Mixtapemotions

  • "All Deliberate Speed" by Mae, Thursday, January 21, 2021

    In 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that American schools be integrated “with all deliberate speed.” What does that mean? I think that if you are trying to speed something up, being deliberate about it, you press your foot on the execrator and the car gains speed. You go as fast as you can go, looking out for cops and and pedestrians, but your intention is to go quickly to your destination. Apparently, I’m wrong. Chief Justice Warren’s meaning was that the change be gradual as not to stir the anger of the states. Don’t let change happen too quickly.

    WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? Now is this even related to Mae‘s song? The lyrics without considering the quote by Chief Justice Warren, made me think about the band’s dreams. Perhaps internal band strife with management, particularly as they are almost making it. In fact, in an earlier season of Labeled (Tooth & Nail’s podcast) there is a now unavailable two-part series in which Dave Elkins talks about the stories behind Destination: Beautiful. It doesn’t seem that he was drawing on the injustice of segregation, but rather trying to make a personal point: change happens at a deliberate speed, which is a speed that no one is comfortable with. When trying to jumpstart a musical career, most bands will never make it. Some will get a little success and then interest will fade. Some blow up over night and the band members might not be able to cope with that level of success. Mae’s career has had its own ups and downs. Two highly successful Tooth & Nail Records, a major label flop, independent releases, a hiatus, and a return to Tooth & Nail.

    WE SAID, “WE’RE FRUSTRATED.” The emotional climax of the song comes with the lyrics “Sound off, we’re going to L.A. / If it’s going to be … It’s got to be enough for me.” The synthesizer takes the song to a dreamy place where the guitars started the song in a kind of gloomy, pensive mood. This song deals with both the hard work and the reward of waiting for the hard work to come to fruition. That doesn’t make the frustration sting any less, but at night after a hard day, we have to lie our heads down and tell ourselves it wasn’t for nothing. We have to have the “We’re going to L.A.” wins, otherwise we’ll be swallowed by the hum drum of life. When the band manager says “All deliberate speed” and it’s slow, we have to focus on going to L.A. I can’t say that this is the best advice in terms of activism, but when it’s situations you can’t change, we can focus on those moments. 


  • "Counterfeit" Wolves at the Gate, Wednesday, January 20, 2021

    In 2019, I rediscovered Wolves At the Gate band from the Labeled podcast. Labeled is a podcast about the history of Tooth & Nail and Solid State Records. As I get older, my tolerance for hard music is decreasing. Of course, when I was a teenager Post-Hardcore was king. Everyone used screaming in their music, but musical genres started to become more defined c. 2006 and there was hardcore and rock. And a lot of rock went more electronic and pop. Still, even after the murky time, hardcore bands still liked to take a break from screaming and sing a ballad. When I picked up this record, though, I found less screaming and more of the type of music I liked before the rock/hardcore split. This group sounds more like New Medicines era Dead Poetic than Define the Great Line era Underoath. This album made me miss intense rock. Guitars and bass and drums and passionate singing spiced with some well-intentioned screaming. 

    YOU WON’T MAKE ME INTO YOUR PAWN. “Counterfeit” was the fourth single released prior to the band’s July 26, 2019 release of the album Eclipse. Lead singer Stephen Cobbuci called “Counterfeit” “a fight song” and “a song of rebellion.” He goes on to say, “Countless lies and deceptions are thrown at us every day from the news media, politicians, people who abuse religion, social media, and even our own minds. I wanted to write a simple song that could be one of rebellion to be sung whenever we hear these lies.” Living in an eventful time with “fake news” and constant political polarization, it’s hard to remember exactly what Cobbuci could have been reacting to. To me, the lyrics seem to be plainly calling out church systems that turn ungodly heroes into idols. Pastors use fear to manipulate congregants to vote and support systems that are clearly ungodly, and they have to use trickery to make the ungodly action the lesser of two evils. Anyone outside of the system can call out the hypocrisy, but many on the inside are brainwashed.  

    INFLICT THE YOUTH WITH THE LIES YOU’VE WOVEN. t seems that Christianity is constantly highjacked from the teachings of Jesus. Whether it’s Kenneth Copeland cyphering money to buy another jet, Mark Driscoll creating an environment of toxic masculinity and toxic church culture, the swinging and cuckold lifestyle of Jerry Falwell, Jr. and his university’s policies that oppress LGBT students, or the evangelical political endorsements of Trump. Who makes the mega-church pastor a judge of what is or isn’t Christian? There certainly is a lot of source material to inspire this song. It seems like every week another #preachernsneakers is taken down. What’s most upsetting is the marriage between politics and religion. Franklin Graham has no right to call the House Republicans a shame when the biggest shame is that Franklin Graham got so involved in politics in the first place. It seems we are living in an era anticipating the fall of the “righteous.” 

    Redux version:

  • "Untitled" byPaper Route, Tuesday, January 19, 2021

    I caught Paper Route playing one afternoon at the Gallery stage at Cornerstone. Many bands from Cornerstone don’t stick around for long, but I could tell that this band had something very special. They played multiple instruments, but yet, their music didn’t sound like it was trying too hard to be creative. It sounded like pop music. I bought their first EP which came in a paper bag. The songs were all about Christmas, but none of the songs were familiar Christmas songs. I began following the band’s career. All of their releases were delayed. First the Are We All Forgotten EP, followed by their first major label debut LP Absence, the departure of vocalist/guitarist Andy Smith, tours with Paramore and Anberlin, the delay of their second, poppier The Peace of Wild Things, an EP called Thank God the Year Is Finally Over, some random covers of Lorde and Destiny’s Child, and then their final work, Real Emotion, released on September 23, 2016.

    BORROW HOPE TO UNDERSTAND. With just a superficial listen to this band, you could mistake them for Coldplay or OneRepublic, and they could get lost in your library. However, seeing them grow as a band and seeing JT Daly take the reins as the frontman of this group of musicians, was quite a journey. Looking perhaps a little drunk as he sings from the heart about what you can tell are very painful issues of love, the loss of love, and misunderstandings, you can’t help but wonder what the hell is going on? At concerts I heard (different years, mind you) “this was the hardest year of our lives.” And the fidelity to their art, I always found fascinating–recording their albums in Southern mansions around Nashville.

    A GUIDING LIGHT. It feels like the storm came after they recorded this album. 2016 was a turbulent year. Brexit, Trump’s election, the Pulse shooting. Followed by a turbulent 2017. Families were divided by politics in the best case scenarios. By the time we got to 2020 we were certainly flooded. Rather than finish with a point, I will end with a discussion. To whom is it that you need to profess your love? At what point do you realize that it’s time to stop playing and settle down? How have our loved ones helped us through the most recent storms? Have we told them how much we’ve appreciated it? We may not survive every storm. We borrow hope until the bank is closed. It’s most important to let our loved ones know how much they mean to us.

    Here’s a live performance, which is slightly better than the studio recording because you can see the energy and raw emotion: 

  • Playlists and Social Media


    I make playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. Check out my playlists on Apple Music for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and early 2024. Check out the videos for 2021’s playlists on my YouTube Channel. I’ll display the current month’s playlist and two previous months to keep things tidy. The archives will be available on my streaming services page. You can also follow me on Twitter.

    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024

  • "Cynical" by Propaganda ft. Aaron Marsh & Sho Baraka, Monday, January 18, 2021

     

    I’d recommend first reading the lyrics and reading the notes. And of course, listening to the song.

    Today in America is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I chose this song from 2017 as a warning that although things are picking up a little, it’s now time to work harder than ever for social justice. 

    I first heard of Propaganda on the BadChristian Podcast. He talked about his song “Precious Puritans,” which deserves a blog post of its own. However, when he came out with the Crooked album in 2017 and had this track with Copeland‘s Aaron Marsh calling out Christians for their support of politics that forsakes the African American and non-white community, it put into words I could have never formed to tell how angry I had become. 

    PRAY TO MY SAVIOR, AND MIDDLE FINGER TO MY NEIGHBOR. In an episode of Straight White American Jesus, historian Randall Balmer points out that religious leaders such as Jerry Falwell tried to raise doubt in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Christianity and warned white Christians not to get involved with Civil Rights. Shamefully, that’s the same Southern Christianity I was raised in. The kind that doesn’t even close their private Christian Schools for MLK Day. Well, maybe school can be in session. We should spend the day learning about the history of rac–NOPE! Class as regularly scheduled. Nothing to see here folks. But HEAVEN FORBID the queers and the trans folks are trying to take my freeeeedumb. Yes, you have to read the last sentence in an accent. And my Seventh-day Adventist background was less militant in the “culture war.” Instead, we were taught silent compliance in systems of oppression. My college had a mandatory volunteer day for MLK Day, but I never felt we were actually educated about what the day was supposed to mean. 

    WHY DO YOU LOVE YOUR GUNS MORE THAN OUR SONS? This song deals mostly with outward, shocking racism as displayed by religious people. People who have theologically reasoned themselves to this point. But 2020 opened our eyes to see that saying “I’m not racist” and “I’m not like those people on TV” is not enough. It’s time to examine what systematic racism has done to us as a world. In Korea, why is BB cream, a skin lightener, so popular? I didn’t even know what that was until I came here. Apparently, it’s prevalent in India too. Do you stand up to bosses who want “white Americans” because the parents want their children to learn “the right pronunciation”? Do you correct coworkers who say ignorant things about people of different races? Do you scold the children for calling each other Chinese or only HALF Korean? Why is that funny? Seriously? Do you acknowledge that the place you are and the job you have is at least partly because of privilege? I’ve definitely made some mistakes in my teaching career.  

     

  • About NewYearsDayProject

    Back in high school or college, you’ve probably given a mixtape to someone or received one from a friend or potential love interest. Depending on your age, it may have been on a cassette tape, a burned CD, or a shared playlist on a streaming site. Some music experts are calling playlists the future of music consumption, and that has its pros and cons. There are so many curated and auto-generated playlists available, but I found that I prefer to listen to my own music in mood-based playlists. So the idea came to me late in 2018, what if one song could encapsulate the mood of a day? What if a playlist could encapsulate a month? So in 2019, I started to make playlists based on what I thought was the best song of the day. In 2020, I started writing about those songs, but choosing songs based partially on how appropriate they sound and partially on which song that I listened to that day that I couldn’t get out of my head.

    I decided to write a blog entry about each song because I love the stories behind the songs that I uncover, and if I can’t find a story, the song usually tells me a little about itself and it becomes my own story.  I write as a fan with rudimentary knowledge of music theory and virtually no knowledge about production. I find both of these aspects fascinating along with chart statistics. When I talk about these aspects in my blog posts, I try to cite YouTubers and writers who are much more knowledgeable on that subject.

    My blog NewYearsDay Project comes from the first song of every year, “New Years Day” by U2. The idea was to make a playlist of songs that puts the listener in the mood for the month. I’ll leave links for my general monthly playlist and the specific playlists from last year. When I write about a song, I try to tell an interesting story I’ve read about the artist around the time that the song was released. Sometimes a good story drags me into the artist in a way that the song alone does not. Another way that I get into music is through connections with other artists. Sometimes I want to hear a band that sounds like ______, so a streaming platform will recommend similar artists. Also, if bands tour together or namedrop, I’m more likely to check out the artist. 

    Before I start the NewYearsProject I should lay down a few confines I’ll try to adhere to. 

    1) One main artist per month. For example one anberlin song per month.

    2) An artist may appear multiple times as a guest/featured artist with another main artists. For example Troye Sivan’s “Dance to This” ft. Ariana Grande doesn’t disqualify Ariana Grande’s “No Tears Left to Cry” from appearing later that month. 

    3) Songs must contain lyrics.

    4) I will try to provide an English translation for K-pop (or Spanish, German, etc) songs that appear on the list. 

    5) I will try to leave readers with useful links to music videos, news articles, podcasts, etc.

    6) I’ll try to stick to about 500 words on each blog post. 

    7) I’ll write about myself and my history with the song/artist/album, etc. So please bear with the personal stories.

    8) I’ll try to link you to my YouTube and Apple Music playlist. Some songs may be available only on YouTube, particularly if it’s a cover that really struck me. I don’t have Spotify, but I’d welcome any reader to start a list.

    9) The song should encapsulate the mood of the day. In other words, something about the music or the lyrics should sound like autumn if it’s autumn, should sound like summer if it’s summer, should sound Christmasy even if it’s not a Christmas song.

    Now some disclaimers for my haters–this is me pretending like I’ll have readers 🙂

    1) My musical taste is eclectic. Feel free to disagree respectfully.  

    2) Things may get personal. I need to be able to write about anything on my mind without censoring my audience. I want to reveal myself and my beliefs organically as the writing prompts me. I try to write respectfully toward others. I will not use the real names of people, places, or institutions unrelated to the music. 

    3) My writing is the result of about an hour’s work from start to finish. These are rough drafts. I hope to look over them when I have more time, and if I see something glaring, I’ll update it. My research is imperfect, but I will continue to research and update the post later if I find something wrong.

    4) Big disclaimer: My views do not necessarily reflect the views of the artists I write about.  There’s going to be some problematic songs on this list and they will have been catchy enough for me to write about them. I fully disagree with them, but the song still has relevance to the day.


  • "Hazy Shade of Winter" By Simon & Garfunkel, Sunday, January 17, 2021

     

    There are a few truths about Simon and Garfunkel we hold to be self-evident. First, Simon and Garfunkel is a duo from the 1960s that remains relevant to any playlist today. Their music holds up on any rock playlist (heavy metal, excluded of course). Second, very few covers of Simon and Garfunkel actually hold up. Last winter around this time I was in a brewery with my sister and this awful country rendition of “The Boxer.” Just like Adele covers, you don’t cover a song unless you’re going to add something to it. This reminds me of two Memphis Mayfire covers I heard yesterday. They covered Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song” using double bass drums. *Skip* Then they did Linkin Park’s “Faint.” It sounded good but didn’t add anything that Chester and Mike did. Nope. I’ll post a worthy cover of this song. My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way recorded this song for Umbrella Academy’s first season. The third truth, Paul Simon NEEDS Art Garfunkel, and Garfunkel certainly needs Simon. Even though Paul Simon has had a successful career, I find him a bit like peanut butter. It needs some milk otherwise your mouth gets stuck shut. Or Jelly. Fun fact. My mom had two turtles named Simon and Garfunkel. Simon died and Garfunkel is still alive. Alternate universe?

    AN (UN)HAZY SHADE OF WINTER. I listened to Simon and Garfunkel’s greatest hits today. This song might be more appropriate for later January, I’m posting it today. I went for a walk and the sky was clear. The leaves were brown, but there was no patch of snow on the ground.

    This song was particularly meaningful the first year that I started (and failed) this project, 2019. Winter depression set in hard. I was failing to grasp a direction in life. It was my winter vacation and I stayed in Korea for no particular reason other than to save money. And then I discovered and binge watched Umbrella Academy. Time, time time, what had become of me?
    IT’S THE SPRINGTIME OF OUR LIVES. I picked myself up from the hazy shade of winter and set goals. I would learn Korean. I would eat healthier. I would exercise. I would save more money. I would refocus on my teaching. Most New Years Resolutions fail, but somehow I was driven make it work. By the end of 2019 I felt I had arrived. Things were getting better and better. I went home to America and spent time with family and friends. I made a plan to visit my family every January to celebrate a late Christmas together…and then the pandemic struck. 
    LOOK AROUND, LEAVES ARE BROWN, THERE’S A PATCH OF SNOW ON THE GROUND. Every year when I listen to this song, I think about different seasons of my life. I think about what I’ll be doing the next year or five years from now when I hear this song. What scares me is sitting around with “manuscripts of unpublished rhyme.” How much talent have I lost because I’m not doing? I’ve wanted to be a writer forever, but writer’s block has paralyzed me. I want something I do to be meaningful beyond today. I HAVE TO create something before winter comes…

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • “Can’t Go Home” by The Juliana Theory, Saturday, January 16, 2021

     

    Thomas Wolfe is most famous for his novel You Can’t Go Home Again which is a tome that I haven’t read. However, I did read his first novel, Look Homeward, Angel, which deals with similar themes. I picked up the book in the middle of a semester from hell and an existential crisis. I found Wolfe’s descriptions of Southern life–the people in town and family members, the scenery, and the food–so comforting. The mostly autobiographical novel is nostalgic, but the protagonist, Eugene’s academic pursuits push him to see the world outside of the isolated mountain town of Altamont (Asheville).

    DEFER TOMORROW. These days lots of bands are getting back together. Some are doing 10, 15, 20 year anniversary tours (or live streams). The age of COVID has been pretty kind to old music, but not so much to new music. The music of my teenage life is now the music of today, but I’m not sure if they can get the kids on board. After finishing Look Homeward Angel, the semester ended. My grades were what they were. I fortified myself with friends who could look out for me and had a keen eye on the future. And then I graduated from college and came back to rural North Carolina for six months with the intention to get my paperwork together and go to Korea. Living with my parents was not bad because there was end in sight. However, I’ve been to my parents’ home from Korea for extended times, and I feel like I will go crazy. Not having a car is tough.

    THE ONLY THING I KNOW IS WE CAN’T GO BACK HOME. Today I heard this song on Lead Singer Syndrome. I was struck by how simultaneously modern and classic this song sounds. Opening with a camp-fire sing along hook places this song on the radio between Imagine Dragons or The Killers (if they’re still on the radio).  But then the production gets super interesting–drum beats catching up, lazy vocals sliding to find the note–it sounds bad, but it’s actually pretty awesome. Lyrically it seems to be taking a jab at the band’s Tooth and Nail, not-quite-Christian Rock days “No god is the new religion.” The Juliana Theory, along with Further Seems Forever, helped to write the rule book for Hardcore bands transitioning to pop music; however, with many innovators, their first iteration of the band was improved upon by bands like Acceptance and Anberlin. But listening to this song makes me wonder if I should dust off their old LPs in my digital library.

    NO GOD IS THE NEW RELIGION. My final thoughts about this song turn to the future. What if life never normalizes like before the pandemic? What if we don’t see concerts in person ever again? What if classes remain online? What if we’re all confined to our own spaces? What if air travel never normalizes? Can I ever go back to America? I was thinking about Little House on the Prairie the other day. My mom used to read my sisters and me those stories and we watched the 70s TV series. I was thinking about how Charles dragged his wife across the country. We know very little about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s grandparents, but at some point, Charles and Caroline had to say goodbye to their families. Did they realize they would never see them again? We live in a time much different. We can stay in touch on social media. Except for death or a bitter fight, we typically don’t say goodbye forever. Just a thought.

    Lyrics: https://genius.com/The-juliana-theory-cant-go-home-lyrics

      

  • "Love Me Like You Do" by Boyce Avenue (Cover of Ellie Goulding's song from the Fifty Shades of Grey Original Soundtrack), Friday, January 15, 2021

    This is one of the most cringe-worthy stories from my teaching experience. And of course all names have been changed. Five years ago the first grade middle school students put on a program. In Korea, first grade middle school equates to seventh grade. The show consisted of presentations for special English classes the student did that semester. Then the English singing class came to stage. A student started playing some stiff piano music and five students started singing in unison. The song was “Love Me Like You Do.” Two girls took turns singing the verses and three boys awkwardly joined in the chorus. When they all sang, it reminded me of when the Peanuts kids sang “Hark the Herald Angels Sing!” at the end of Charlie Brown Christmas and of Cartman, Kyle, and Kenny putting on a highly inappropriate South Park style musical. As Tina* (not real English name or Korean name) sang “I’ll let you set the pace, ’cause I’m not thinking straight” my foreign English teacher coworker put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. She turned to me and said, “This is so inappropriate. I feel like I’m going to get questioned by the police for just sitting here.” I glanced up at the class’s teacher, a pretty middle aged Korean church lady.  Her English was pretty good. She was sitting in the front row moving her hand to rhythm, mouthing the words to her students, as would any teacher would do for a normal song.

    EVERY INCH OF YOUR SKIN. Ellie Goulding’s album, Delirium is one of my favorite pop albums of the last decade. This song is only partially ruined from this experience. It is best to divorce it from that awful movie whose actors act as if they they are completely aware that middle schoolers would be singing the songs from the movie. Fifty Shades of Grey troubles me for several reasons. First of all it’s a love story and BDSM is merely a plot device known as the lover’s test. It’s kind of like in Pride and Prejudice how Mr. Darcy says something rude about Elizabeth within her hearing. Elizabeth then spends the novel trying to change Darcy and they eventually fall madly in love (I’m not actually sure if that’s the story because I’ve never been able to keep my mind engaged when reading watching the movie). However, by putting BDSM as the that jerkish thing, we add layers of abuse. The soundtrack to the movie adds more layers onto this to cement an emotional entanglement as Anastasia finds pieces of Christian’s soul when he beats her in his dungeon. You’d expect to hear Nine Inch Nails or something freaky, but no, it’s Ellie Goulding or The Weeknd or Ed Sheeran. The result is it’s got housewives all hot and bothered and kinksters all bothered and not hot and nobody wins.

    UNDER COVERS. I chose this song by Boyce Avenue. Some of their covers are better than the originals. Some of their covers would use a stylistic change. This one’s pretty good. It’s simple. Just piano and voice. Listen to it and don’t think about middle schoolers singing it.

     

    The original:

    https://genius.com/Ellie-goulding-love-me-like-you-do-lyrics

  • "World" (The Price of Love) by New Order, Thursday, January 14, 2021

    Republic was the end of an era for New Order. The band’s popularity was at its peak after scoring hits in America even outside of the dance hall. But it was an album that the band didn’t want to make. According to then-bassist Peter Hook, the band’s music club in Manchester, The Haçienda, was in dire financial straits, and the band’s record label Factory Records threatened to go bankrupt. The band members’ funds were tied up in Factory Record and the finances of the club were also entwined. However, bassist Hook and lead singer Bernard Sumner were “at the point in the relationship where you hate each other’s stinking guts.”  


    BREAKING IS A CRIME. Republic was released in 1993 and charted the best of all New Order’s albums on the Billboard album charts. The band went on a five-year hiatus after playing the Reading Festival in August, and New Order’s millennial records were nothing like the height of their popularity in the late ‘80s to early ‘90s.  The album artwork for Republic has been interpreted in several ways. Depicting a house on fire on the left-half of the cover and beach holiday on the right half, critics have interpreted the artwork to be a statement about the forest fires in California or the race riots in Los Angelos in 1992. The couple on the beach is blissfully unaware that their house burns while they are enjoying their vacation. Other critics have pointed out that the cover draws a similarity between modern decadence and the burning and collapse of the Roman Empire, a republic that became corrupted as it forgot its ideals. And yet others interpret the artwork along with many of the songs on Republic as a dig at their record label for forcing the band to record a record they didn’t want to write and for forcing a dysfunctional band to work together.


    HEAR ME TALK, BUT NEVER SPEAK. In case you’ve missed it the world is constantly in crisis. New Order’s “World,” their penultimate song before a lengthy hiatus is that topic. What’s the problem? Love is a commodity on the markets, but apparently, it’s a non-renewable resource.  Although it’s a thinly-clad metaphor for prostitution, the song also reminds us that love for mankind is bought and sold, and that resource might be used up. The year is 1992. George W. Bush is in office. The Cold War had ended and with it many problems had come to a close. But just as one war finishes others begin. Bosnia. The Rwandan genocide. Blame of the “other” for the economy. David Koresh and Timothy McVeigh. Clinton’s impeachment. Yes, I’m zooming ahead over the decade. All of these were things I heard in the background of my childhood. Given all of those images of the 90s in a time that was interpreted at church to be apocalyptic (and the title of the song: “World” inserted between the band’s name New Order isn’t lost on me), I think about how a lack of love and empathy is the world’s primary problem. 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.