, 2018
Monday Mix 180528: Foetus, Depeche Mode, Controlled Bleeding, Nine Inch Nails, Prurient, Brighter Death Now
The vulnerable, "open wound" side of industrial / darkpop.
Putting BDN right after Prurient is structurally similar to what Meat Beat Manifesto does on "Kneel & Buzz." Intense, driving, noisy percussion ratchets up tension and the release follows.
Still intense (a slightly too-high tone in "K&B" and The Cover-Up is itself moody, dark and tense), it operates as a cool down, or a denouement to the climax.
- Matt
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Retzmix #1 - October 2002
Cool that Justin has agreed to let us feature his legendary monthly mix series here. We'll release them here one at a time every Saturday.
I think it will be very interesting to watch the evolution of these lists.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
On Holiday 18 / Memorial Day Weekend: Saweetie, Big Boi, Calvin Harris, Liam Payne, Camila Cabello, Kylie Minogue, Cardi B, Drake
When you fire up the grill this long weekend, fire up your blue-tooth speaker and smart device, and navigate to this playlist, because we have you covered with some chart-toppers and a few left-field choices to kick off your summer.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Monday Mix 180521: The Hollies, The Searchers, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Zombies, The Yardbirds, The Grass Roots, The Doors, Tommy James & The Shondells
I don't remember the model of my first walkman, but I think I got it at Walgreens. That was my first tape player.
My second tape player was a clock radio called the "Chronosette 273," given to me by my parents. This machine had a "sleep" feature, which made it so I could listen to music as I fell asleep. As such, music played on this clock radio burrowed deep into me, creating lasting sonic images. At that time, one of my favorite stations was the "oldies" station. 95.7?
The songs that excited me the most were the spooky, moody songs. Organ and rhythmic drumming. To this day, these songs bring back rich memories for me.
Two songs on the list were written by Graham Gouldman, possibly best known for his tenure with 10cc: "Bus Stop" and "For Your Love."
While I love "For Your Love" for its breakbeat rhythms and the way the layers of the song play with half-time and double-time, I must note that I hate the break down bit at about a minute into the song.
It sounds like a Beatles rip-off, and, indeed, in an interview conducted by Alan Thompson on his BBC Radio Wales show, "I Write the Songs," Gouldman nearly confesses as much: "I had dabbled a bit [in songwriting] but [the Beatles] were really my inspiration and gave me and I think a lot of other people the courage to actually do it. We all wanted to be like the Beatles… most of us anyway."
I also included a "More Mix" list to explore earlier and later versions of these tunes.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
hooked.evd/ToveLo: VÉRITÉ, Bea Miller, Betty Who, Allie X, Dua Lipa, Hayley Kiyoko, Tove Lo, Charli XCX
Right now I’m hooked on Tove Lo’s album “Lady Wood.”
The highly suggestive title may be off putting to some listeners, but it’s a solid album full of evergreen hits.
The inspiration track for this playlist is the second promotional single, True Disaster. This song calls to another era while remaining current and progressive, and the rest of the playlist is built to flatter the track.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Monday Mix 180514: Wire, Thurston Moore, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Bright Eyes, Nirvana, Rilo Kiley
If I'm remembering correctly I first heard "Ono Soul" on a sampler CD I got from BMG Music Club. It struck me as a really special song, and it lingers with me. Around that same time, I borrowed Doolittle from the library, and likely dubbed it to tape. (Sorry, Pixies.)
I wanted to capture some of the sorrowful frustration found in a number of Nirvana songs. This tone was an underpinning of many songs of the grunge era, and was captured well on the MTV Unplugged series, not only by Nirvana, but by Alice In Chains and 10,000 Maniacs, as well. I am a fan of that series, but I wanted to capture an album track. I wanted the full spectrum of the song.
A downer of a playlist, so I wanted to end it kind of optimistically, even though there is sort of a melancholy aftertaste to "Hail To Whatever..."
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Head to Head: "Hey"
Erin put together a fun, catchy, energetic list (shown first here). Using the same keyword as inspiration, Matt followed Erin's lead, but created a much more somber list.
You can hear Erin's incorporation of the theme tucked into the instrumentals of each track, whereas Matt took a literal approach.
Monday, May 7, 2018
Monday Mix 180507: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols, Motörhead, Metallica, Danzig, White Zombie, Pantera
Trying to get a sense of the evolution of hard rock. I put these in chronological order.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Top Tunes 1804: Bruno Mars, Zedd, Drake, Post Malone, Bebe Rexha, BlocBoy JB, Ed Sheeran, Lil Dicky
#1 FINESSE / Bruno Mars
Erin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" This song either needs more or less Cardi. Her flow is so good I have a hard time appreciating Bruno in his own right.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Cardi's flow so nice on here. On the whole, though, the track feels like a mess. If you are going to cop an earlier style, you should either build on it or do it flawlessly. Otherwise it ends up sound derivative, like this. Hard to touch BBD's "Poison."
#2 THE MIDDLE / Zedd
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Didn’t we just hear the clock sample in Zedd & Alessia Cara’s single “Stay”? Apparently something like 14 singers tried this vocal on before deciding Maren Morris was the right fit, which is confusing because I find her to be incredibly forgettable. Maybe the price was right on her cut of the profits?
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" Zedd's sound feels so good on the radio. "Clarity" was a track that rose above itself by its production. Song is way too similar to "Stay," though, and not as interesting.
#3 GOD'S PLAN / Drake
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" The line “I only love my bed and my mama I’m sorry” is everything on this track.
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" The sort of song that makes me think we're going to be hearing new Drake decades from now. Boring vocals over boring music, yet very popular. What am I missing about Drake??
#4 PSYCHO / Post Malone
Erin - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" I don’t love that “the ugly girl” only gets to drink if he has “so many bottles,” but this is not the hill I’m going to die on regarding misogynistic lyrics.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" You can miss me with this whole whiny gangbanger schtick. And what's that vibrato thing he does?
#5 MEANT TO BE / Bebe Rexha
Erin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Turn it up" What is Bebe doing collaborating with Florida Georgia Line? Her trajectory is so confusing to me. I mean, get paid. I wouldn’t turn down that paycheck either.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Rooting for Rexha, but this track is dull. FGL gives it some character, but I can't hang with the twang. Sounds like a karaoke song.
#6 LOOK ALIVE / BlocBoy JB
Erin - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Does Drake sleep?
Matt - ⭐️⭐️ "Leave it on" If Kendrick Lamar's "Humble" makes you feel anxious, this low-energy slog might be a nice alternative for you.
#7 PERFECT / Ed Sheeran
Erin - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Ed Sheeran is better than this bland wedding first dance song. Let’s get a hot summer single, please.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" There is a chance that Sheeran is a generational talent. Able to write and perform songs that are personal yet universal, airy yet rich. I think of James Taylor. This vapid, shallow waltz is out just in time for wedding season. He's good at making money, too.
#8 FREAKY FRIDAY / Lil Dicky
Erin - ⭐️ "Turn it off" Too many talented people out there to put money in C. Brown’s pocket.
Matt - ⭐️ "Turn it off" This is like Kidz Bop for Kollege Kidz. Stupid, stupid song. And not in a good way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)