Mixtapemotions

  • "Tell Me How" by Paramore, Saturday, January 29, 2022 [Repost]

    2017’s After Laughter is arguably the best Paramore record both lyrically and musically. Musically, it’s a pop album borrowing synths from the ’80s, interesting drum arrangement, and some pensive guitars here and there. And although most songs are in major keys, lead singer and lyricist Haley Williams masterfully disguises some of the band’s darkest lyrics with smiles and summertime vibes. The most telling track is “Fake Happy,” but also songs like “Pool” and “Rose-Colored Boy” show this beautiful confusion between  being the life of the party and dealing with other things inside. The name of the album itself is telling. Williams explains that the meaning is the expression the faces of a room full of people stop laughing. Smiles start to fade, maybe some tears are wiped away. While you may debate whether this band fits into their emo punk rock sound, the lyrics are an unadulterated emotional roller coaster.


    I CAN’T CALL YOU A STRANGER, BUT I CAN’T CALL YOU. Winter days are the time for last tracks of the album. Cold days in doors with instrumentals make you reflect on life and relationships. This piano ballad doesn’t pretend to be happy, like most of the rest of the album. With lyrics that reference the lawsuits and turmoil that the band had been through as well as the personal cost of losing friendships over differences of opinions, Williams speaks her truth, and it’s a story that’s all too relatable. I wrote about the Paramore controversy several time, but the song that I had chosen was before the great disagreement and the lawsuits took place. This song is the last song on the latest Paramore record, which is basically a war story. The contributors at Genius Lyrics do a great job breaking down the lyrics of this song with quotes from both parties. When a relationship sours, there’s no real healing.

    YOU MAY HATE ME, BUT I CAN’T HATE YOU. “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-23). This song reminds me of a sermon I heard growing up based on this passage. The pastor said that if you can’t settle your disagreement, you are not ready for heaven. This bothered me to the core. What was even more disturbing was that the people who agreed this message the most had a blindspot for resenting a neighbor or family member. I want to live as a peacemaker, but sides in a disagreement can’t always be glossed over. Sometimes the reconciliation with a brother or sister takes years and the sacrifice sits at the altar for years. “I’ve got my convictions, [and you’ve got yours]… and no one’s winning. Tell me how I’m supposed to feel about you now?” The outro ends the song with some hope, as if Williams comes to a moment of realization that friends don’t have to make up, but that letting go of the hard feeling is freeing. 

     

  • "Lie to Me" (Denial) by Red, Friday, January 28, 2022























    When Red‘s producer Rob Graves posted on Twitter a picture of a note on Red’s guitars tuned to “A#, A, and G,” some fans thought that the band’s third album would be even heavier. In February of 2011, Red released Until We Have Faces, taking its name from the 1956 C.S. Lewis novel. The band delivered a more cohesive, harder rock sound than previous efforts with songs like  “Faceless,” the album’s opener “Feed the Machine,” and “Lie to Me” (Denial). Today’s song is a song about disappointment in someone’s honesty. I recommend this song, not because I had someone hurt my feels because of a lie, but rather I’m hearing so many lies these days, it’s hard to distinguish the truth.
    WILL YOUR HOPE DIE ALONE?  Okay, that’s a little dramatic. Let me explain. I’m in the process of shopping for a new apartment, and it’s very difficult to find an honest salesman. The whole thing has me more disheartened than upset, but there are times I have to keep the rage at bay. With the upcoming school year for Korea, I wanted to create a playlist for certain days. It’s an unpopular topic, but teachers do get upset. We just have to hold it in until the teacher’s break room or even the car ride home. For the inevitable moments of insanity, I recommend my new playlist Wrong Side of the Bed: Songs for a Bad Day. While some of the songs are sad, I held back on the songs that focused on the helplessness of the situation. Instead, I chose the angry ones! I didn’t only chose songs that I wrote about  but rather the best track that I feel conveys the emotion of the playlist. Check it out below:

     























    1. “Lie to Me” by Red is the song of the day.

    2. “ihateit” by Underoath was a song that comforted me during teaching in 2020. The situation was hard on everyone, and the stress was often too much to take. It was nice to be able to scream along to this song. It also reminded me of Elaine. 
    3. “Crawling” by Linkin Park. This band has so many songs that would qualify, but “Crawling” is an early hit that helped to redefine Nu Metal, adding something a little more interesting than crunchy guitars.
    4. “What’s Wrong” by Pvris. The title card says it all on a bad day. Don’t even bother with the metaphor.
    5. “Two Graves” by Anberlin. The band often delivers on the intensity, and their latest song is one of their edgiest. 
    6. “This Conversation Is Over” by Acceptance is perfect song for walking away in the middle of a conversation going in circles.
    7. “Breathing Underwater” by Mike Mains & the Branches is energizing when you’re feeling down, without discrediting your bad feelings.
    8. “Wish” by Paper Route is another song that borders more on the sadness. But the exasperated lyrics are like venting to a friend after a hard day.
    9. “Even Rats” by The Slip is a great political song, but it’s a reminder that there’s a time to get out. “I hear spring’s nice in Canada.”
    10. “Typecast” by Hidden Hospital is a song about control. Sometimes you want control and other times you’re the person being controlled.
    11. “Dead Inside” by Muse is perfect for after a mind-numbing day at work, especially if you are starting to distrust your company. 
    12. “Misery Business” by Paramore. Woah… despite the fact that Haley Williams declared that this song is too grounded in patriarchy so the band wouldn’t play it live “for a while,” it’s still a nice release. For those of us who are older, we might actually miss a little bit of high school drama.
    13. “I’m So Sick” by Flyleaf. Or “I’m so sick of this…”
    14. “Raspberry Layer Cake” by Aaron Gillespie is a song about his divorce. It’s sad and angry, but at least there’s cake. 
    15. “The End” by Kings of Leon… “And gives them all the finger at it.”
    16. “Chemical” by The Devil Wears Prada reminds us that our reactions are really only chemical reactions, so calm down already!
    17. “Git it Up!” by H.O.T. is hardcore K-pop.
    18. “Whoz That Girl” by EXID is another aggressive song. This time, a girl is checking on her man.
    19. “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo is an updated version of “Misery Business” but Rodrigo certainly has her own take on the ending of her relationship. 
    20. “One Way Love” by Hyolyn. I’m upset at the controlling dude, too.
    21. “Shout” by Tears for Fears. Primal scream? Anger? Joy? Yes.
    22. “Animal” by Kye Kye is a cynical return to the usually bright and ethereal pop group.
    23. “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2” by Pink Floyd.  Roy: “We don’t need no education” Moss: “Yes you do. You just used a double negative!”-The I.T. Crowd. Some days it’s the teachers singing this song.
    24.  “I’m Horrible at Processing Rejection” by Showbread. Scream out “Let’s ruin everything!” on a bad day.
    25. “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry. It’s a great put down song, but it’s getting less politically correct by the day.
    26. “Common Ground” by NYVES. “It’s end of common ground.” It’s a perfect song when yelling at Fox News.
    27. “Heathens” (ft. MUTEMATH) by Twenty One Pilots examines the darkness in us all. It’s a little bit rational to be on the angry mix, but this song is kind of like a consoling friend, agreeing with your anger on the right points.
    28. “Counterfeit” by Wolves at the Gate. This big ’80s-sounding chorus is a big F-you to the establishment.
    29. “Hazy Shade of Winter” by Gerard Way ft. Ray Toro turns the Simon and Garfunkel song  into an angsty closer to season one of Umbrella Academy.
    30. “Points of Authority/ 99 Problems / One Step Closer” JAY-Z, Linkin Park is the most aggressive song on my MLK tribute playlist.
    31. “Bad Day” by Fuel. “Spilled the coffee, broke a shoe lace.” Can someone make me a grilled cheese?


    And that’s my bad day list for now. I hope this helps you as much as it helps me.

  • “I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out of Luck and Have No Friends” by Underoath, Thursday, January 27, 2022

    On January 14th, Underoath released their ninth studio record, the self-produced Voyeurist. Today, Labeled launched a new video series called Deep Dives on YouTube. The series sets out to document the creative process of creating music. In this season Underoath will talk about the background to their latest album. In the first episode, the band talks about tensions in the band surrounding their polarizing eighth studio record, Erase Me, released in 2018.  The band talks about their recording process  with producer Matt Squire who almost therapeutically helped the band work through their creative differences on their last record, ultimately producing an album very different for the band. On Voyeurist, though, the band decided to channel what they learned from Squire and previous producer Matt Goldman and craft another very different Underoath record.


    GOTTA CLEAN YOURSELF UP BEFORE YOU FADE AWAY. “I’m Pretty Sure” is Spencer Chamberlain at his best–singing and screaming. It’s also the band playing not a song but a composition. Voyeurist has been called by fans as the “spiritual sequel to Lost in the Sound of Separation, an album that sees the band performing at their peak, after rejecting the poppier sounds of They’re Only Chasing Safety, but not playing quite as hard as Define the Great Line. Voyeurist, too, rejects the poppier song styles found on Erase Me, and embraces unconventional song structures. And unlike previous Underoath albums in which clean vocals were mostly assigned to Aaron Gillespie and screaming to Spencer, the screaming on Voyeurist is measured to build intensity. Many songs are based on vocals sung by Spencer, who screams lines to add intensity. “I’m Pretty Sure” is based on a cut-up sample of record phone calls, the first to a wrong number and the second to 9-1-1. The creepy music behind the call intensifies and Chamberlain adds the lyrics. The visualizer for the song shows eerie images cloaked behind a staticky television. The visuals look like they could be from late ’80s or early ’90s news or one of those blood-stirring television specials on late a night on Fox or an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.  

    DON’T YOU DRIFT TO THE LIGHT AHEAD. It seems that we will get an episode for every track on this album because the next episode is for the opening track, “Damn Excuses” and will be released on February 2nd. I’m very interested to hear the stories behind these song, especially as the series is produced by Tooth & Nail Records, though the band is now singed to Fearless. I haven’t listened to the album in context, mainly because it scares me, in all honesty. When the band released Erase Me, I was hesitant to follow them on their version of deconstruction, but I felt that the band’s story was sincere. Spenser struggled with depression and substance abuse, the worship music industry and divorce had Aaron questioning his faith, other members of Underoath struggled with their own belief and disbelief and about judging others. Erase Me attempted to address those issues in the band and why some members don’t believe in God anymore. With all that off of their chest, what’s up with Voyeurist? On Erase Me, 3 of the 11 tracks contain explicit lyrics. On Voyeurist, half of the songs include an F-bomb. But what had me most unnerved by the record are the lyrics on “Pneumonia,” the album’s closing track. It feels like the darkest song I’ve ever heard, and I’m left angry, bitter, and craving hope. Apparently the song is about guitarist Tim McTague’s father passing away. Today, though, think about a creepy story from a true crime podcast and enjoy “I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out of Luck and Have No Friends.”

    Labeled: Underoath: The Making of Voyeurist:

    Also check out my now reordered 2022+ playlist including the only song actually released in 2022, “I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out of Luck and Have No Friends.” The playlist has been reordered to suit the mood better between rock, dark pop, electronic, etc.

  • “Leave Before You Love Me” by Marshmello & Jonas Brothers, Wednesday, January 26, 2022

    With over a billion streams for his hits “Wolves” and “Silence” and 1.5 billion streams for his song with Bastille, “Happier,” Marshmello‘s collaboration with the Jonas Brothers “Leave Before You Love Me” is on the path to being a mega Spotify hit, with over 271 million streams as of writing this post. In 2015, Chris Comstock began publishing remixes of songs online, gaining fame under the pseudonym Marshmello. When he performed as a DJ, he wore a white bucket shaped like the confectionary treat. In 2017, Comstock’s identity was confirmed by Forbes, however, Comstock continues all public appearances with a bucket covering his head.


    I’M THE TYPE TO GET NAKED. Nick and Joe Jonas each get a verse on “Leave Before You Love Me,” while the eldest brother, Kevin, plays guitar and sings back up. Some of the conflict resolved over the course of the documentary film Chasing Happiness deals with Kevin feeling slighted by his younger brothers stealing the spotlight. In 2019, the brothers released their first album in six years. Nick had a very successful solo career and Joe eventually found success fronting a new band, DNCE. But with Happiness Begins the Jonas Brothers, embarked on a new, grown up version of the former Disney Channel band. The brothers continued in this direction with the sexy single “What a Man Gotta Do,” featuring Nick Jonas imitating Tom Cruise‘s famous Risky Business scene. “Leave Before You Love” me was released last year and reached #19 on the Hot 100. The song interpolates Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You,” though many listeners have pointed out the similarity to Daft Punk’s “Instant Crush” and Wham!‘s “Last Christmas,” and you can find mashups of the Jonas Brother/Marshmello song with both of these songs. Personally, I found myself filling in “Leave” with parts of “Last Christmas” as I hummed the song all day. 

    IT’S MESSING WITH MY HEAD HOW I MESS WITH YOUR HEART. I can’t help but hear Rick Beato yelling at me for this song. How can you follow up Adele’s organic vocals the spare instrumental parts with a DJ? In fact, I’m trying to figure out what the hell a DJ does? Yes, I get why raves are a thing. I get that DJs play songs that people want to hear and keep the vibe coming, but why do they headline at major festivals. Last year I talked about David Guetta and Alan Walker, even watching a lengthy set of the latter’s to see what he does during a show. And moreover, how can Marshmallo perform his duties underneath a bucket? Is that the point? Please forgive my ignorance. I couldn’t put myself through watching an entire set of Marshmello’s mostly hip hop music during his set at 2021’s Lollapalooza, watching today’s song and “Happier” and parts of other songs. With some instructions to the audience muffled by the bucket, similar to how Alan Walker’s voice is muffled by the mask he always wears, to put up their phones, or to sing certain lines or to just up and down and flipping a few switches on the equipment that’s not really shown, that’s the only glimpse we get of what a DJ does. At least in the music video and the Billboard Awards live performance of today’s song Marshmello is playing a keyboard. I’m not writing this to spark controversy. I’m genuinely confused. 

    Lyric Video:

    Extended version:

    Billboard Music Awards performance

  • "Easy on Me" by Adele, Tuesday, January 25, 2022

    As the music world has moved on to Adele‘s next single, “Oh My God,” I wanted to revisit her first single from 30 today, simply because it’s so damn catchy. The inspiration for this comes from watching Rick Beato‘s reaction to the song (see the video section below). I wanted to revisit this great song since my initial post back in October. “Easy on Me” is easily one of the best songs of last year and it has made my 2021+ and 2022+ playlists. When so many Adele haters say that all of her songs sound the same, I can’t help but scream, “Are you listening to that piano?” Finally delving a little bit more into 30, the feeling is so different from her previous work. It’s literary in the sense that nobody writes an album about trying to convince their young child that divorce was the right decision.

    GO EASY ON ME, BABY. Rick Beato started a YouTube channel in 2016 and has had a career in music, producing and recording with bands such as NEEDTOBREATHE and Shinedown. Born in 1962, Beato’s practical approach to music theory draws a line between classic and contemporary acts. Many of his videos are reactions to the most popular songs on streaming sites, and the description and titles are kind of snarky, giving the impression that he’s a crotchety boomer who hates music the kids these days are listening to. The truth is, he usually finds something positive to say about most songs as well as pointing out contentious elements. I’ve talked about his comments on Ed Sheeran‘s “Bad Habits.” The truth is, Beato hates autotune as much as he hates how every song in 2019 used trap beats. The highest complement he gives when reacting to a modern song is when he says: “It’s a song!” This means real instruments played on the track and the track more or less fits into a verse-chorus-verse with a bridge located somewhere. Instrumentals such as a guitar solo is a bonus. 

    DIDN’T GET THE CHANCE TO FEEL THE WORLD AROUND ME. I like watching theory channels like Beato, David Bennett Piano, Mic the Snare, and others because they did the work that I gave up on. My dreams of making my own music fades every day, but the joy I find writing about others’ music. But I question daily, “What gives me the right to talk about music? Who am I but a failed musician?” But then I think about how much music is more than just theory and understanding it. When I was playing classical guitar, it was reading stories about Beethoven, Bach, and the great composers that made me dig into their works. Sometimes musical theory influences a song; sometimes knowing about it helps listeners appreciate it more; and sometimes it’s just extraneous information. But that’s why I’m so glad that YouTube exists and that creators exist to put out this content in the world. And that challenges me to work harder in order to create a niche of content that the Internet will appreciate. Today, was much more about my thoughts inspired by the song, rather than facts about it. For a better analysis of the song, refer to my October 16th post. As for your assessment of my blog, please go easy on me.

    Live version:

    And finally, Rick Beato reacting to “Easy on Me”:

  • Under the Covers Playlist featuring “Fix You” (Coldplay Cover) by Boyce Avenue ft. Tyler Ward + 14 other songs, Monday, January 24, 2022

    Boyce Avenue formed in 2004 after brothers Fabian and Alejandro Manzano were rejoined with their eldest brother Daniel, who had just graduated from Harvard Law School, when Daniel moved back to Sarasota, Florida. In 2007, the band decided to start a YouTube channel, posting original music and covers of well-known songs. Soon the band’s popularity grew and they signed to Universal Records and embarked on U.S. and world tours. The cover-band sold out their first show in New York City in 2009, and accumulated fans overseas as well. The band currently has 15.5 million subscribers on their YouTube channel. 


    LIGHTS WILL GUIDE YOU HOME. Boyce Avenue often joins forces with fellow YouTubers, and today, the boys join another artist who was in the YouTube cover game early as well, Tyler Ward. The band collaborated with Ward in the same session for his channel, covering Fuel‘s “Shimmer.” But today’s song is Coldplay’s song “Fix You.” Written on a synthesizer belonging the late American television director Bruce Paltrow, Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin wrote the song to help his girlfriend at the time, Bruce’s daughter actress Gwyneth Paltrow, through her grief. While it’s in vogue to hate Coldplay, “Fix You” is a perfect song of grief. Whatever loss you’re dealing with, the guitar solo will give you power. Today, I introduce another mixtape that I’ve been thinking about for a while. This time only songs that are covers can make this list. Again the rules are one song per artist, but I’m not going to be picky about covering the same artist. This is an evolving playlist, meaning I’m going to add to it. Today I’ve only added 14 songs, a less spectacular feat considering the When We Were Young post. However, I might add to this playlist with covers mentioned in my blog or I might add those to Volume 2. Either way, Volume 2 is possible soon because I have two Boyce Avenue songs. They are the first cover artist I posted. So I will post the YouTube playlist and make a brief comment about each song:


    1. “Fix You” (Coldplay Cover) by Boyce Avenue ft. Tyler Ward. The song of the day.

    2. “Can’t Feel My Face” (The Weeknd Cover) by Andie Case is a tribute to her friend Montana Billings who passed away. It’s a mellow and spare adaptation of the song.
    3. “Diamonds” (Rihanna Cover) by Josef Salavat. This acoustic cover of Rihanna’s 2012 hit is chill and beautiful.
    4. “All Along the Watchtower” (Bob Dylan Cover) by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. This cover was so iconic, it caused Dylan to perform it with the adaptations that Hendrix used.

    5. “The Boys of Summer” (Don Henley Cover) by The Ataris. The punk-rock band’s greatest hit was a cover. I debated leaving this song off the list and using it later. I left Christmas songs off the list. But I ultimately decided that this playlist isn’t seasonal, so “Boys” can stay.
    6. “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia (Ednasnap Cover). This cover is much, much, much more popular than the original. In face, most listeners don’t know that this song is a cover. I didn’t know that until I wrote about it last year. Mind blown!
    7. “Erase” by Charles Angell (Copeland Cover) is a powerful, YouTube-only cover of Copeland’s song about existential dread.
    8. “Clean” by Ryan Adams (Taylor Swift Cover). It seems that Ryan Adams isn’t a good guy, when I read about him for my blog. But it was kind of interesting a forty-something hipster recording Taylor Swift’s massive pop album acoustically is kind of interesting.
    9. “The Great Adventure” (Steven Curtis Chapman Cover) by Kevin Quinn and the cast of A Week Away. Repeat: this is not a good song. I had to review this movie, though.
    10. “Feel Good, Inc.” (Gorillaz Cover) by Filous ft. LissA. Sometimes you just want to hear a version without “Ass crack.”
    11. “Everywhere You Look” (Cover of the original Full House theme) by Carly Rae Jepsen. Because don’t we all just miss our childhoods?

    12. “I Won’t Give Up” by Eric Nam (Jason Mraz Cover) before he was a K-pop Star, Atlanta-native Eric Nam posted covers on YouTube. His version of “I Won’t Give Up” is my favorite.

    13. “So Sick” by Sam Tsui ft. Max, Produced by Kurt Hugo Schneider (Ne-Yo Cover). It’s a little bit cheesy, but it’s a nice song.
    14. “Bang Bang” by Daniela Andrade (Cher cover), but also famously covered by Nancy Sinatra and used in Kill Bill. Andrade’s version is spare, and I think it was my alarm clock tone a few days, making it easily stick in my head.

    15. “Feel Good Drag” by Jonathan Slack (Anberlin cover) is just a guitar in an empty room and a voice that really carries. And the sad thing is that this singer doesn’t seem to have pursued a career. 

    16. “Untouchable” (Luna Halo cover) by Taylor Swift is distinctly different from the original. It seems that Taylor Swift was hanging out in Nashville and heard a supposed up-and-coming band that never caught on and recorded their song as a bonus track on her Fearless album. 
    16. “Summertime” (George Gershwin cover) by Lana Del Rey


    And that’s my short list for the day. I’ll add to it as I blog about more songs.


  • “Reunion" by M83 + Pseudo-80s Playlist, Sunday, January 23, 2022

    Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming contain’s M83‘s biggest hit, “Midnight City.” Everything on Hurry Up, is calculated to give listeners, including M83’s sole member Anthony Gonzalez, the maximum amount of nostalgia. After a song-length, mood-setting intro, “Midnight City” builds on a riff for three minutes before climaxing in a saxophone solo, unheard in most music since 1988.* Track three, “Reunion,” builds on layers of guitars and harmonies by one singer. This guitar-based M83 is a bit rare in their catalogue, as most of M83 is programing in synthesizers with touches of guitar here and there. But a guitar-based track is no-less nostalgic. It’s that ’80s chord progression heard in New Wave rockers and glam hair metal that sounded so cool to a young Gonzalez, listening to music in his bedroom growing up that bleeds into this song. The lyrics beg for a reunion with a loved one who has gone away. 

    A NEVER-ENDING DANCE. For today’s post, I wanted to revisit an idea I had last week, when I was wanting about The War on Drugs’ “I Don’t Live Here Anymore.” I thought that song sounded like an anachronistic ‘80s rock song, so I was wondering how many other songs I wrote about that could also fit into a fictional ‘80s playlist. For this playlist, I decided to make it in YouTube because some of the songs are remixes or special tracks not available on Spotify or Apple Music. I’ll post the links of the blog posts if I wrote about that song along with a short description why I think that song belongs on the playlist. This will be an evolving playlist, so check back later. Also remember one entry per artist. Here’s the playlist:

    1. “Reunion” by M83. Today’s song of the day. Of course “Midnight City” would have been an excellent choice.
    2. “We Owe This to Ourselves” by Anberlin may not be the most nostalgic sound, but stylistically, the band leans into post-punk  of U2, The Smiths, and Tears for Fears. 
    3.  “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” by The War on Drugs is the song that inspired me to make this playlist. With a touch of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and the wistfulness of “The Boys of Summer,” this song is a calculated nostalgic staple.
    4. “Run Away with Me” by Carly Rae Jepsen. Emotion was basically an ’80s album 20 years too late. The saxophone on this track puts the song in the running, but I’ve also written about “Boy Problems,” which is a bit too modern, and the Fuller House theme “Everywhere You Look,” which would be my second choice.
    5. “Blind Lights” by The Weeknd. I’ve talked about how Mic the Snare said about “Blinding Lights“: “It’s just like that one song. Uh? Which one?”

    6. “This Is Heaven” by Nick Jonas. Sax solo, right?
    7. “Balconies” by Paper Route is a kind of comfort song with its repetitive keys.
    8. “Dark Age” by Acceptance. Taking a break for “Cold Air,” which has a very The Outfield harmony, “Dark Age” has a post-punk feel to it, too.
    9. “When We Were Young” by The Killers. Bruce!
    10. “80s Remix: I Want It That Way” by The Backstreet Boys. No, the original wasn’t very ’80s sounding. In fact, it’s quintessential ’90s listening. But I found this Mohamad Shaxi remix to capture the ’80s quite well. 

    11. “Don’t Want to Feel It All” by White Lies. Many of this band’s songs are ’80s-inspired, as the band even calls themselves a post-punk group. Most of the band’s songs could fit on this list, including “Big TV.”

    12. “Someday” by Aaron Sprinkle ft. Matty Mullins. This is also a nice early ’90s-sounding song. For his 2017 album Real Life, Sprinkle delves into his influences in the ’80s and ’90s.
    13. “If Pumped Up Kicks was an ’80s song” (Synthwave Cover) by Foster the People. YouTuber Phillipp released this distorted version of the 2011 hit. 

    14. “Into the New World” by Girls’ Generation interpolates “The Boys of Summer,” so this electo-K-pop hit sounds like the ’80s.
    15. “Bad Love” by Key is another retro-sounding K-pop hit. His “Forever Yours” ft. Soyou is another great candidate, but I’d like to save that for a ’90s-influenced playlist.
    16. “Closer” by Tegan and Sara is a ’80s slumber party anthem of sexual exploration. Really most songs on their 2013 Heartthrob would work, too.

    17. “80s Remix: Rihanna – Diamonds (1987 Version). This version by Hong Kong-based DJ  Yung Sebastian unfortunately fades out as the singer as she hits her most impressive notes of song. But it’s a fun reimagining of the 2012 hit.
    18. “Let’s See It” by We Are Scientists. The band’s second album also contains some good New-Wave-influenced post punk.

    19. “Glory Days” by Betty Who is a summer anthem with some in-your-face guitars and ’80s-styled production. 

    20. “Surrender” by Spoken. While the growling scream in this song wasn’t popular in the ’80s, the chord-progressions in many Spoken songs sound ’80s-inspired.
    21. “Calling You Out” by Ex Box Boys is another band that sounds like The Outfield.
    22. “summertime sadness (SxAde synthwave remix)” by Lana Del Rey, uploaded by YouTuber SxAde: Lost Levels. 
    23. “I Feel You” by Wonder Girls. This music video has a similar concept with “Addicted to Love“: beautiful models pretend to play instruments and dance around in a music video. Anyway, this wet-summer K-pop song has ’80s/early ’90s written all over the video’s color palette and musical timbre. 


    24. “Soothsayer” by Of Monsters and Men. Big ’80s drums and powerful female vocals.
    25. “Higher Power” by Coldplay is the lead single of last year’s Music of the Spheres.
    26. “Dance or Die” by Family Force 5 is an ’80s-inspired boyband song.
    27. “Easy on Me” by Adele. Maybe ’90s, maybe ’80s, maybe ’70s, but when Adele puts the cassette in the tape deck, we have all the feels.
    28. “Somebody That I Used to Know” (1988) by Gotye ft. Kimbra is one of the best ’80s remixes.

    29. “Make It Up” by Shura is one of the more subdued tracks on her debut record, Nothing’s Real.
    30. “Little Dark Age” by MGMT is an ’80s-styled synth-pop video.
    31. “Machines” by Paradise Now isn’t specifically ’80s, but the big chorus could fit in with the hair bands.
    32. “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” by Katy Perry. The video, though.
    33. “Rose-Colored Boy” by Paramore is from their vibiest record, After Laughter. This music video looks like a ’70s or ’80s news show.
    33. “White as Snow” by Haste the Day is an ’80s-sounding metal song.

    34. “Up in Flames” by Years & Years. Influenced by New Order and The Pet Shop Boys, Years & Years shows off their synth-pop on this bonus track to Palo Santo. 
    35. “Shine Like Stars” by Holland clearly has some post-punk influence heard in the chorus.
    36. “Counterfeit” by Wolves at the Gate is a protest song with a huge chorus. Reaganomics anyone?


    I hope you enjoyed this crazy playlist. I’m sure everyone would have an opinion about what should or shouldn’t be included, but for tonight, we’ll leave it at that. I’ll add to this playlist as we go through the year.

    *I’m aware that saxophone solos were in songs before “Midnight City.” 1988 is purely hyperbole. 


  • "We Owe This to Ourselves" by Anberlin, Saturday, January 22, 2022

    Dark is the Way, Light Is a Place is a portrait of band stylistically in their element, but there is something lacking. Following Anberlin‘s major label debut New Surrender, the band worked with legendary rock producer Brendan O’Brien. Critics, fans, and the band didn’t like New Surrender. Critics didn’t like how the album lacked cohesion. Fans didn’t like how Surrender departed from the band’s darker, heavier sound on fan favorites Never Take Friendship Personal and Cities. And according to the band’s livestream for New Surrender, Paper Tigers, they were so busy touring and promoting their hit “Feel Good Drag,” many of the songs on their longest album were neglected live.


    I FEEL THE CHANGE IS HERE. Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place returned the band to a darker sound and would have been a more natural follow-up to Cities, but the darkness in the album comes mostly from moody instrumentals, rather than the heaviness of the guitar, bass, and drums. Except for the lead single “Impossible,” Dark is probably the least riff-laden Anberlin album, and it made me question what the dynamics in the band were at this time, as Acceptance‘s Christian McAlhaney joined the band when the band was touring with Cities. McAlhaney contributed to writing on New Surrender; however, the slower, moody guitar parts sound like they could easily have been found on Phantoms. Today’s song is the album’s opener and it features a repetitive Joseph Milligan opening riff that the guitarist plays through out the song. On Monday, I made a playlist using a line from this song as the title. The original title of this song was “King,” named after Martin Luther King, Jr. Today’s song asks, what would happen if everyone lived out King’s vision of equality?

    IT DIDN’T HAVE TO END LIKE THIS. One of the biggest issues I have with this album is the mixing. The instruments never seem to sit right in the mix. A Dark song is quieter than any other Anberlin album, and it seems like listeners don’t get a fair shot at what the song has to offer. Elsewhere in the album, lyrics lack inspiration. The album taking its name from Dylan Thomas’ existential “Poem on His Birthday,” I wish that Stephen Christian would have dug deeper into literature, relationships, or life to offer sage words like in the band’s earlier catalogue, rather than the childish threat in “The Art of War“: “Because of you, I’ll never write another love song.” “We Owe This to Ourselves,” though, is a declaration, in the midst of burnout the band experienced on their last record, that Anberlin would put on their best effort, that they would dig into their ‘80 influences—The Smiths, U2, Depeche Mode, that they would dress the part of an ’80s post-punk band. Though Dark is my least favorite Anberlin album, I feel it was the Anberlin album the band needed to get out of their system. Dark Is the Way gave Anberlin energy for their follow up, Vital. In that way, this album is an encouragement to me to “fake it till you make it.”

    Music Video:

    we owe this to ourselves from yes on Vimeo.

    Remix from NFS: 

    Jimmy Kimmel Live performance:

  • "Hallucinations" by Pvris, Friday, January 21, 2022

    There’s always a certain level of trust an artist has to have in a producer. Pvris had worked with one producer, Blake Harnage, on their first two albums and EPs. But after recording with Paper Route‘s JT Daly, the band decided to finish their third album, Use Me, with him. The result was a hookier, poppier, vibier version of the group. This met with some backlash with some of the fans of the band’s older material; however, lead singer Lynn Gunn told Alternative Press, “We’ve always been kind of a pop act.” The first single from the Hallucinations EP “Death of Me” helped to bridge the old sound to their second single “Hallucinations,” which sees the band flirting with EDM production, yet in the haze and psychedelia, it’s still clearly rock.

    MY MIND IS RUNNING WILD.  Gunn had had a songwriting session with Marshmello and Amy Allen, but she didn’t think anything from that session fit her band. JT Daly told Gunn, “Seriously, trust me. We can really transform the song and make it something really cool.” Gunn talks about the lyrics of the song being influenced by a book she read about hallucinations. She applied this concept of the mind tricking itself when thinking about a break up. The psychological effect of the mind saying it’s over one minute, but the feeling creeping in the next. It’s a temptation to call off the break up. Gunn also dug into her love of the supernatural. She said that this song shows the “supernatural versus reality verses the physical world.” The music video was directed by Yhellow, a visual arts company in Los Angeles, and is visually stunning. The company has made videos for the Deftones, Mastadon, Neck Deep, Nessa Barrett, and Santana ft. Young Jeezy. Pvris worked with the company again for other videos during the Hallucinations/ Use Me album cycle to create trippy videos.

    NEW SENSATIONS, SWEET TEMPTATIONS. When I was in high school, our pastor brought in a “former rock star” to speak to the church about how everything in rock music is satanic, even Christian rock. This probably failed musician showed slides of stills from music videos and concert footage from the ’70s and ’80s and pointed out the satanic symbolism hidden in plain sight. There was a story about getting high and meeting with some manager who happened to be the devil who made a promise to “make him as famous as Ozzy Osbourne.” He didn’t get into why Christian rock was evil, he just said, “they use the same beats. You see, it’s the syncopated rhythm that hypnotizes you.” He went on to explain syncopation. I just left the church service angry. Having studied some music theory, I wondered, at what point in music history did music become evil? The video for today’s song uses a lot of occult symbolism. It would have scared the hell out of me from enjoy this band’s music if I saw this video in high school. From Pastor Jim’s polarizing sermons on everything from Harry Potter to Pokemon to not voting  that I grew up listening to made me think that the world was more nuanced. Or we can just start a Marie Kondo-style spiritual purge, throwing everything away that might be evil. 

    Check out my updated 2022+ playlist, substituting Pvris’s “Death of Me” for “Hallucinations.”


    Acoustic version:

    Stripped down version:

  • "Cold Air" by Acceptance + Reaction to When We Were Young Festival Announcement+ Playlist, Thursday, January 20, 2022

    Yesterday, I woke up to an announcement in my Instagram feed: a dream concert in Las Vegas later this year in October. Headlined by My Chemical Romance and Paramore, and featuring over 60 emo and punk bands over the span of one day, this one-day event is quite mind-blowing. Of course there’s no way I’ll be in Vegas on October 22nd, but this is pretty much my dream concert, other than Cornerstone magically resurrecting. In fact, the concert line-up seems a little too good to be true for many scene fans, leading to online speculation that this is the Emo Fyre festival. I thought it would be fun today to make a playlist for this festival with one song representing each band. I thought it would be fun also to see 1) how many bands I’ve talked about in my blog post, 2) how many I haven’t listened to in years, 3)how many I’m only kind of aware of, and 4)how many I’ve never heard of. And that’s the order we’ll proceed. First of all, I’m sad that Las Vegas-based band The Killers aren’t playing. Although they’ve never been classified with the emo scene, “When You Were Young,” “When We Were Young,” right? Anyway, here’s the Spotify playlist:

    I’ll probably run out of energy as I go through this list, and of course the lineup is subject to change. With the bands I’d never heard of, I simply added the first song that came up on Spotify. So, let’s get into it:

    Tier 1: Bands I’ve blogged about:

    1. “Cold Air” by Acceptance, the song of the day.

    2. “Ain’t It Fun” by Paramore, the co-headliner of the festival.

    3. “Futures” by Jimmy Eat World, also a headlining act.

    4. “Move Along” by The All-American Rejects. 


    The official poster to the below:

    5. “Death of Me” by Pvris

    6. “Island” (Float Away) by The Starting Line

    7. “Two Graves” by Anberlin

    All but Pvris I’ve written about multiple times. I chose the most relevant song I blogged about. “Ain’t It Fun” was Paramore’s biggest hit, though it was not their most Emo song.

    Tier 2: Bands I haven’t listened to lately, or haven’t blogged about.

    8. “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance is maybe their biggest song.

    9. “I’m with You” by Avril Lavigne. She’s had her ups and downs as an artist, Avril Lavigne certainly was a powerhouse of an influence on women in rock in the 21st century. Of course “Sk8er Boy” or “Complicated” were bigger hits, but I chose to go with listenability over hits with this one.

    10. “Cute Without the ‘E’”(Cute from the Team) by Taking Back Sunday. You don’t get more emo than this song.

    11. “Movin’ Right Along” by Alkaline Trio. Maybe not their biggest hit, but it’s how I know them, from Muppets: The Green Album, a rock tribute to the Muppets.
    12. “Racist, Sexist Boy” by The Linda Lindas almost made song of the day last year. It’s not ear candy, but certainly worth a watch on YouTube. Be sure to check out my AAPI Heritage playlist.

    13. “Miss Murder” by AFI
    14. “Doomed” by Bring Me the Horizon
    15. “Vindicated” by Dashboard Confessional

    17. “Blank Space” by I Prevail comes from Punk Goes Pop, Volume 6 . Many of these groups became known because of a punk-rock cover of a pop song. 
    18. “Love Drunk” by Boys Like Girls. Speaking of Taylor Swift, this group had a duet with the then teen star. 
    19. “Duality” by Bayside. I checked out this band after I heard that they were on the Cities tour with Anberlin and Jonezetta. I listened to The Walking Wounded most. 
    20. “Becoming the Bull” by Atreyu. A metal-core band that had a bit of mainstream success in the mid- ’00s
    21. “Changing” by Saosin. By the band’s third album, their original lead singer rejoined the group.
    22. “Don’t Trust Me” by 3Oh!3 is the douchebag anthem of 2008. The video is…well. And it’s especially offensive to Hellen Keller. Moving on.
    23. “Check Yes, Juliet” by We the Kings. Lazy lit-rock, yes. But what else is going to (shamefully) bring you back to 2007. Surprisingly, the band has other albums.

    24. “Saying Sorry” by Hawthorne Heights. This band isn’t huge like My Chem. Romance, but they’re certainly well-respected.

    25. “Face Down” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. According to an interview with Shane Told, mentioned later, on Lead Singer Syndrome, this band strategically crossed over to Christian Rock later in their career. 



    Tier 3: Bands I’ve heard of, but I can’t name a single one of their songs.
     

    26. “The Taste of Ink” by The Used. Yes, I’m a bad emo kid.

    28. “King for a Day” by Pierce the Veil ft. Kellin Quinn. “Oversleeping like a dog on the floor.”
    29. “Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most” by Dance Gavin Dance. This band expands the genre to a poppier direction.  This song comes from their 2008 self-titled album.

    30. “In the End” by Black Veil Brides. They’re kind of a polarizing band. Their dark aesthetic is perhaps stereotype-making. But are they the real deal? There’s an interesting episode with their frontman, Andy Black on Lead Singer Syndrome.
    31. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Ice Nine Kills. On the list of band concepts that are cool but not for me, Ice Nine Kills’ horror-film-inspired punk/emo/screamo would come in the top ten. This spooky Elvis cover, is kind of cool, though. Perfect for a horror film set in an alternate timeline.





    32. “Can’t Be Saved” by Senses Fail. Album covers like this (pictured to the left) made me very hesitant to embrace Emo as a genre fully when I was a teen. 
    33. “Miserable At Best” by Mayday Parade. I’ve listened to this sad-boy album a few times, but I can’t remember it.
    34. “Into Your Arms” by The Maine from their 2008 record, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. From a cursory listen, this is a band I could have gotten into. I’ll have to listen to them some more.

    35. “My Heroine” by Silverstein. I’m a fan of lead singer Shane Told’s Lead Singer Syndrome podcast, but I’ve never listened to his music. Weird, right?

    36. “First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes

    37. “Moaning Lisa Smile” by Wolf Alice. This band comes highly recommended by the critics. One of my favorite theory YouTubers, David Bennett Piano, placed Wolf Alice’s Blue Weekend in his best of the year.  I guess they’re huge in the UK.

    38. “If You Can’t Hang” by Sleeping with Sirens
    39. “Until the Day I Die” by Story of the Year. I’ve definitely listened to this album, Page Avenue, but I couldn’t hum a single song from it. Fun fact, the band recorded one of their albums with Aaron Sprinkle.
    41. “Came Out Swinging” by The Wonder Years

    Tier 4: Bands I heard about for the first time today. 

    42. “Drunk Drivers/ Killer Whales” by Car Seat Headrest. This seems more like indie music than punk/emo/screamo, so it’s kind of a nice change up. Of course we can call Death Cab for Cutie and David Bazaan emo. We certainly call Dashboard Confessional emo. So, I guess these guys fit.

    43. “Angels & Demons” by jxdn. This is the most mainstream-pop sounding artist so far. Despite the trap beats, there’s definitely a scene-sound in the mix. A twenty-one-year-old Chattanooga-native, jxdn got famous thanks to Tik Tok. And guess what? This track was produced by Travis Barker like every punk/emo/rap song is these days.

    44. “Clairvoyant” by The Story So Far is the band’s first acoustic ballad. Their second and third most popular songs are also acoustic. Their 4th and 5th song, I guess sound more like their original style.

    45. “Counting Worms” by Knocked Loose up-and-coming hardcore band. From their 2016 album Laugh Tracks.
    46. “Edward 40hands” by Mom Jeans. Warning: Spotify link NSFW, but funny. What a band name! Check out the link for the SNL clip.
    47. “A Part of Me” by Neck Deep ft. Laura Whiteside. Take some voice lessons, dude. Blink 182/Angels & Airways at their worst. Oh well, it’s only punk rock.


    48. “Lonely” by Palaye Royale more gothic aesthetic 
    49. “I Disagree” by Poppy
    50. “i hope ur miserable until ur dead” by Nessa Barrett. This song is like a rawer “good 4 u.”This song comes from her album, pretty poison. 
    51. “Ape Dos Mil” by Glassjaw
    52. “21st Century Vampire” by LILHUDDY
    53. “Lovers Rock” by TV Girl from the album French Exit. 

    55. “Secrets” by State Champs
    56. “Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die” by Four Year Strong from their 2007 album Rise or Die Trying. Chunky guitars with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and gang vocals. Next.

    57. “overwhelmed” by Royal & the Serpent. Ryan Santiago goes professionally by this moniker.

    58. “Love Like Woe” by The Ready Set
    59. “Walk Like a Zombie” by Horrorpops a kind of gothic take on rock ‘n’ roll/rockabilly.
    female fronted hard rock group with 158,000+ monthly listeners. Maybe this is one to watch.
    61. “i will wait” by Prentiss

    And that’s the sampler. Happy listening!