Ok, Side A was a bit dour, wouldn’t you agree? But c’mon, it’s been an especially shit Monday, so let’s flush it and get on with the week. There are adventures to be be had, so let’s remember the great times, and try to learn from the bad ones (*cough* Gun *cough* Control *cough). Now we can poke our heads into the mailbag and see what’s going on there, and what’s catching our ears lately.
“No Roots” – Alice Merton
This song is heating up, give it a couple of months and it’ll be one of those songs that is ubiquitous. You’ll be hearing this song so much, that you’ll wonder why radio is playing this tune so much. Merton’s voice has shades of Florence Welch, but holds a fair amount of crossover appeal to boot. Buckle up kids, this isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
“Thunder” – Imagine Dragons
Say what you will about these guys, they stormed onto the alt rock scene and never left. They do bear some aural similarities to another like-minded band in X-Ambassadors, as both bands craft these huge pop-tinged rock tunes. While I tend to temper expectations with this LV act, they consistently exceed it and are constantly played by rock radio. This is another massively catchy arena rock jam.
“Last of the Real Ones” – Fall Out Boy
For a band to weather the sort of backlash that Fall Out Boy has over the course of its more than 12 years, it’s a huge feat to manage that and still be releasing relevant and edgy material. “Last Of The Real Ones” shows that FOB are just as fiery and energized as they were when “Sugar, You’re Going Down” was blowing up. Hit play and go for a run, this tune will keep you moving.
“Up All Night” – Beck
The video alone is enough to love this song, as it flips the damsel in distress trope on its outdated head, and shows our young heroine strapping a suit of armor on, wading through the war zone of an unsupervised high school/early university party and scooping up her ultra-inebriated boyfriend. The whole time, the latest track from Beck is pumping in the background, a synthed-up effort that sounds every bit the partner to the Daft Punk/Pharrell Williams track “Get Lucky”. I’m hoping this track will lead us to Beck’s latest album, but for now I’ll keep this tune on repeat.
“Don’t Get Captured” – Run the Jewels
El-P and Killer Mike are one of the most potent duos in modern Hip-Hop. They are both silver-tongued emcees who ply their wordsmith craft over some of the most interesting and engaging beats hop-hop has to offer.
“1-800-273-8255” – Logic feat. Alessia Cara / Khalid
Killer Mike and El-P aren’t the only emcees with a social conscience. Logic has released one of the most heartfelt and honest tracks in recent memory, and the video is even more heartbreaking. We live in a world these days where persecution is on the rise, and not on a downward turn; as such we have a legion of folks who feel persecuted on the regular, and feel that ending it all is their only option. Logic tells a tale where there are other options, where picking up the phone and connecting to another human being could be life-changing. The key information isn’t limited to a tag at the end of the video, instead it is employed throughout as the title of the song is that of the national suicide prevention program.
If you feel like you’re at the end of your rope, remember there are folks out there you can talk with.
Check out Side A of the Mixdown here.
