Green Mixtape 13: September

The year continues on...

This month was a full one! I've subbed during 10 days of this month, I took a weekend trip, and today I'm leaving for my first ever trip to DC! So much hype for the Library of Congress, I can't wait. For a few of those subbing day, I was my dad's substitute. When his classes are coming in, he always is playing a song for them, and then he takes attendance by asking the kids a particular question about the song. I really love how he's incorporated music into his classroom in that way. It's been a busy month, but very productive and full of good things.

Green Mixtape
Green Mixtape Outtakes

Sofia:

This is for outtakes, but I gotta add it- because I'd already added Miracle by Caravan Palace to GM, but the entire album just came out and I'm really loving it. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I really love Melancholia. I feel like their music has stylistically diversified, and not all of their songs has the same kind of enthusiastic upbeat like in so many of their songs, and Melancholia does sound a bit different that a lot of their previous songs, but I really enjoy it. It's more of a slow build, but the piano at 2:55ish is the absolute highlight for me because it just adds this extra flair that really makes the song for me. There's only like 35-45 seconds of piano in the entire song, but they're definitely my favorite parts.

Stare & Smile by Cool Company

I tend to really like a lot of instruments, and so this song is a bit simpler than what I usually go for because it has a really basic beat repeated throughout the song and then just the vocals with some keyboard, but I really like it. In the last minute of the song they do layer on some brass and occasional guitar, but yeah, I don’t know what attracts me so much to this song but I just love the sound of it.

Wayne:

Mansions by Matt Champion

This seems like a kindred spirit to Cyber Stockholm Syndrome, though the lyrics aren't as clever. Just love the sound and the production values. Plus, it's got what I call the John Barry factor (film composer that had a very distinctive style...Hans Zimmer often has a John Barry sound). At first half-listen to the lyrics, I thought it was going to be about ennui with materialism, which I was digging. When I looked up the lyrics though, they're not quite what I was hoping for. But I still like the song.

Sofia:
Yeah, I quite like this song. I like the builds, I do find myself paying less attention to the lyrics than to the overall sound.

Wayne:
I'm putting a classic John Barry song (well, a nice cover) on outtakes. From the James Bond movie of the same name. It's a nice representative of those classic John Barry chord progressions.

Sofia:
I don't think I've seen a movie that he's worked on, though I recognize some of the names to his movies.

Heartbreak Pulsar by Trash Panda

To continue with the digitally oriented songs- I think you’ll like this band. I played their song Atlanta Girls for you earlier, but I listened to rest of their music and I’ve been liking a lot of it. They have a good bit of variance genre-wise in their music, this song is fairly chill, but then they have some that are practically heavy rock. I think it’s quite fun. They mention a lot of social media platforms in this song, talking about distance and connection. I totally had to look up Baryshnikov because I didn’t know that he’s “one of the greatest male ballet dancers in history” according to wikipedia. Also, I love their band name- alternate animal names are always so funny. My favorite part is the sound of the melody on the lines with “sweet darlin’/young lady” but I really enjoy the overall sound.

I also reaaallly like their song Aging out of the 20th Century, I'll put it on outtakes. It's very chill, but I just love his voice! You should def listen to their song Sijah because it's hilariously different than their other songs- you'll see. Floating Circus is another good one. I had such a hard time deciding which song from them to post lol

Wayne:

Doin' Time by Lana Del Rey

Excellent cover of the Sublime song.

Sofia:
I didn’t actually know the original song, so I listened to it after listening to the video. And I actually watched the video version, which was pretty cool actually. I don’t listen to sublime, so from the quick listen I had of the original, I’m fairly neutral about it. I do think that the way she’s done her cover is very fun, and I totally see why it appeals to you. She’s got those smooth chill vocals that you tend to like. I think I’ll like hearing this occasionally in the playlist, but I probably won’t end up intentionally playing it a lot.

Shouldn’t Be Sorry by Cards, Sita

I feel like you’ll probably like this song. It’s a bit more chill than what I usually go for, but I like the sound of it.

Wayne:

Don't Fuck with my Money by Mystery Skulls

This was one of the songs I came across on my bike ride.

Sofia:
Yeah I like this one. It gives me a little bit of a Daft Punk vibe mixed with those groovy vocals- so much fun!