Green Mixtape 2020: The First 10

Welcome to a new playlist, the sequel to our OG Green Mixtape. Same people, same concept, my dad and I alternate recommending songs that we compile in the playlist Green Mixtape 2020. There are no rules except to not post the same artist twice (and we've also totally broken that rule by accident), so any extras will be added to Green Mixtape Outtakes.

As always, I'll let you know our music choices, outtakes, and general thoughts and reactions on this blog! This year, rather than monthly updates, I'll be posting every 10 songs that we add, so without further ado, here our first 10 song recommendations of the year!

Sofia:

Glow by Harrison Sands

To start off this year’s playlist, my first addition is song with Star Wars references in it, because why not. I love the random little cultural references that get incorporated into music, and of course, this isn’t the first song with a Star Wars references, but we just ended last year with The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian, and so when I heard this song, I thought it would be a fun choice.

Wayne:
Yeah, when i heard that, I figured that was the main reason you picked it. That, and it fits your usual taste/style.

Retrograde by James Blake

I didnt pick this song for the title, despite all the things that have been breaking lately,  despite mercury not actually being in retrograde yet. The song just struck me. Especially the humming bit that starts the song (could we call it a vocal riff?) And this dude, who I'd never heard of, seems to be in that unfair camp of singers (like George Ezra) who when you first hear them, you dont picture a white British boy. What a voice.

Sofia:
Oh yeah! I know this song. I never spent a ton of time listening to James Blake but I'd listened to this album. He has a great voice! And this song is super cool, I think it's his most popular song.

Cauliflower by Jai Lizard

Listen to this song without seeing the cover and picture what this guy looks like, and then go and watching the music video of this video- it made me laugh. This song felt a bit reminiscent of Jukebox The Ghost and their theatrical sounding voices. I’ve listened to several of his other songs and he doesn’t always do it up quite like he does in this one. Also, sometimes his lyrics go a bit fast, so I read the lyrics to this song and I still don’t think I understand why it’s called Cauliflower.

Wayne:
I really like Cauliflower. I know it's a song I'll replay many times.

Dark Love by Sam Evian

Love everything about this song, including the extended outro which has a sax solo, which amazingly manages to avoid sounding like a cheesy 80's soundtrack (which most sax solos make me think of). This song's got a good groove.

Sofia:
I can see why you like this song, it kinda reminds me of the Beatles. That's quite an outro! Fun song!

17 by Bekon

So you might recognize this artist’s name and that’s because he’s on the Kid Bloom song Circles. But after listening to his own stuff, I found this song and really liked it. It’s a very string-based song but I love how all the instruments fit together. It’s interesting how many songs focus on the age of 17, I’m not sure if any other artistic medium pays as much attention to that number. Of course, it’s the year before 18, so artistically, the age could easily be seen as a borderline/transformative/coming-of-age type of area to reside in. It reminds me of the TED talks from the poet Rives who kept noticing the mention of 4am.

Wayne:
Interesting. I never thought about the use of 17. The song's got a 60's vibe, for sure, with the strings and the guitar. That melodic bassline is so prominent too. Lots of arpeggios.

Sun King by The Bright Light Social Hour

When a Beatles cover is done right, it deserves a place on our playlist. Sun King is not a song that gets covered much, but this group does a great job.

Sofia:

For Life (Take You out, Treat You Right) by Stephen Day

This song kinda reminds me of Day 1 by HONNE but I also feel a bit of a Beatles vibe. The crooning voice over the peppy upbeat percussion. The lyrics are cute, very relevant for the upcoming holiday (Valentine's)!

Wayne:

The Fear by Lily Allen

I had this on my Pandora list back when I used Pandora. Even though the song is over 10 years old, it holds up. Kinda statement-y, like Spent the Day in Bed. Love the lyrics.

Sofia:
We've talked about Lily Allen before, and I always forget about how perfectly she fits into your music tastes. The tonality of her voice and the sounds to the background instrumentation make a lot of sense to me, having heard so much of the music you listen to. I do love the lyrics- they're probably my favorite part of the song, because they're great!

Talk Is Cheap by Kyle Thornton & The Company

When I first starting trumpet in middle school, I thought that there wouldn’t be a lot of crossover into the music I listen to, because when you think about music with trumpets, the go-to is usually Jazz (or Classical, but trumpets aren’t usually the main focus there). And historically, socially, and intellectually, I think Jazz is really cool, but a lot of the classic Jazz never appealed to me that much. As the music world continues to become more genre-bent, I’ve explored and enjoyed music with Jazz elements, but also, because nobody’s feeling restricted by genre nowadays, I’ve been seeing more of the “classical” instruments like trumpets (or flutes, hello Lizzo) come more into the spotlight within popular music, and I’m a fan! 

So anyways, I found this song, I love the sounds and rhythms, and while they may not be using a trumpet (the sax totally could pass for being a trumpet with a mute, I think!), I did have this rabbit-hole thought-path while listening to it. Also, they put this out in 2017 and haven’t put out anything else since, so I’m bummed that I found another artist that may not ever put anything else out. The spotify algorithm and I have found some cool stuff, and a lot of it is artists who are still active, or have recently put out music that is not never well known yet, but there’s been several times where I find an artist/group that has less than a dozen songs, but have at least one really good song. I just gotta accept that sometimes artists only ever put out a couple songs and that’s all you’re ever gonna get from them! It’s not like they’re getting paid well by spotify so…. *cough our music industry is super messed up cough*

Wayne:
Yeah, the horns are used really nicely in that song. I like the organ too.

Leather Daddy by Microwave

I like a little bit of screamy-ness and heavy guitars once in a while. I like it even better when its not overdone and balanced with some more gentle bits. Dynamics.

Sofia:
I love everything about this. The names of everything give off such a ridiculous aesthetic, and the song is so baller. I've had such a focus on pop from spending so long researching and studying it, I've been kinda missing rock. This is such a fun song, I'm definitely a fan.