Futurecop! – My Summer Girl Mixtape

I’ve never featured a mixtape, but this one was just way to good.

Put together by 80s enthusiast Futurecop! it’s the perfect blend of old and new going back for generations of kids trying to breathe in their entire summer.

“It was Summer of …., you were in love, everything was perfect ( you take a deep breath with a feeling of happiness and heartache at the same time, remembering those friends, that girl, the adventure) = “My Summer Girl” (a Mixtape By Futurecop!)” from Futurecop!’s Soundcloud page.

Mine was the summer of 2003, and my summer soundtrack consisted pretty primarily of Postal Service as I not only began to fall in love with electronic music, but also with my future wife. As soon as I got to “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” with this mixtape I was transported back in time.

You need to immediately download this, burn it on a cd, and go drive around wherever you live!

A Trip Through My iTunes Library

I’m not really sure at what point my iTunes library became the memoirs of my life.  For as far back as I can remember I’ve loved music, and specifically collecting music.  It all began when my parents bought me a CD player when I was in fifth grade, along with my first CD (Billy Joel’s Storm Front).  As I grew older my musical tastes changed, as did the common media for music.  I went from tapes, to CDs, to burning my own mixtapes via my dad’s CD burner, and finally digital media.  By that point my collection exploded and I was hopelessly hooked to collecting music.

Each album in my iTunes library tells a story.  Whether it be a CD found while scouring my local Hastings on my weekly visit, or an album I downloaded on the recommendation by a friend.  They all remind me of specific times in my life.  Some bad, but mostly good.  Music though has been the foundation that has held it all together, and simply hearing a song while scrolling through my library can take me back to whatever exactly moment and emotion that I have related to it.

I recently have been going back through my library as I moved all my music and subsequently lost a good majority of my album artwork.  My musical OCD will not allow me to put the music on my iPod without having artwork, so I’ve been hard at working going through all 24,756 songs.  This has led to me being reminded of some gems that have been hidden on my iPod for years, so here they are…

Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built

May just might be one of my favorite months.  As a teacher, it means that summer break is so close that I can taste it.  Teachers need a break too!

May also means that it’s warm enough to drive around with the windows down, and not so hot that you feel like you’re melting into your seats.  Now if you’re going to be driving around with your windows down you have to have some perfect loud warm weather music to blast through your speakers.  Who better than those crazy Canadians the Japandroids.  All of theirs songs are meant to be played as loud as possible with no regards to your ear drums.

Enjoy, your inner-teenager will greatly appreciate it!

Atlas Genius – “Trojans”

I know I am totally behind the boat on Atlas Genius.  I finally picked up their debut album When It Was Now, and dang is it good.  It has been on heavy repeat on my iPod, and I’m pretty sure I found one of my go-to albums for the summer.

Ryan Adams – “Wonderwall (Live version)”

I can still remember the first time I heard this Ryan Adams track.  It was way back when I was a freshmen in college, and I could hardly believe it.  Hands down my favorite singer-songwriter covering one of my favorite songs.  It was like a dream come true.

Through the years, I constantly find myself coming back to Ryan Adams.  Whether it’s his Whiskeytown albums or his plethora of solo material, I just can’t get enough.  Every few weeks I find myself listening to one of his albums.  For whatever reason, it really resonates with me.  Might be all the good memories associated with it.

Before my wife and I were married, for my 21st birthday she took me all the way to San Francisco to see Adams play at the Fillmore.  Almost every stage off my adult life Adams has been there for me.

For all the tracks that he has written though, this cover might be one of my favorites.  Way better then the album version, this is just Ryan and his guitar playing the crap out of the track, complete with beat boxing.  It’s the perfect blend of seriousness with a smidge of humor.  Something I think we all need in our lives.

Chiddy Bang – “Never”

It has been a super long time since I’d posted anything, and I’ve finally gotten around to it.  Life has just been super crazy, with the addition of the newest member of my family making her appearance back on April 4th.  We named her Madeline Grace, and she is perfect, beautiful, and wonderful.  Having a newborn again in the house is a bit of an adjustment as I am now recalling what functioning on small amounts of sleep really is.  All of it incredibly worth it though.

The track I’m sharing today is an old Chiddy Bang track off their mixtape Swelly Express.  It’s hands down my favorite track on the mixtape, and even now I just can’t stop listening to it.  With that pitch-shifted hook, and some great lines it is no wonder how Chiddy Bang blew up as quick as they did.  One of my favorite parts about the song though is how Chiddy looks at his life and talks about how he wants to live it in an uncompromising manner.  Chasing his dream and doing it his way, not worrying about what others think.  You also have to love a Harry Potter reference in a hip-hop song.

So here’s to going about life in an uncompromising fashion, focusing on what God has for you instead of getting caught up in what the world has for you.

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Ecovillage – “Before We Knew The Cross”

I came across a new band today called Ecovillage.  They are two from Sweden, and are really making some interesting music.  Filled with some shoegaze and chillwave elements mixed with a little bit of Animal Collective their track “Before We Knew The Cross” really has a lot going on.   The chorus really has some beautiful elements to it, making me come back to it over and over again.  I don’t know if it’s that little bit of a sad element to it with the lyrics,or the guitar chords swirling around in the background.  Regardless these guys are worth checking out.

Mmoths – “Thnx”

The last few weeks I have been giving the Mmoths self-titled EP some heavy listening.  There is just something about the EP that keeps me coming back, especially the track titled “Thnx.”  It doesn’t matter if it’s in my car (as long as my son isn’t riding with me, all he wants to listen to is the Wreck It Ralph soundtrack.  This is an upgrade from the Barney CD he was jamming previous), or with my headphones as I’m getting stuff done at work.

Currently my wife and I are anxiously waiting the arrival of our second child.  With the due date fast approaching on the 30th, not knowing the gender of the baby, chasing down my 3 year old son, and wondering how the new baby is going to affect our family dynamics has kept things moving crazy fast in my life.  This has left me desperate for just a few quiet moments that have been enhanced by listening to “Thnx.”  There is nothing like some ethereal electronic music to give your head the space it needs, and help slow things down.  Even if it’s only for a few minutes.

School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”

The last week or so I’ve been thinking about tweaking the feel of the blog.  While I will continue sharing all of the music that I love, I thought I would make it a little more autobiographical.  Sharing not only what I’ve been listening to, but also the events in my life that happen to be corresponding with the music.  Kind of an intersection of music, faith, and my life.  I just feel like I need to take the blog a new direction, and maybe sharing a bit about my life and who I am might be more interesting/helpful/I’m not really sure what to whoever is reading what I’m writing.  There are plenty of other blogs that sharing music (Check out http://indieshuffle.com, a website I happen to write for) at a much more consistent rate that I just can’t keep up with.

With that, I was doing my daily rounds through Soundcloud when I came across a new track that Teen Daze had put together.  Now I’m not sure if he’s coming out with a new album, or what, but it was to raise awareness for Benjamin Curtis.  Benjamin Curtis is part of the band School of Seven Bells, and was just diagnosed with cancer.  You can check out/help him out on this page right here.  I’m praying for a full recovery for Benjamin as he fights cancer.

It’s always crazy seeing someone young have to fight something like cancer, making you think about your mortality and the world around us.  No matter how deep I get in my walk, I wonder why stuff like this happens.  I’m sure God’s got a bigger and better plan, but it doesn’t make it any less confusing here on earth.

Here’s a track by Benjamin’s band, and here’s to some strength for him as he goes through this “Windstorm.”

Wildlife Control – “Ages Places”

The bi-coastal indie rock partnership that is Wildlife Control just released their brand new track today called “Ages Places,” as they get ready to make an appearance at SXSW.

The track is filled with booming bass and enough indie synth pop to definitely get you moving.  I think one of the coolest things about the song though is the lyrics, especially if you’re a literary nerd.  The lyrics are made up of various modified haiku stanzas.  Pretty genius if you ask me, especially since the lyrics can still be coherent despite this ambitious, poetic lyrical styling.

Their new album doesn’t drop until this summer, but keep your eyes out for these guys.