Bright Eyes’ elegiac I Will be Grateful For This Day, a deep cut rarity never included on an official album release, is one of the most powerful tracks in their considerable catalogue. Featuring an against-brand electronic dance beat, lead singer/songwriter Conor Oberst waxes nostalgic about people’s he’s left behind in his home town of Omaha, Nebraska. In its most poignant passage, he describes a friend who has since departed as a result of an overdose:
I had a friend who changed his name
But couldn’t change himself
Never quite figured out
How to deal with what life had dealt
He put a needle in his arm to calm his handsome hell
Who would’ve imagined it
Could’ve worked out so well?
Now he’s a shape that moves
Like echoes through my empty room
It’s an especially relatable story to depression sufferers, even a fantasy for some — to stumble upon an escape so effective and permanent, then live on forever in beautiful song. But this particular song is more about the devastating wake of their choice, the ones they leave behind; the best they can do is choose to keep going, and to be grateful for each new morning they draw breath.
In brighter times I hope to frame these playlists around a more upbeat theme — maybe the delta breeze will carry better feelings with it once this long, cruel, Sacramento summer ends.
Something I remember annoying Liberal types say after the Trump inauguration was “at least we’d get some good protest music” — a typical response from anyone whose material reality isn’t affected by the party in charge. It turns out very little of that ever materialized, as the revolutionary energy of musical artists from, say, the 1960’s, has been swallowed whole by capitalism’s gaping maw. So when a protest song comes around, and it’s actually good, as in the case of Margaret Glaspy’s My Body My Choice? Uh yeah, I’m gonna include it here. A timely track whose focus is only partially on Roe, Glassy paints the picture of several individuals making choices about their bodies for themselves, strumming slowly over a bass boosted acoustic guitar. It’s a lovely way to kick off the mix, I think.
Maggie Rogers’ Shatter plays next, a track which bristles against a scratchy bassline, crackling with pent up energy before exploding into a driving folk-rock anthem. I can’t pin down any one theme for this song but except to say it embodies the feeling of being freed from the shackles of lockdown. In one of her best ever vocal performances, Maggie belts her head off the entire second half of the track — Florence Welch’s ethereal backing vocals propel exhilarating moments as when Maggie belts “I don’t really care if it nearly kills me / feel it in my fist like it’s time to move / quick give me a glass / I’ma watch it shatter / I’d do anything just to be with you”.
Calvin Harris’ New Money is a rare highlight from his abysmal Funk Wav Bounces Vol 2 release; an especially disappointing flop considering that his Funk Wav Bounces Vol 1 album didn’t just dominate but defined summer of 2016.
It’s kind of hard to understand the larger message of Brent Faiyaz’ GRAVITY without having heard his new release, WASTELAND, a concept album which basically spins the narrative of Brent impregnating his girlfriend and then forgetting about her in the drug addled haze of a world tour. Sort of a cautionary tale about how easy it is to lose your head in the face of wealth and vice. Or something. The cut sports an excellent guest verse from Tyler, The Creator, who compares his girlfriend’s coochie to a well stocked bakery before cutting himself and ending the verse on a down note “fuck”.
Dance Now ratchets the energy back up and serves as a perfect showcase for J.I.D’s talent, both in technical precision and artistic lyricism. JID gets spiritual over a trunk rattling dirty South beat, invoking everyone from Satan to Jah to Dorothy Johnston over three minutes of relentless spitfire bars. Paparazzi is a standout from the Yo Gotti / Moneybagg Yo / CMG collaborative tape Gangsta Art, the whole of which goes super hard. This track in particular crashes in with the force of a Mack truck, allowing each rapper to slither all over the skeletal beat.
Good Love represents a totally unexpected collaboration between the City Girls and Usher, of all people, who lays down a long, immaculate hook which wouldn’t have sounded out of place in his mid 00’s heyday. In contrast, the Girls’ lyrics are much more blunt, as Caresha brags about her visible coochie print while J.T. revels in her cunty-ness. CUFF IT keeps the sexy going, one of the more obviously Donna Summer influenced tracks from her uniquely addictive, disco-tinted RENAISSANCE. I’m only including a couple of its songs here because the album should really be listened through in full; many Bey fans would be mad I even put these songs in a playlist, out of order with their fellow RENAISSANCE tracks, with its note-perfect transitions between tracks. I think I’ve sequenced this mix in a way that it’s not jarring, but decide for yourself.
Her comes from Megan Thee Stallion’s surprise album Traumazine, a project which takes a lot of chances sonically, most of which pay off. Her sounds like nothing she’s never made before, an effortless melding of her aggressive Texan flow and 90’s style dance beat. I don’t use TikTok so I’m not sure if this song has hit yet or not, but it’s destined to be remembered as one of her upper echelon tracks.
Rico Nasty (government name Maria Kelly) is one of my favorite rappers currently doing it, and has released so much quality material over the past couple months that I had to seriously cut back on how many of her tracks I was including here. Blow Me comes from her new album Las Ruinas, a slinky, hyper sexual cut which turns down the tempo but retains her signature aggression (“I get six figures for a concert / you need to blend better fix your countour”) and sense of humor (“he go down under / g’day mate!”).
The Kid LAROI teams up with Fivio Foreign for the insanely catchy Paris To Tokyo, which builds off a sample from 2010’s Rocketeer by Far East Movement and Ryan Tedder. Remember them? No? Good. Fivio’s verse is particularly entertaining due to unintentionally funny lines like “whenever I see her / she comin’ horny” and “we order piña coladas for breakfast”.
Banks’ pulsating Holding Back and Odesza’s Forgive Me form an electropop dance floor double header, both featuring grimy synths and sweetly pitched-up vocal lines. Final Fantasy from Lil Uzi Vert is a bit more unorthodox, structured around a repetitive refrain and frankly astral production. I know it’s weird but just tell me you’re not rocking your head along while Uzi bellows “final fantasy / she can’t last with me / final fantasy / this a trilogy”. If it has anything to do with the legendary Final Fantasy series of video games, I’m not hearing it here.
Things calm down for a minute with tinker bell is overrated, the first collaboration from Beabadoobee and PinkPantheress. It twinkles along sweetly for a minute or so before giving way to a much higher BPM pop-rock-dance confection. Like the best tracks from either artist, it’s impossible to get out of your head once you’ve heard it.
Get comfortable when you listen to the next two trucks, with each clocking in at 5+ minutes, so baby they do take their time. love is a new release, but there’s a reason it sounds like classic, Man On The Moon era Kid Cudi — the song was actually uploaded on SoundCloud in 2015, but not officially released until Ratatat (they collab’d together on Pursuit of Happiness), who provide the sublime instrumental, cleared its use. The Last Goodbye is the eponymous track from Odesza’s new album, with smoky, piano bar vocals that ping pong against a slowly uncoiling beat. It’s long, but by the time it gets going I never want it to end.
Matchbox Twenty’s 3 AM is a song that dotted my childhood, when that sort of pop rock played on every radio station. On the surface it’s nonsensical to the point of being meaningless – think any song that the band Train has ever made. But it’s actually written from the factual perspective of a pre-teenaged Rob Thomas (lead singer), as he watches the mother with whom he has a contentious relationship slowly die of cancer. It’s a heavy topic but it generates the kind of passion which makes the song worth listening to in the first place.
Youngen is an uncharacteristically bouncy track from Rod Wave’s sad ass Beautiful Mind album, as the singer takes a few minutes to celebrate his success, even including audio from news footage of one of his packed shows. Jack Harlow more than pulls his weight on self assured guest verse; I don’t know what it is with this guy but his feature verses tend to easily outshine anything he does on his own records — see Industry Baby.
Burning is a highbrow little banger of a rock song, sounding something like The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s by way of James Bond sountrack, with its grimy bass and sharp violins. The lyrics evoke sinking cities and burning worlds — which is to say, manmade climate change. Based on this track and their previous single, I’m going to take the educated guess that their forthcoming album Cool It Down will be a pointed message about global warming. Speaking of soundtracks, Charli XCX’s Hot Girl is the rare example of a soundtrack song being good – in this case, it’s the main track for A24’s Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. Charli’s cockier than ever detailing her expensive taste over metallic drums and revved engine sound effects, an intentional callback to the sound of her Vroom Vroom EP, the project that took Charli from generic pop girly to avant garde superstar.
Beyonce’s HEATED is apparently co-authored by Drake, who went so far as to release a demo of the track with his vocals, months before RENAISSANCE dropped. The real headline here is the track’s back half, as Bey unleashes a previously unheard register for a crazy ass verse (“face card never declines / MY GOD!!”) that’s easily one of the most thrilling moments in music of the year. Flo Milli’s Pay Day is mean and cute (that’s her brand) and her second collaboration with Rico Nasty. Milli must have known what she had with Rico’s verse here, because she lets the beat build for an interminable length before you hear that telltale “RICO!” After that all bets are off, with Rico running rampage all over the track. Shoutout Conor Oberst as Rico raps “he top me off like icing / oh my god / think he was from Nebraska / Omaha”.
Newcomer Doechii goes all the way off with Bitch I’m Nice, a track which spans only a minute thirty but rips through seemingly dozens of bars, a good example of the cocaine energy she alludes to in this very song. Birthday Girl is an irresistibly catchy track from Lizzo’s long-gestating SPECIAL album. And it’s genius. If you make a song about a person’s birthday, and you make it good, that shit will get streamed endlessly over bday wish IG stories and what have you.
I’ve Got A Friend and I’ll Be Your Friend are a very…well, friendly double feature to play out the mix. The former is a massive highlight from Maggie Rogers’ excellent new album Surrender. It’s a very raw recording, peppered with ambient sounds like giggles and the rolling of empty bottles. The force of Maggie’s voice multiplies with every stanza, as though gaining confidence from a friend who “masturbates to Rob Pattinson staring at the wall” or “handed me a shot / and taught me to dance / when the love inside was not”.
Bright Eyes’ I’ll Be Your Friend (exactly as esoteric as I’ll Be Your Friend, mentioned earlier, but more listenable for a casual consumer) rounds out the mix. It’s an uptempo, bitterly sincere, achingly frank ode to those tenuous relationships that forge between hard drug and alcohol abusers in the small hours of the evening. The kind that feels totally real… until the next morning. Energetic horn sections (recorded live, I think?) contrast the demo-like quality of the vocal recording, as if to illustrate the overall theme of the gilded life of a drug addled a’rtiste’. Glamorous, even beautiful from a distance, corroded and rotten inside.
The cover art is Agony (2018), oil on canvas by Miles Johnston
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