While I ripped on Weezer the other day for a lackluster cover of Toto's "Rosanna", I have to say I'm all in on their latest Toto cover. Yes, it's true. The internet won and Weezer's version of the 80s soft-rock classic, "Africa" has happened.
For those who have no idea who Toto is, why they made a yacht-rock paean about Africa, or what music videos were like in the halcyon days of MTV, maybe the 4:35 of the "ya didn't have to be there, but it kind of helps" video below will shed some light on these mysteries.
And while we're on the topic of Toto, here are my top ten Toto tracks.
May 29, 2018
May 28, 2018
Mixtape 5/29/18 - This is still This is America
Three weeks on top for the man they call Troy Barnes, Lando Calrissian, and Childish Gambino. If you didn't realize that Donald Glover is the man behind the Community student, the rebooted Star Wars character, and the musical entity that recently passed 200 million (yes, a fifth of a 'billy') YouTube views for one of the most impactful videos I've ever witnessed, don't worry. You've got pretty good company in Cardi B.
Powerful vid aside, this track is on top because it's everything I need to hear right now. Elements of pop, hip-hop, mumble-rap, and choirrific gospel soul seamlessly melt in to each other to create the sweet syrup masking the medicine of its message, rendering me at once elated and deflated. Motivated and decimated. It evokes and provokes, which is what art should do.
Jeff Rosenstock is number two, also for three weeks straight, after being on top pretty much since he surprise-released POST- on the second day of this year. Who the hell is Jeff Rosenstock? I wasn't aware of him before, so I absolutely had this question. I came to the conclusion that he's just some slightly unhinged indie guy that's not thrilled about our President, channelled his frustrations through music, and may lose his shit at any minute. Plus he rocks, which just ain't the case with a lot of 'rock' music these days. I discovered "All This Useless Energy" a few days after it came out and realized Jeff has been around for a couple albums. I haven't gone backward in to his catalog much because I've been obsessed with the entirety of POST-, but it's on my to-do list. POST- It was one of those discovery moments I've previously mentioned living for. POST- may very well end up my album of 2018...time will tell. I still listen to it straight through a few times a week and "All This Useless Energy" consistently gets a few plays a day. Best line: "I haven't found the rhythm yet to anchor down my life."
Camp Cope also hit my ears for the first time ever back in January with "How to Socialise & Make Friends." There is no shortage of female solo artists (Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy) or female-led bands (Beach House, Middle Kids, Speedy Ortiz) on the Mixtape, but I do believe that Camp Cope is the only all-female power trio currently calling the Mixtape home. "How to Socialise..." showed up on my radar at the end of January and steadily increased its presence month over month until now, where I make a point to hear it a couple times a day.
Notable activity this week includes me finally getting my shit together and realizing how good Beach House is. Critically acclaimed, sure. Indie darlings? Maybe at one time...they're kind of a BIG deal now. Worthy of the praise that's routinely heaped on them by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and others? Yup. "Dive" and "Drunk in LA" have been getting repeat listens from me the past couple weeks and this week sees both of those songs moving toward the top. "Dive" is in at #6 and "Drunk in LA" isn't too far behind at #14.
I also haven't been able to stop listening to Sparkle Hard, the fourth Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks album. "Shiggy" (#5) and Bike Lane (#20) are my initial standouts on what's rapidly becoming my favorite Malkmus yet (Pavement aside, of course).
We're five months deep in to 2018 and I'm still actively listening to the oldest song on the Mixtape - MGMT's lead single and title track of their latest album, Little Dark Age. I get excited about anything MGMT does usually. I've been on board that roller coaster since their 2005 Time To Pretend EP came out ahead of their full-length debut (and still my favorite MGMT album) Oracular Spectacular. This is one of their strongest, most accessible songs in years and, while other tracks from LDA have come and gone on the Mixtape the last several months, "Little Dark Age" debuted back in October 2017 and still feels like it has another month to go before it gets bumped off.
What could cause it to leave sooner? Maybe new Kanye West and/or Father John Misty songs? Both Mr. Kardashian and the artist formerly known as Josh Tillman have albums coming out this Friday, meaning they will get lots of plays throughout next weekend and could cause a ruckus in the Mixtape's current pecking order next week. Stay tuned, music fans...
Powerful vid aside, this track is on top because it's everything I need to hear right now. Elements of pop, hip-hop, mumble-rap, and choirrific gospel soul seamlessly melt in to each other to create the sweet syrup masking the medicine of its message, rendering me at once elated and deflated. Motivated and decimated. It evokes and provokes, which is what art should do.
Jeff Rosenstock is number two, also for three weeks straight, after being on top pretty much since he surprise-released POST- on the second day of this year. Who the hell is Jeff Rosenstock? I wasn't aware of him before, so I absolutely had this question. I came to the conclusion that he's just some slightly unhinged indie guy that's not thrilled about our President, channelled his frustrations through music, and may lose his shit at any minute. Plus he rocks, which just ain't the case with a lot of 'rock' music these days. I discovered "All This Useless Energy" a few days after it came out and realized Jeff has been around for a couple albums. I haven't gone backward in to his catalog much because I've been obsessed with the entirety of POST-, but it's on my to-do list. POST- It was one of those discovery moments I've previously mentioned living for. POST- may very well end up my album of 2018...time will tell. I still listen to it straight through a few times a week and "All This Useless Energy" consistently gets a few plays a day. Best line: "I haven't found the rhythm yet to anchor down my life."
Camp Cope also hit my ears for the first time ever back in January with "How to Socialise & Make Friends." There is no shortage of female solo artists (Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy) or female-led bands (Beach House, Middle Kids, Speedy Ortiz) on the Mixtape, but I do believe that Camp Cope is the only all-female power trio currently calling the Mixtape home. "How to Socialise..." showed up on my radar at the end of January and steadily increased its presence month over month until now, where I make a point to hear it a couple times a day.
Notable activity this week includes me finally getting my shit together and realizing how good Beach House is. Critically acclaimed, sure. Indie darlings? Maybe at one time...they're kind of a BIG deal now. Worthy of the praise that's routinely heaped on them by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and others? Yup. "Dive" and "Drunk in LA" have been getting repeat listens from me the past couple weeks and this week sees both of those songs moving toward the top. "Dive" is in at #6 and "Drunk in LA" isn't too far behind at #14.
I also haven't been able to stop listening to Sparkle Hard, the fourth Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks album. "Shiggy" (#5) and Bike Lane (#20) are my initial standouts on what's rapidly becoming my favorite Malkmus yet (Pavement aside, of course).
We're five months deep in to 2018 and I'm still actively listening to the oldest song on the Mixtape - MGMT's lead single and title track of their latest album, Little Dark Age. I get excited about anything MGMT does usually. I've been on board that roller coaster since their 2005 Time To Pretend EP came out ahead of their full-length debut (and still my favorite MGMT album) Oracular Spectacular. This is one of their strongest, most accessible songs in years and, while other tracks from LDA have come and gone on the Mixtape the last several months, "Little Dark Age" debuted back in October 2017 and still feels like it has another month to go before it gets bumped off.
What could cause it to leave sooner? Maybe new Kanye West and/or Father John Misty songs? Both Mr. Kardashian and the artist formerly known as Josh Tillman have albums coming out this Friday, meaning they will get lots of plays throughout next weekend and could cause a ruckus in the Mixtape's current pecking order next week. Stay tuned, music fans...
May 24, 2018
Today's finds
Elon Musk's girlfriend is making new music with K-Pop group, Loona/yyxy. Just bring on the new album already, c. Engage light speed, if you must!
This is probably not going to be most folk's first choice for summer jam of 2018, but it's jamming up my earwaves now and most likely will be until autumn's colors start dotting the sky.
Sink ya teeth in to this one. Post-punk bass grooves with hell of a lot of Hallelujahs. Disco for these modern times.
I want to love this as much as I once did the original...hell, I want to love Weezer like I did for the first couple albums and a handful of singles that followed them. Music is spot on, Rivers' voice just seems too whiny for an effective cover. Fun, but disposable, cover. Even if it's not them covering Africa like the internet seems to want. What do you think?
What do you think about Weezer's take on Toto? Mash them keys, tap them screens, and let me know if I'm wrong in thinking it should've just been an instrumental version.
May 22, 2018
Tuesdays aren't just for Tacos anymore
If I'm going to relaunch this blog, then the 40 songs that are dominating my headspace at any given time - what I lovingly refer to as this blog's titular list - should be routinely provided to my readership at a consistent interval. Weekly. On the same day.
Historically, New Music Tuesday (which was a weekly holiday in my world for what seemed like an eternity) was that magical day when new music releases came out. I'd find myself at a local music shop or Tower Records to grab the new offerings that were on my radar like it was my job. Fast forward to a few years ago when New Music Tuesday became New Music Friday and (I'm almost certain of this) the ensuing shift ripped open a hole in the time-space continuum.
Well, I'm back. The Mixtape is back. And Tuesday will now be the day of The Mixtape. Or Tunesday (or maybe not). Just know that if it's Tuesday, the latest version of my "The*Mixtape" Spotify list (yes, in order from #1 - most loved - down to #40) will be published here. Sometimes with rambling descriptions of songs, why I love them, notable new releases, etc... Sometimes, like today's post, I'll make like Aerosmith and let the music do the talking.
Historically, New Music Tuesday (which was a weekly holiday in my world for what seemed like an eternity) was that magical day when new music releases came out. I'd find myself at a local music shop or Tower Records to grab the new offerings that were on my radar like it was my job. Fast forward to a few years ago when New Music Tuesday became New Music Friday and (I'm almost certain of this) the ensuing shift ripped open a hole in the time-space continuum.
Well, I'm back. The Mixtape is back. And Tuesday will now be the day of The Mixtape. Or Tunesday (or maybe not). Just know that if it's Tuesday, the latest version of my "The*Mixtape" Spotify list (yes, in order from #1 - most loved - down to #40) will be published here. Sometimes with rambling descriptions of songs, why I love them, notable new releases, etc... Sometimes, like today's post, I'll make like Aerosmith and let the music do the talking.
May 20, 2018
One of my turns
Big wheel keeps on turning. Or is it "Wheel in the sky keeps on turning..."? To everything, turn turn turn? All of it applies, really. Without regard for the headlines of the day or the contemporary climate of society, life keeps on happening. Love is routinely found, lost, remembered, and revered. The need to work never seems to cease, but how we work and what we find ourselves doing is a perpetually evolving, shape-shifting slice of our collective reality. Friends, lovers, co-workers, pets, bosses...nothing is safe from change.
Even as it too finds itself morphing, music sustains as a constant and connecting force through all of life's changes. A simultaneous soundtrack for these present times and gatekeeper to our pasts. Music connects us as a people globally (seriously, people love Drake everywhere). It is both therapist and entertainer. For me, it's everything. One of my life's obsessions has consistently remained seeking out and discovering new music to supplement the lifelong lyrical lexicon permanently lodged in my grey matter. I love the tunes in my rear view, but I live for that moment when I find a song or artist that blows my mind and changes my life. Or at least makes me rethink what music can be. It doesn't happen often, but it's freakin' magic when it does.
I stopped blogging in 2011. Life happened, work involved very long days, and I more or less detached from being up on all the new acts and tracks as I always had been. Lately, I've submerged myself back in to the culture of New Music Friday (RIP New Music Tuesday) and am again obsessing over what's new and finding the next artist to put a smile on my face.
The songs on the The Mixtape are new and recent releases that manage to stake their space between my ears, cozying up with the news of the day, myriad disparate work thoughts, and whatever my cat is trying to say to me. The Mixtape is essentially my Top 40. I started writing down Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every Saturday morning as a seven-year-old, cataloging it religiously and subsequently remembering the names of the songs and their respective artists). I did that for a few years until I started writing down my own top 40 each week, which I kept up with (weeks, sometimes months, were missed occasionally) for the better part of the next 30 years.
Casey's Top 40, my own, or this blog...each at one point or another has motivated and enabled me to indulge in the fine art of finding my next favorite artist. It's good to be back. I'll get around to what I'm listening to now, and much more, soon. For now, here's a quick and dirty list of some of my favorites since I've been gone. No order. Just songs I loved when they came out that still sound great to me today.
Even as it too finds itself morphing, music sustains as a constant and connecting force through all of life's changes. A simultaneous soundtrack for these present times and gatekeeper to our pasts. Music connects us as a people globally (seriously, people love Drake everywhere). It is both therapist and entertainer. For me, it's everything. One of my life's obsessions has consistently remained seeking out and discovering new music to supplement the lifelong lyrical lexicon permanently lodged in my grey matter. I love the tunes in my rear view, but I live for that moment when I find a song or artist that blows my mind and changes my life. Or at least makes me rethink what music can be. It doesn't happen often, but it's freakin' magic when it does.
I stopped blogging in 2011. Life happened, work involved very long days, and I more or less detached from being up on all the new acts and tracks as I always had been. Lately, I've submerged myself back in to the culture of New Music Friday (RIP New Music Tuesday) and am again obsessing over what's new and finding the next artist to put a smile on my face.
The songs on the The Mixtape are new and recent releases that manage to stake their space between my ears, cozying up with the news of the day, myriad disparate work thoughts, and whatever my cat is trying to say to me. The Mixtape is essentially my Top 40. I started writing down Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every Saturday morning as a seven-year-old, cataloging it religiously and subsequently remembering the names of the songs and their respective artists). I did that for a few years until I started writing down my own top 40 each week, which I kept up with (weeks, sometimes months, were missed occasionally) for the better part of the next 30 years.
Casey's Top 40, my own, or this blog...each at one point or another has motivated and enabled me to indulge in the fine art of finding my next favorite artist. It's good to be back. I'll get around to what I'm listening to now, and much more, soon. For now, here's a quick and dirty list of some of my favorites since I've been gone. No order. Just songs I loved when they came out that still sound great to me today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)