Green Mixtape 8: February 2019

This month we had a bit of a funky vibe to our music choices, and I'm sure that'll continue a bit throughout the rest of the year. I also had the Florida Herbal Conference this month, so things got a bit busier around that, but we've already found some really great songs that we're obsessed.

Green Mixtape
Green Mixtape Outtakes

Sofia:

Good For It by B00TY

I tend to be in the habit of making a list of songs to eventually share, and then getting distracted by other songs and falling in love with a song that I feel like writing about. This is one such song. Spotify describes them as an “electronic r&b/funk singer/producer duo” which I am totally here for. I just think that this song is so much fun to listen to, and you know I love a good upbeat tone. I’ve never thought of myself as being hugely into the jazz/funk area of music, but electronic funk was how I found my musical identity within the genre-but-shouldn’t-be-categorized-as-one-because-it’s-too-big of electronic music. Saying that, on my list of songs to share with you, I have a few more electro funk songs to share. I listen to this genre quite a lot, actually. And when I did a "dj set" at our big new college party during May of last year, my set was comprised of electro funk and electro swing songs. We've shared a lot more of the electro swing together, so I'm finally getting around to the electro funk. I'm not sure what else to say, I just love this style of music and it makes me feel happy and like dancing, so I guess that's just the type of style I'm generally looking for, especially when it comes to seeing the performances.

Wayne: Yes! I've always leaned more towards funk. And disco. Part of growing up with Earth, Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder (courtesy of Lynn, not parents)  I like the guitar effect in Good For It that sounds kind of like bubbles.

Lonely Town by Vulfpeck

I saw this band on Facebook, specifically a video of them doing this song live. When I checked them out on Spotify, I discovered that I love their whole sound. You know, musical virtuosos that play jazz generally lose me, because they're all about showing off how many insane notes/scales they can play super fast. But musical virtuosos who play funk... that I dig on multiple levels. These guys are amazing musicians. Seems like about half of their stuff is instrumental (maybe more than half). I had a hard time choosing a song to post, so I just went with the one that introduced me to the band. Since these guys were at Roo, you probably know all about them, but its worth mentioning that I thought of your Hey Bulldog inclinations when I read that Vulfpeck almost always records live (as in everyone playing together at the same time) and prefer to only do 1 or 2 takes. So they  have that raw informal vibe that you like. But they're so talented, they still sound amazingly polished.

Btw, I put some other Vulfpeck songs on outtakes. Joe Dart is my new bass-crush. Oh, and Cory Wong is in Vulfpeck! (The Optimist)

Sofia: Ooo, I'll listen to them. Yeah, that's some good bass. Ohhh! That's cool. Of course I remember Cory Wong!

Wayne: I love how much fun the vulf guys have with their music. They have so many videos of them just in a room with no audience and its just sheer joy.

Sofia: I'm watching the lonely town video right now lol.

Wayne: Check out their video for Darwin Derby next.

Sofia: Lol these clay animals. Ooo this is so good. I wanna have a dance party now!

Wayne: I know, I'm totally addicted to them right now!

Sofia: I'm officially now obsessed.

Wayne: They were at 2016 Roo... too bad you missed 'em.

Sofia: Damn, I had no idea they existed at that point.

Wayne: I had no idea they existed a week ago!

Sofia: Oh wait! I do know them! Casey used to play the Back Pocket video at the child center all the time. That's why the intro sound to their videos sounded so familiar! Damn, Roo 16 had such a good lineup. I wish I could go to it again. So many bands I didn't get to see or would want to see again Hmm, they were a Thursday set. I'm not sure what I was doing, because I went to the Borns set after. Maybe I was getting dinner? I was with my SUJ fam that year, but we honestly could've been anywhere during that time. Oh yeah, you put Back Pocket on the outtakes haha. I love Darwin Derby so much now.

Wayne: I found a Darwin Derby tutorial on YouTube, and it happens to be done by one of the guys in the band. So down to earth.

Sofia: That's cool.

Wayne: Also, as good as they are as a funk band, Love is a Beautiful Thing is one of the prettiest songs ever.

Sofia: It is!!! It's so pretty.

Sofia: This is actually stylistically a perfect band for the two of us. I predict a top 10!

Good Times Roll by GRiZ ft. Big Gigantic

We’re starting this month off funky and I’m gonna continue us on that train. I teased the story of my introduction to electro funk in my previous song choice, but now I’m going straight there. I love Griz. I had suuuch a hard time deciding which song to pick and whether for it to be one of his new singles or the first album of his that I listened to. I’ll put one of the new ones on outtakes.

Griz tends to be at the festivals that I prefer. He’s been at Bonnaroo twice during the time I’ve been going, and somehow I hadn’t paid enough attention to start listening to him on my own, despite having had many people talk to me about him (namely, Katrina). It wasn’t until I was at Okeechobee with my friends Ryan and Austin (this is the weekend I met them & Gina) at the late night stage Incendia for the secret sets that I first saw and paid attention to Griz. I wish I could experience that again. That was one of the few nights I’ve stayed up til 5am at a festival. Usually I tap out after like 3am for exhaustion. But somehow I made it that night. I came to the stage after I had a shift driving around a golf cart, and I was mostly just making it through sheer will. It was also cold that night, but we managed to get to a heater for a good bit of time, so I lived right next to that and was so happy.

Then I saw most of his actual show the next day and that was what really got me. Seeing him perform with his saxophone along with doing all the DJ stuff was really cool. And then I haven’t been able to see him perform since then. He’s gonna be at Bonnaroo AGAIN this year, another that I’m bummed about missing. I wish the lineup was worse this year, because I know that Costa Rica is worth it, but if there’s all these cool people this year, they probably won’t be there next year. Unless they’re like X Ambassadors because I’m sure I’ll see them another 4 times in my life if I continue going to festivals, because somehow they always manage to be wherever I am.

I digress. This is a solid Griz song. It’s got the funk beat, the sax, and the general electronic vibes of having a big dramatic drop. He’s also done songs with Brasstracks, who I shared with you last year. All through middle and high school, I felt like I was expected to like jazz because I was a trumpet player, and I just never really got into it. Finding artists like Griz, Brasstracks, Misterwives, AJR, all really helped me to find a place where I could listen to the instrument that I spent so much time with. I’m surprised it’s taken me so long to share him, because he’s honestly connected to so many artists that I all have spent so much time listening to. This is gonna be similar to when I shared Watsky and all his connected people, because this is not the last time you’ll hear me say Griz’s name.

Wayne: Good Times Roll...total party song!  Lots of fun. Can't listen to it in a bad mood and stay cranky for long.

Sofia: Lol that's very true.

Wayne: Reminds me a bit of Marvin Gaye's Got to Give it Up, especially with the crowd.

Sofia: Interesting.. Oh right, exactly! It does have a really similar vibe!

Wayne:

Close But Not Quite by Everything is Recorded ft. Sampha

We've had a run of upbeat funk, so I'm going to slow things down a little and drop this soulful little ditty. The bass caught me first, simple but melodic. Then Sampha's got one of those voices that the first time I heard it, I knew I wanted to hear it again and again. And you know what that's a recipe for? A green mixtape addition!

Sofia: Good intro bass, that's always a sure way to get you interested. His voice is great. Especially when he's singing "I'm so misunderstood" that intentional waver- yup. Did you watch the video? It's quite interesting. Definitely stylistically similar to Vulfpeck.

Wayne: I have a song that I love the verses, but the chorus is just meh. Debating whether to include it. Struggles. Maybe I'll just put it on outtakes. It's called Only 4 U by Rivergazer

Sofia: Only 4 U is nice, I like it. Very chill vibes there too.

I'm not good at staying in the realm of of slow chill music, so I'm changing the vibe again and heading back into rock. Never fear though, I have plenty of electro funk songs I will eventually all share with you.

Apologize by grandson

I’ve been contemplating what song to share from this artist since I saw him open for the Nothing But Thieves show last October. He just came out with this new single that I’ve been playing quite a bit (and then I heard again from a friend who played it twice in the same hour) a couple days after I started listening to it. I always love a good rock song, and while I don’t really dip much into metal, I am quite a fan of the heavier guitar/drums. Plus, his guitar has this twang to it that I think is great. Basically every song he comes out with has some kind of deeper theme to it like drug overdoses, war, racism, government corruption, peer pressure- I almost put the song war just because I love the lyrics so much ("And until the color of a man's skin serves no more significance than the color of his eyes We say war”). Basically, he’s making his rock lyric socially conscious, which is how I’ve always felt rock should be anyways. Pluuuuss, this song talks a lot about being imperfect and not apologizing for that and you know I love imperfections, so I’m just really enjoying this song right now. It’s a good song to get out a feeling of anger and play it loud in order to feel better.

Wayne: Apologize...great riff, and I love when the heavy beat comes in at :23. Very fun and catchy song! What is that accent?

Sofia: So, I had to look this up. But apparently he's Canadian? From Toronto. I feel like I don't know Canadian accents as well as I know Latino or European accents.

Wayne: Hmm. Yeah, he could have been from anywhere really, and I wouldn't have been surprised. I like his voice.

Jamirobeegees Mashup: Stayin' Alive/Virtual Insanity by Pomplamoose

I love how in this era of social media, bands can get popular and make a living primarily from viral videos/YouTube. Pomplamoose is one of those bands. It's the equivalent, really, of MTV in its heyday, when artists could sell records by having a great video. But the big difference is that now the musicians can control their content and exposure. Shoot, anyone can post a song on YouTube, you don't have to sign a deal with MTV. Its fascinating to plot how the music industry has changed.

Sofia: Oooo this is so good. Funny that you'd mention social media with Pomplamoose, because they were just on Good Mythical Morning with Rhett and Link on Youtube, so I'd just heard them recently, but I hadn't listened to any of their music! They do have a great sound though, this is a great cover.

Wayne: I thought you'd like it.

Sofia: Yeah I love her voice. Reminds me of Lake Street Dive.

Wayne: I was even going to include "Lake Street Dive meets Vulfpeck" in my write-up but I decided not to.

Sofia: That's a perfect description.

Miracle by Caravan Palace

I always have so many songs on my list to suggest to you and then a different new song will appear and I will instantly fall in love with it and have to share it with you, and then the rest of my list has to wait. I know you know and like Caravan Palace, so you’ll have to like this song. I love it so much. It feels like happiness. I know I love upbeat, and you like a lot more chill songs than I tend to listen to, but I just love the bubbly tempo of an upbeat danceable song. I found it yesterday and pestered you to give your song just so I could share this. I have listened to it at least 8 times today already. You know I love a good set of lyrics (maybe it’s my love of books that led me to my love of lyrics), and you easily overlook the words to just hear the songs they’re presenting to you, but I would highly recommend googling the lyrics for this song. The chorus is just the most positive advice “every day is miracle (help one another) connect back with the people…” but then there’s so much packed into the verses, I don’t even want to try to pick a excerpt that could show it properly.

Wayne: Miracle is great! I could tell within the first few bars (after the beat started) this was a keeper. Love the disco vibe, that lush synth bed, the sampled old timey instrumental break at 1:06 (such a Caravan touch)... I'll Google the lyrics tomorrow, but I gotta get to sleep.  Already listening to it a second time...

Sofia: I'm glad you love it as much as me!

Wayne: I do!

I watched some videos of them performing live... they're very energetic (not surprised). Idk, I just kinda assumed they were more of a studio band, but they kill it live.

Sofia: Ooo, I haven't looked at their live videos yet. I'm gonna have to do that! That's cool. I would love to see them live...

Omg yes, they are so into it! I love them even more.

Wayne: We gotta see them live.

Sofia: I know, I was already thinking that. Hopefully they'll do a tour soon and be near us.