Cover to Cover - Foo Fighters

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Sure. It's also bound to polarize the hell out of music fans who don't want the perfection of a song in its original state tarnished by some rando-band's half-ass attempt at recapturing what made it great in the first place. I am such a fan, but I'm also open-minded enough to know that every so often a cover song comes along that can hang with its inspiration.

Whether a cover song works or not is purely subjective, though I hope to God we can all come together and agree that Madonna NEVVVVVVVVVVVER should've covered a classic like Don McLean's "American Pie." Scientific studies have proven that the day Madonna's version was unleashed was the day the music actually did die.

From time to time, I'll pick an artist or topic or theme or whatever feels right and present related cover songs for your judgmental consumption. Let's start with one of the best cover bands on the planet (they've had a few pretty solid original songs too). This one's for you, Shelly!

Most of the Foo Fighters' covers aren't on Spotify, so here are my top five cover songs performed by Dave Grohl and company.

5. Tie Your Mother Down / Queen

The hard-rock leanings of this early Queen classic make perfect sense for the Foos to showcase their own brand of rawk on. Grohl headbangs while drummer Taylor Hawkins handles the vocals. 

4.  Born on the Bayou / CCR

Hurricane Katrina brought the pain in 2005, enough so that "A Concert For Hurricane Relief" was aired nationwide to provide awareness and garner donations for the poor souls impacted by the unnatural response to this natural disaster. I watched the entire concert and no single performance dropped my jaw more than the Foos' covering this Creedence Clearwater Revival swamp-jam. 

3. Down in the Park / Gary Numan

Gary Numan has always been ahead of his time. The popularity that electronic and new wave artists would have with sounds that he, and others of the time (Kraftwerk, etc..) pioneered would elude him after his 'one-hit wonder,' "Cars," but science fiction and a dystopian existence would continue to serve as thematic foundations for his icy, synth-driven creations. The Foos rock the hell out of this Gary Numan and Tubeway Army track from the late 70s.

2. Band on the Run / Paul McCartney and Wings

One of my all-time favorite songs by one of my all-time favorite artists. If you're going to cover Macca, you better bring your A-game and that's just what Dave and the gang did here. 

1. Baker Street / Gerry Rafferty

Gerry Rafferty's biggest hit is lodged in my all-time top 20. Year after year. Without fail. It's been a favorite since I first heard it on the radio way back in 1978. The original's iconic saxophone solo is replaced here with a guitar lick that works quite well. There is also a slight lyrical tweak and a heavier overall vibe that enables it to stand up against, and stand out from, Rafferty's classic.

The Waiting Room - Lizzo, Melody's Echo Chamber, GRAVEDGR, Jain, Electric Citizen

I'm always looking to unearth tomorrow's favorite song, today. While these may not be the next big things on a larger scale - or even set up residence in the always-churning, 40-song universe of The Mixtape - they are still getting some ear-time and might just end up my (or your) next jam-du-jour.


Boys / Lizzo - Brand new (released yesterday) and coming soon to a pool party near you. This is a jam and a half that I have to believe would make Missy Elliott proud.


 
Shrim / Melody's Echo Chamber - This one's for the headphones. The last song on Melody Prochet's brand-new Bon Voyage is the one that's sticking out for me as it slithers and shimmers somewhere between head-nodding psyche-pop and toe-tapping dance-cut.



RAMPAGE / GRAVEDGR - I don't always listen to EDM, but when I do, which is borderline 'next-to-never', it's this track by an act I had previously never heard of who only has this one song on Spotify currently.



Alright / Jain - My friend's friend sent him this song the other day. Said friend of mine then sent it my way a short while later. Now it's my duty to pass it on to anyone who is hankering to hear a great pop song with an immediately catchy chorus. Who is Jain? I have no idea, but if all her songs are close to this good, I'm looking forward to finding out.



Hide It In The Night / Electric Citizen - I stumbled upon this yesterday (thanks, Instagram) and it instantly made me want to grow out my hair, book a precautionary chiropractic appointment, and bang my head like it's 1983 again. Sounding like the best parts of Black Sabbath, Rush, and Blue Oyster Cult, propped up with a swagger reminiscent of early Aerosmith, this 2:59 ass kicking makes me remember why heavy metal will never be anything I consider a 'guilty pleasure'. There's zero guilt in the thrill this song gives me.

The Mixtape 6/26/18: KSG, Kanye, Snail Mail

Happy Holidays 

This past month has been like Christmas for the rap fan in me. A glut of albums (KIDS SEE GHOSTS, Kanye West, The Carters, Pusha T, Rico Nasty) and tracks from Vic Mensa, 'Lgado, Ski Mask The Slump God, and Valee have been keeping the House Party in my head going while a generation behind me, unfortunately, deals with the loss of 20-year-old XXXTENTACION and potential next-big-thing PA rapper, 21-year-old Jimmy Wopo, both shot to death. I'm not going in to the societal elephant-in-the-rooms that are guns and mental illness here, but suffice it to say that my heart breaks at the suicides, homicides, and other unnecessary exits that so many have taken the last several years. Okay...back to the music.

The rap fest resulting from the above artists (and others) makes up around a third of this week's list, but it's not the only genre at the table. I love me a little bit of everything and am happiest when The Mixtape is reppin' most of the genres that I enjoy. To that point, this week has everything from the indie-pop perfection of Snail Mail, Camp Cope, and Hop Along to angsty snot-rock courtesy of FIDLAR, Jeff Rosenstock, and THICK. 

Want to dance? Hookworms, Drake, and the new Chic (💖), Chaka Khan, and Ariana Grande jams  should keep your feet moving. 

If you're in search of a lazy summer day vibe, may I suggest chilling out to the slinky (Natalie Prass), the soulful (MorMor) and the sublimely droning (Beach House). 

Sadly, we're without jazz as Kamasi Washington's nearly 10-minute odyssey, "Fists of Fury," fell off the 40 this week after a couple of months in its lower register. His full-length Heaven and Earth was released this past Friday. Once I commit to diving into it completely, you might see some more of his insanely good creations make their way on the 'tape in the near future.

On the horizon

New albums from Drake and Gorillaz come out this Friday, but I can't say I'm that excited for either. I tend to really like every tenth Drake song I hear and Gorillaz, while a mainstay of my auditory diet during the 00's, are a 'take it song-by-song' kind of act for me these days. 

What I am excited for (as both a music fan and a dorky grammar-loving English major) is the second full-length release from Let's Eat Grandma. Sure, no comma may result in some geriatric drama, but  LEG's transformative tunes are more than worth that risk.

Summer (Song) Time

Happy Summer Solstice, everyone! Summertiiiiiiiime, and the music's breeeeeezy.

What exactly is the "Summer Song" of a given year, anyway? Is it the most popular song between June and September that infects or informs the mainstream masses? Does "summer" need to be included in the title? Does the song have to be released during the summer or can it be a song that just feels like summer? What summer 'feels' like to any given individual is entirely objective, though I believe a majority of music lovers would agree that a Summer Song should replicate the effects of Vitamin D given off by that big flaming ball of gas sitting up in the sky. A fun, joyful jam that gets booties shaking and sound systems quaking. Really though, we already have YACHT's "Summer Song." What else do we need?

Apparently, a lot, considering many sites have already proclaimed their front-runners for 2018's Summer Song:

NPR, Fader, Refinery 29, Esquire, and Rolling Stone are among those that have already named one or more songs that will dominate the summer. If they're to be believed, this summer is Cardi B's for the taking. Billboard (the industry bible of music charts) even has a playlist of their Top 100 Summer Songs of All Time, spanning over 60 years of genre-hopping, chart-topping, and sometimes jaw-dropping tunes.

For me, a given year's Summer Song is usually something upbeat and sunny that demands my attention more than any other between Memorial Day and Labor Day. It's usually nowhere close to what the mainstream music audience gravitates toward. I generally have different needs and tastes than the music-listening masses so, when I embrace a Summer Song that is high on the charts, it's got to be one helluva track for me to get on board with...something so catchy, ubiquitous or otherwise earwormy, like 2013's "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell. I didn't want to like that song as much as I did, but it sounded enough like Marvin Gaye's forever funky "Got To Give It Up" that I couldn't resist it. Much like Gaye's family couldn't resist suing Thicke and company for plagiarism -  a suit they ultimately won and one that was upheld earlier this year.

My Summer Song better brighten my mood the second I hear it and sound dope af when I'm cruisin' 'round town, bumpin' it from the stock stereo of my three-year old Prius. So yeah, it has to be something I connect with and feel so deeply that any reservations I have about screaming its chorus with the windows down are quashed in an instant like that whole Drake / Meek Mill beef from a few months and few thousand news cycles ago.

I can't tell you what my 2018 Summer Song will be until the next few months are in the rearview mirror; however, I can share some of my Summer Songs past and make a few predictions about songs that may be contenders for this year's title.

UPDATE: Cancel all other contenders for 2018. Chic just dropped the first single off their first album in 26 years (coming out Sept. 16), "Till The World Falls." I think we may have a winner. Stay tuned...


      

Girl Talk's 'Feed the Animals' turns 10

I just typed this post's title and damn if I don't feel borderline geriatric. Girl Talk's pop music pastiche 'mash'terpiece, Feed The Animals is a decade (and a day) old and honestly, my feelings on it haven't changed an iota. I was enamored with it when it came out, enough so to write two separate pieces about it - one for a Post-Modernism and Popular Culture college class and a much shorter one (below) that originally appeared on my Left Off The Dial blog on July 3, 2008 - and still find myself hungering to hear it straight through when the urge hits. Which is often.

We'll revisit my decade-old thoughts in a minute, but can I first say that I love this album as much today as I did when it was first released? It spoke to me like nothing else had since the landmark sample orgy that was the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique. As a teenager armed with only a dual-cassette stereo, I managed to make what I called Mega Mixes, essentially a stylistic precursor to mashups. These minutes-long mixes were a labor of love in that each one involved cuing up a pre-determined song part perfectly on one tape, then hitting Play on that tape deck plus Record on the second tape deck simultaneously to capture the few seconds of the track so it perfectly synced up with the snippet that proceeded it and the one that would follow. That process looks like hell when it's written out and would only net me a few seconds of what would often turn in to a five or seven minute mix. I'd sit in my room, hours on end, completely entranced and engulfed in the process. Lather, rinse, repeat. It was the 80s, I was an only child, and I literally couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing than that. The final product was often worth it - single artist song collages, remixes of remixes, and in my best moments, creations remotely resembling a rough draft of a Girl Talk composition that wouldn't exist for another 20 years. Man, did I kill a ton of time in the sonic sanctuary of my bedroom back then.

Fast forward to present day and I've listened to Feed The Animals so many times that it's recontextualized the way I hear the full-length versions of songs contained in it. My expectations for a song that I grew up hearing all the time, like The Guess Who's "These Eyes," no longer serves as a nostalgic trip to my childhood. Girl Talk has delightfully ruined me to the point that I can't hear that song now without instinctively singing the chorus from Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" instead of "These Eyes...cry every night...for you." The same can be said for others. Lil Mama's one-hit wonder, "Lip Gloss" no longer has purpose without the rapid-fire six-stringed assault of Metallica's "One" propping it up. Salt-n-Pepa's 80s anthem "Push It" sounds infinitely better when it's battling against the yeah yeah yeaaaaaaaaah refrain of Nirvana's "Lithium," And I know for a fact that I'll never hear my favorite Of Montreal track, "Gronlandic Edit", without the expectation that Prince's guitar riff from the Purple One's classic "Kiss" will pop up as the tail-end of ...Edit's chorus ("all of the beauty's waaaaaaaaasted") fades out.

Girl Talk took my teenage obsession of curating and crafting Mega Mixes to a whole different planet than I could've possibly imagined. I mean, seriously...I'm still writing about Feed The Animals 10 years later and, with a little luck, I'll still be chirping about it when the album celebrates its 20th anniversary. Until then, here's what I had to say about it shortly after its release.

Girl Talk's Mash-up Mc Nuggets

Juxtaposition. A $10 word that is the crux of Girl Talk's latest (and for that matter every) album, Feed The Animals. Greg Gillis is Girl Talk - a downright polarizing artist - hellbent on taking his brilliant 2006's Night Ripper to the next level. Essentially the musical equivalent of George Dubya- you're either with him or against him - Gillis doesn't allow for middle ground with his art. That's because his “songs” are constructed from all that has come before him.

Gillis serves up a musical stew of others' lyrical snippets, beats, and music to create something familiar, yet wholly unique. Hip-hop and slightly tweaked, yet quickly recognizable guitar parts, are his meat and 'taters. Sticking with my gastronomic analogy, Gillis' unique placement of obscure and ubiquitous samples provide the broth that brings it all into a steaming hot bowl of…well, that depends on interpretation. Detractors say it's derivative and akin to thievery. Supporters praise Gillis for creating postmodern sonic pastiches that stand on their own as original constructions. I lean with the latter, due to Gillis' inventive brilliance.

The concept of a mash-up - taking two songs and blenderizing them - is this decade's version of a cover song. Like most cover songs, a mash-up's noble intent is often not enough to prevent a horrid end product. Gillis takes mash-up's ideology a step further and then proceeds to clone it repeatedly in each "song". What the listener often gets is an alternately awkward and brilliant 25 sample pile-up that is the result of a four-decade excavation of pop, rock, hip-hop, soul and funk. Feed The Animals finds Gillis one step closer to perfecting this formula.

Outkast and UGK get busy over the Spencer Davis Group’s 41-year-old chugging bass line/organ intro of “Gimme Some Lovin’.” Unk’s unstoppable club jam of the last 18 months, “Walk It Out,” and Pete Townshend’s 25-year-old “Let My Love Open The Door” exchange greetings. Rapper T.I. and Sinead O’Connor bounce off each other while a Too Short line about fellatio assumes the roll of chorus. At least for 15 seconds. That’s just the album’s first track, “Play Your Part (pt 1)” - a primer for the 53 minute ADD fest to come.

Gillis has a knack for taking older favorites and slamming them up against the latest hits. The result is a series of memory lane strolls and “WTF?!?” moments that re-contextualize a few generations’ worth of musical nuggets. Avril Lavigne’s smash “Girlfriend” and the well from which it draws (Toni Basil’s “Mickey”) are snipped, clipped, and reshaped into a canvas for Dolla to rap, “Who The Fuck Is That?” over. This is just the first minute of “Shut The Club Down,” which eventually plucks Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks” from the back of pop music’s collective consciousness, re-imagining it as a backing track for Ahmad before Lil’ Jon crashes the party altogether. "WHAT! WHAT?!?"

Gillis has effectively bridged the gap between ubiquitous and obscure. There are tons of these head-scratching and booty-shaking moments on Feed The Animals, commanding multiple listens to absorb it all.

Girl Talk’s aural collages invite music fans regardless of age or genre loyalty. The truly initiated will discover new within the recognizable and never hear the familiar the same way again. There's a little something in this stew for everyone to love or hate.

Whether you call him a a genius or an easy target for copyright infringement lawyers, Gillis acknowledges every sample in his liner notes to avoid becoming the latter, yet never fully realizes the former. Instead, Gillis and his creations lie in the gray area. A place his audience and critics will not be spending a lot of time in. This particular blogger, however, has leased a timeshare in Gillis' musical scavenger hunt.

And for all y'all music nerds like myself, here's a cheat sheet of samples on Feed The Animals.

The Mixtape 6/19/18: Kanye, Snail Mail, Beach House (again)

While it's same as it ever was at the top of the 'tape, there's all kinds of new tunes, mostly of the hip-hop / rap variety, popping up just in time for summer. I'm legit stunned that a Jay Z and Beyonce joint release (let's be honest, it's Bey's album, Jigga is window dressing) came out and is somehow available on Spotify. EVERYTHING IS LOVE (remember when caps lock abuse was the equivalent of digital screaming; not just a titling trend that should've started and ended with Kendrick's DAMN. last year) was a left-field surprise in a month-long parade of release party wonkiness brought to you by the guy that used to produce the 'greatest rapper alive'.

Am I still bitter that the bulk of Jay Z's catalog is not available for streaming on Spotify? Entirely possible. It's just nice to hear Jigga man on something other than his Linkin Park MTV Mash Up thingy. I miss The Blueprint (just the first one, though). I'll take Hova's The Black Album over Metallica's any day. And seriously, I could use some Reasonable Doubt in my life right now. But for now, there is The Carters (it's a family affair). A victory lap of sorts after the raw revelations of Bey and Jay's Lemonade and 4:44. 

In other news, Nas failed to impress on his latest, Nasir, Kanye's latest release on his GOOD Records label. It was the fourth straight week of a live-streamed listening party followed up the next day eventually with a digital release. Hopefully Nasir's track list won't fluctuate like KIDS SEE GHOSTS has the past couple weeks. Seriously, Ye, stop shuffling your tracks and the songs behind their titles. It's confusing as hell and no one needs that kind of drama in their life.

About KIDS SEE GHOSTS...a couple tracks from that Kanye / Kid Cudi collabo have settled in nicely to my daily rotation and this week's top ten. But it's not just the 'Ye show up top. Courtney Barnett released her second full-length solo album, Tell Me How You Really Feel last month and "Charity" from that great sophomore release is proving to be a standout on an album packed with well-crafted songs.

As I mentioned, there are a bunch of new entries this week. The Carter's "EVERYTHING IS LOVE" bows, as do tracks from Vic Mensa and G-Easy, Rico Nasty, Ski Mask The Slump God, and miss Chaka Khan, amongst others. I had zero expectations for a new Chaka Khan release, her first release in over a decade, but color me pleasantly surprised. "Like Sugar" is an old-school funk fest that's keeping me dancing in my chair throughout the work day and quickly becoming an early dark horse contender for my 2018 Summer Song. The booty wants what the booty wants.

In addition to Chaka bringing the funk and the aforementioned glut of hip-hop / rap that entered my world this week, I'm also geeking out to Natalie Prass' slinky "Oh My" which sounds like it could've been released in the 80s. Speaking of the 80s, George Benson is back in action on Gorillaz' "Humility". He's not singing, but his signature guitar breathes life in to would probably otherwise be an unmemorable song. Also, it's really weird (and quite awesome) to say that George Benson, who was on my weekly list back in the 80s with hits like "Give Me The Night" and "Turn Your Love Around", has returned to it in 2018. Anything is possible. Cue the Rick Astley comeback. Oh god...please don't.

Happy Father's Day

My dad and I never really talked about music. We just didn't have that common ground. We were close and he loved me like I was his own - he came in to my life when I was 4 and passed away when I was on the cusp of 23 - but he was often working two jobs to make ends meet and wasn't around as much as I wish he would've been. You know, "Cats in the Cradle" shit.

That said, he was a beautiful human, possessed a very kind heart and incredible work ethic, and I'm proud to say that I see many of his better qualities in myself. He was the rock of our family and a role model for me in multiple aspects of my life. Happy Father's Day, big guy. I miss you. Hey...wait. I do remember he liked and listened to "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin from time to time. It's the only song I remember him caring about. Not a bad choice at all. This one's for you, dad. 💖

The Mixtape 6/12/18: Kanye / Snail Mail / Beach House

I've been dunking my head and bobbing for good Kanye jams the last couple weeks. Came up with a few that remind me why I'm still able to compartmentalize Kanye the artist and Kanye the douchebag in my head. I've never been so conflicted with a singular musician, but that's fodder for a different post. My point is I'm down with some new Kanye tracks, one so much that it bumped "This is America" right out of the top five. 070 Shake has been a talking point in the media for being the highest high point on Ye. Rightfully so. But it's Yeezy's verse that actually wrung the most emotion out of me. And I find myself caring about Kid Cudi as much as I did in 2009.

So yeah, I drank the water and Kanye sits up top this week. Snail Mail is right behind and, truthfully, I see myself still listening to "Heat Wave" long after "Ghost Town" has dropped off my conscience.

Beach House's "Dive" is the musical equivalent of waves crashing on a beach; fitting that it just continues to rise as summer gets closer.


    

BackTracks: Best of 1995

We first got alternative rock on our radio dial in the Vancouver / Portland area, where I grew up, back in May 1991. Our AM radio dial. After years of a fixed selection of oldies, classic rock, adult-contemporary, country and mainstream pop music comprising our primary radio options, we were finally blessed with 970 AM The Beat. A station that sometimes came in, sometimes didn't. It was AM, so there was an inherent level of static and background fuzz that, I guess at the time, made it feel like you were listening to something different, something slightly underground. The Beat played a style of music that was undergoing an evolution, as mid-late 80's modern rock morphed to the much more marketable (and profitable) "Alternative Rock." Want to make something edgy? Slap "Alternative" on it. That was the deal in the 90s. A deal that eventually went sour as 'alternative' came to represent the norm with the music sounding like a diluted, regurgitated version of Alternative Rock's glory-days persona for years to come. But I get ahead of myself.

On March 6, 1995, my life changed when 94.7 on the Portland FM dial became "94-7 NRK". That's 'NewRocK', not 'NeRK'. Nearly four years after 970 AM The Beat debuted, I could finally hear with clarity, the sonic stew of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, et. all. A universe of music, previously accessible only via MTV or during one of my many early 90s road trips to Seattle where I'd steal a few days of exposure to the Emerald City's alt-rock taste maker, 107.7 FM The End, was now in my lap and providing me with more exposure to new acts than I ever had before. Dreams really did come true. 

I recently located several notebooks containing my ritualistic weekly top 30 or 40 lists, scrawled out almost exclusively in blue ink, for the better part of 1995-2001. While there are gaps in the chronicling of my musical tastes over time, I was quite diligent during the latter half of the decade; a time when my musical tastes were guided more by Seattle bands and the many flavors of Alternative Rock (now coming at me faster than samples in a Baskin-Robbins) than any pop or rock acts that ruled the mainstream. There was also a notable and significant lack of hip-hop in my diet, again, outside of what I could catch on MTV. Portland wouldn't get a hip-hop / rap station (AM or FM) until KXJM Jammin' 95.5 appeared in 1999 and my life was changed. Again. But I get ahead of myself. Also again.

Today, I'm focusing on the year where I fully shifted from champion of the "Seattle Sound" (I hated the term 'grunge' back then...still not my favorite) to connoisseur of myriad new acts that sounded similar, in that they sounded nothing like each other or anything I had heard before. Yes, Nirvana's influence and sound informed much of alternative rock for the remainder of the 90s, but there were a lot of acts that didn't settle for straight up pillaging, preferring instead to use their time in the spotlight to showcase their own identity and voice. 

It was 1995, a year we were introduced to a nice Canadian lady who transitioned from You Can't Do That On Television to you can do that in a movie theater. A year where Portland band, Everclear, made a nationwide dent in the alternative rock picture with Sparkle and Fade, an album that could more or less double as their Greatest Hits (since their first release, World of Noise, isn't on Spotify). We met a spunky So Cal gal who, it became quickly evident to see, was infinitely more than just a girl. The guy that produced Nirvana's Nevermind had his own band, while the guy that played drums for Nirvana also decided to give the next phase of his career a shot. There were lots of great singles by lots of loud bands. I was front row at the rock and roll buffet and going back for seconds, thirds, and fourths, for acts I'd never heard of. Many of whom wouldn't be heard from again. 

One of my recently unearthed notebooks produced what you see here - my top 100 of 1995. Yes, I did year-end lists too - I even had formulas to determine year-end placement. Some people are stats-nerds for sports, I've always been a stats nerd for music. In finding this list, I rediscovered songs I had completely deleted from my personal RAM. I loved the tracks on here from Dandelion, Ruth Ruth, Jawbreaker, and Seaweed back then, but had completely ceased to remember they ever existed. I've listened to them (and the songs on my playlist below) several times this weekend. The discovery of my notebooks was worth it, if only for those four songs being back in my life again. I'm sure similar discoveries await me for the rest of my 90s lists that I've yet to examine.

The handwritten images below represent my 1995 self's tastes at a particular intersection of space and time. The Spotify playlist is what 2018 me (with hindsight) still considers the essential songs of 1995 from my top 100. I'm sure there were lots of other genres with their respective hits in '95, but I resided in Alterna-ville almost exclusively at that point and most of the mainstream hits just didn't resonate that strongly with me. Seal, Shaggy, Boyz II Men, Blues Traveller...I'm talking to y'all. 

 

My Best of 1995 playlist. The year alternative broke for me. Again. In no particular order.

10FTW: Prince

Today, on what would've been Prince Rogers Nelson's 60th birthday, an unreleased live Prince album from the 80s was announced by his estate and label. I will be waiting anxiously throughout this summer for its arrival on September 21. I'm a fan. From the first time I heard "I Wanna Be Your Lover" as an eight-year-old, I was intrigued. My very young ears hadn't heard anything that slinked and strutted like the falsetto and guitar on Prince's first major hit in the US. It was different than other popular music of that time and felt...naughty might not be the right word, but I definitely felt like it was music that older people (you know...teenagers) listened to. Not a naive 3rd grader. I'm sure other kids around that age felt similar mischievous glee when they heard "Erotic City," "Darling Nikki", or "Sexy MF" for the first several times, years later. Prince's music was certainly something to hide from overbearing, anxiety-ridden parental units, depending on the release in question. 

I was a child of the 80s - raised on radio, babysat by MTV, and thankfully exposed to enough random elements of pop culture to last a lifetime. Prince was a huge part of that. I saw Purple Rain in the theater. Owned the soundtrack album. Had the posters on my wall. Was routinely spouting off (to anyone that would listen to a 13 year-old's reasoning) about how Prince was truly a musical genius. I even had a purple, Prince and the Revolution Velcro wallet. Hey, I was 13. Despite the silkscreen image of Prince on the wallet's exterior looking more like John Oates than the purple wonder himself, it seemed like the right move at the time. Teenage logic... 

Losing anyone from the era that gave shape and meaning to my life is painful enough, but when I heard the news that Prince had died, my jaw unhinged as it did nearly seven years prior when it was announced that Michael Jackson had passed away. I was in a courthouse on April 21, 2016, watching my Turkish sister-in-law take part in her naturalization ceremony to become an official US citizen. Just before things were about to begin, I overheard someone close by say something unintelligible about Prince in a tone that didn't sound positive. I whipped out my phone and did a quick search to discover that Prince was no longer of this Earth. I was floored. Seconds later, the packed room was reminded to turn off all phones during the proceedings. I sat there for the next hour or more, in awe. That stunning news, as well as the humbling, inspirational process unfolding before my eyes, fought for supremacy inside my frozen body. Once my sis was officially a US citizen and the picture-taking and celebration completed for a minute, I hopped back online to confirm that it wasn't a hoax (oh how I was wishing it was). My gut sank. My eyes started to water up a bit (as they had been doing for the opposite reasons of joy and humility throughout that morning) and I began to process the unthinkable. 

Like many others, Prince's music sound tracked my youth, got me on the dance floor, and took me to many places that music previously hadn't. Alexander Nevermind, Christopher, TAFKAP...whatever moniker he went by, Prince was a mercurial mashup. The best parts of James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Wonder, all in one dimunitive, ass-kicking package. 

10FTW: The Cars

Forty years ago today, the debut album from The Cars was released to a world that was cozying up to the umbrella term we still refer to today as New Wave. Acts like Talking Heads, Blondie, The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Police, and our friends The Cars, all had songs that grabbed the attention of punkers and popsters alike in 1978. 

I was seven when The Cars was released. Suffice it to say, they weren't on my radar. In 1978, I was all about Andy Gibb, the Bee Gees, and the Village People (judge me all day; I loved disco then and still hold it close to my heart now). The first time I heard the Cars was a year or two later on a local rock station that played "Let's Go" from 1979's Candy-O. At the time, the airwaves were a veritable potpouri of musical styles. Various flavors of rock (soft, prog, and new wave) mingled with country and disco, which hadn't yet felt the backlash that was around the corner. "Let's Go" was fine, but I was more excited about Donna Summer having two songs in the top five simultaneously ("Bad Girls" and "Hot Stuff") and obssessing over when I would finally Get The Knack. Which I did around Christmas '79. 

I put the Cars out of my head until "Shake It Up" set up shop in my ears in late 1981. For the next couple of years, I heard the bigger  hits from their first four albums on the radio and relied on them as the gospel of The Cars as they weren't releasing any new material. Don't cry for me...I found all kinds of music to surround myself with between 1982 and 1984. Seriously, 1983 is up there with 1979 for one of the best years in music (in my lifetime, at least). Then, in the spring of 1984, "You Might Think" and its visually stunning for the time video turned me in to a Cars fan all over again. Just in time for them to break up after the release of their sixth album, Door to Door, a few years later. Win some, lose some.

I've always gravitated to The Cars' hits for the most part; their deeper tracks never really engaged me enough to consider them alongside their classics. Genres have come, gone, and returned over the past 40 years, but Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, and the rest of the gang's songs still hold up. Many are sing-along worthy and continue to put a smile on my face when I randomly hear them on the radio now. In no particular order, here are my 10 tracks. By The Cars. For the win!

The Mixtape 6/5/18 - A month on top for "This is America"

♪♫♪

Gooooooood day

Muuuuuusic Tuesday

I will wait

All week

For you

♪♫♪

Last week I pondered what impact new releases from Father John Misty and Kanye West would have on this week's Mixtape. The good Father manages one new song on the 'tape (#40's Hangout at the Gallows) and Mr. West (despite Ye not getting the critical acclaim he's historically been accustomed to) finds his way on at numbers 13 and 21 with what I consider the two strongest tracks on an album that I keep going back to. Ye doesn't innovate; it doesn't have truly wow moments (production, lyrically, or sampling) like each release he's put out since donning a backpack. It could lose its bookends and I wouldn't mind, but I can't say I hate any songs on it. I could do an entire piece on Ye (I won't). I could do an entire piece on my ride through Kanye's discography (I might). I can certainly nail down my 'tenultimate' tracks of his for a future 10FTW (it's coming). But there are other songs to talk about.

The Kanye-produced (damnit...this guy's everywhere. It's true, he'll be releasing a collabo with Kid Cudi this Friday as Kids See Ghosts) Pusha T album came out a couple weeks back and it's lead track, "If You Know You Know" is one of eight new songs on the list this week (including the aforementioned, but not yet mentioned by name, Kanye tracks, a surprise Gorillaz track featuring George Benson, and The Roots' BlackThought with his first proper solo effort). A lot of songs that have been in my ears the last five or six months finally fell off to make room for all the new tunes this week; songs that'll pop up on my year-end list for sure.

Okay. The highest new entry this week is "Ghost Town" at #13 by...you already know. I'll make this quick. Let me just say that the first time I listened to it, I got excited for this Friday. I mean, I instantly loved Kid Cudi's drunken, warbly vocals and was mesmerized by the 808s and Heartbreak-esque guitar appearing and disappearing throughout the track. I hope Kids See Ghosts continues on this path. While I always like Kanye's honestly raw lyrics like what he brings to the table here, the magic happens when the song hits around the two-and-a-half minute mark and 070 Shake steps up. I gotta say, I kind of had a moment when she let out her "Whoa". It was smaller scale than when Nicki Minaj took her turn on Kanye's "Monster" eight years ago and straight up owned that track. But 070 Shake makes the most of her time here, drippin' swag like Rihanna on N.E.R.D.'s "Lemon" last year and coming off larger than the songs (she also sings on "Violent Crimes") she's featured on. 070 Shake released Glitter a couple months ago and, who knows, maybe she'll have a Minaj-sized career at some point. She stole the show away from Ye. That much is hard to deny.

I swear, there are other artists to talk about. Childish Gambino sits on top of Mt. Mixtape for a 4th straight week while others slowly begin to threaten its reign. Snail Mail inches up to #3 while Beach House and Malkmus each climb a bit to numbers 5 and 6, respectively.

Elsewhere, if you're looking for a dance party (my kind of dance party at least), check out Hookworms (#8), Drake (#15), and Sink Ya Teeth (#25). 

Feel like rockin' out instead of getting down? Crank your music player of choice to 11 and jam the latest from FIDLAR (#7), Thick (#28), and Blushh (#39). 

Do you just need a hug? Let MorMor (#18) wrap his arms around you and slow dance your worries away. 

On the horizon:

New releases I'm excited for this Friday include Snail Mail's debut full-length, Lush, and that Cudi/Kanye Kids See Ghosts thing. I expect that a song or two from one or the other (or both) will grab my attention, and maybe a spot on next week's 'tape.

Introducing: 10FTW aka Ten For The Win

I like features. Recurring features. Things that you can count on and look forward to.
I also like lists...duh. Top 10 lists are a favorite of mine.

Like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, a recurring top-ten list and my love of music are two great tastes that taste great together. Also, I freaking LOVE Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Maybe even a little more than top-ten lists.

When I feel the whim, I shall post a 10FTW list here for artists that have at least 10 songs I enjoy listening to. The songs don't have to be their most popular or represent the artist's creative zenith; just their best as determined by my two ears. It doesn't matter how big of a hit the song may have been; if I don't like it or am sick of hearing it, it's probably not going to make the list. Immediate example: "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Huge hit for them? Check. Enabled them to acquire a more mainstream audience than they previously had enjoyed? Check. Iconic (for some) in the annals of popular music history? Check checkity check check check. That said, the first milliseconds of the opening riff results in my changing the radio station immediately. If this 'classic' comes on in someone else's car, I'll take my chances with a good ol' tuck and roll. If I'm in a store and this atrocity is forced upon the masses, you'll spot me running out of it it like I'm an incredibly confused contestant on Supermarket Sweep.



What to choose for a first 10FTW? The options are limitless, so let's go with an act that's timeless (and insanely hard for me to commit only 10 songs to). And these are not in any intended order.

There are at least another 10 songs that deserve a spot on this list - Paperback Writer, In My Life, Eleanor Rigby, Glass Onion...I could go on. It's probably more like 20. The selections above just hit me in all the right spots - musically, lyrically, emotionally. The Fab Four changed the game when they first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in front of a captive American audience, hungry for something new, fresh, and exciting. They then spent the remainder of the Sixties reinventing the art of production, reimagining song structures, and redefining the sound of popular music. Millions of words have been written about the band, but it's the words and music John, Paul, George and Ringo wrote that will forever resonate with me and generation after generation that discovers their historical output.

Back Tracks: June 1998

It was 20 years ago today

Semisonic taught the world to stay

Until last call to finish their beer

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

I mentioned previously that I used to routinely write down my personal top 40 (sometimes 30, occasionally 20) of the week once I realized that my ten-year-old self needed to branch out from his ritualistic logging of Casey Kasem's American Top 40. I've saved some of those over the years and will share what I can find (I know I've got more in storage) from time to time.

Here's one from almost exactly 20 years ago, along with a corresponding Spotify playlist (minus a few songs that aren't available on the service). Keep in mind that this was 20 years ago and I made no apologies for my love affair with Creed's first album. I lost interest soon thereafter, but man...I was really feeling me some watered-down, second generation grunge-influenced, cock-rock from this point forward for the next couple years. In hindsight, the late 90s / early aughts was my (then) most recent manifestation of a long love of heavy metal / hair metal / butt rock. 

Lots of alternative (that was kind of a big thing in the 90s), a handful of mainstream pop songs (Madonna, Goo Goo Dolls, Alanis Morissette), and the requisite inclusion of a couple tunes from the late 90's great swing revival formed the foundation of what I considered the best of what I was aware of at the time. A time when I gleefuly witnessed local act, Cherrry Poppin' Daddies, finally achieve "one-hit-wonder" status with "Zoot Suit Riot". A time when Sarah McLachlan was still lauded for her musical contributions and not yet irreversibly associated with malnourished fur friendsof for her ASPCA commercials. Great cause, sure, but those insanely depressing ads that may have been a partial impetus for the increase in American antidepressant use. ♫♫♫ In the arms of an angel...♫♫♫ GAH!!! A time when Ben Folds just wanted his damn black tee-shirt back and Harvey Danger's "I'm not sick, but I'm not well" was the mantra for a generation that had yet to feel the power of Nickleback.

The number on the left is the song's ranking. The far right columns are (left-most) the movement from the previous week (up +, down -, hold, or new) and (right-most) the number of weeks that the song had been on my chart at the time.