Monday Mixtape
Featuring Wilco, NOVA ONE, Carly Rae Jepsen, Stef Chura, The Greeting Committee, Digable Planets, Turnstile + BADBADNOTGOOD, and The Japanese House
Howdy and happy Monday! I’m fresh off a work trip to Austin and am back with some new tunes for the week. Whenever I go on a trip I usually take that as an opportunity to make a new playlist to listen to while I’m there. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t do that this time…I did end up taking advantage of Southwest’s in-flight movies though, and I watched Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. on the way to Austin, and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women on the way back. Both were very much worth my time and I can’t stop thinking about them.
Anyway, I’ve got a couple of tracks below, new and old, to share with you this week.
If you’re reading this and the playlist above ^ doesn’t match what I’m writing about in the rest of this post, you might be reading an old post. Archived tracks from past playlists will live on the Monday Mixtape Archive found here!
Without further ado, here’s what’s been in my rotation lately:
Either Way by Wilco
Wilco is a weekly staple for me. This album in particular, however, is one of the few albums I have downloaded on Spotify, which makes it a go-to for things like flights. There is something magical about listening to “Either Way” while on a flight as it takes off:
“Maybe the sun will shine today
The clouds will blow away
Maybe I won't feel so afraid
I will try to understand either way”
It’s a beautiful, simple song. If you like this song in particular, I can’t recommend the album, enough. There’s a reason I have it downloaded!
Reminds me of: Thirteen by Big Star, Sixteen Blue by The Replacements, Looking for a Sign by Beck, and The Delicate Place by Spoon
feeling ugly by NOVA ONE
When I first listened to this I thought the voice I was hearing was Alaina Moore’s from the band Tennis. But I was wrong! NOVA ONE is the project of Roz Raskin, a solo performer who “examines queerness, feminity, and gender through a gorgeously moody ‘60s-inspired pop lense.” I fell in love with their sound almost instantly.
“won’t you please release me
i’m caught between love and grief
or just pass me another drink
so i don’t have to sit and think
i keep tripping over cracks
and there’s no time to take it back
i’m feeling ugly
feeling ugly
and your thinking of me”
Reminds me of: My Emotions Are Blinding by Tennis, Dayglow Bimbo by TOPS, and Get In Line by Hannah Cohen
Kollage by Carly Rae Jepsen
Maybe it’s just my algorithm (because it knows I love this album) but this song has been all over my Tiktok. I am a recent CRJ stan — I don’t know why it took me so long to get hooked, but I listened to her The Loneliest Time album that came out last year for the first time a few months ago and I fell in love. Released this year, The Loveliest Time was released as a companion piece to the formerly released album.
“Kollage” blew up on TikTok and had hundreds of users drawing comparisons to Men I Trust, Kali Uchis, and Crumb. Very lo-fi and vibey.
“I'm still in the dark
Paralyzed emotions
Lost in wintertime
Did I do it to myself?
It's hard to know for sure”
The vibes are there, for sure.
Reminds me of: Show Me How by Men I Trust, All Mine by Kali Uchis, and Crackin by Crumb
All I Do is Lie by Stef Chura
This is an introduction to Stef Chura for me; during my first listen, I thought the voice + sound sounded similar to a grungy (grungier?) Courtney Barnett and Indigo De Souza.
At one point the song fades out making you believe you’re listening to a completely new song. I thought I was (I wasn’t) and it struck me as unusual — Chura explains the reasoning behind that decision in an interview with Columbus Monthly:
“All I Do Is Lie” fades out at the 3:34 mark, leading listeners to think the next two minutes are an entirely different song (they’re not). As Chura explained, that was intentional, and is a small nod to the indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, whose lead singer, Will Toledo, produced Midnight.
“[Toledo’s] songs will do that. They'll be like 13 minutes long and they'll weave in all these different parts,” she said. “That was an experiment, because that was a part of another demo that I actually sent, and we took it out and reworked it and had it be the end of 'All I Do is Lie.'”
“Baby, you would like me
If you'd never met me, I'm
Depleting, conquer and forget me, I am
Depleting, conquer and forget me, I am
Depleting, conquer and forget me”
I haven’t checked out the full album, but it’s been added to my Listen to this Next playlist!
Reminds me of: Crippling Self-Doubt and A General Lack of Confidence by Courtney Barnett, and Die/Cry by Indigo De Souza
Can I Leave Me Too? by The Greeting Committee
I remember my introduction to The Greeting Committee came from a YouTube recommendation a few years ago. The song was “Is This It?” and I thought that their sound reminded me a lot of something I would hear in the indie-sphere circa the early 2010s.
The opening lyrics to “Can I Leave Me Too?” go like this:
“Why does everybody drive the same car you do?
I'm scared of myself without you
I'll change my ways for a few days if it means you'll stay
I'm filthy, creepy, clingy for you always
If you go, can I go with you?
If you leave me, can I leave me too?”
Painfully and hilariously accurate, the song showcases the aftermath of the singer’s breakup, how they find reminders of their ex everywhere they go. Listening to them sing “Why does everybody drive the same car you do?” audibly made me laugh because I’ve been there — personally, I’ve spent a lot of post-breakups seeing my exes’ cars and wondering the same thing. It’s relatable, catchy, and a bop.
Reminds me of: Out Loud by Remember Sports, Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers, Safe to Say by Said the Whale
Escapism (Gettin’ Free) by Digable Planets
We’re going back to the 90’s for this one. Digable Planets is a staple in the jazz + hip-hop fusion world. Put beautifully by Pitchfork, Reachin’ (A New Refutation Of Time And Space) is “an album about freedom—from convention, from oppression, from the limits imposed by the space-time continuum.”
I couldn’t find much about “Escapism (Gettin’ Free)” in particular, but I did find this write-up that delves into the meaning of the track:
“The chorus, "Get free, get free y'all," serves as a mantra, encouraging listeners to break free from societal constraints and find liberation through music and self-expression. It reinforces the idea that music, particularly funk, is a universal language that unites people.”
I’m begging you to listen to this with headsets or earbuds — Butterfly’s “Funk is you funk is me funk is us funk is free” section will sound like it’s doing laps around your head. It’s a very cool vocal effect that makes me smile every time.
“The ancestors grin cause rap is gettin' fat
To some of them it's grim cause it's youth be havin' gats
So save all the cares, let down your nappy hairs
Cause the beats is givin' life like air
The flyest fly bids is swellin' the inside
The locest loc kids left they Glocks in the ride
Hoodlums in the house gettin' they flams on
Cause even peace got some clout when the funky jams on”
Reminds me of: Find a Way by A Tribe Called Quest, Corner Story by Del the Funky Homosapien, I Like It (I Wanna Be Where You Are) by Grand Puba, Del by Hieroglyphics, and Doo Wop (That Thing) by Ms. Lauryn Hill
Underwater Boi by Turnstile + BADBADNOTGOOD
A surprise that came to me last Friday!! Turnstile and BADBADNOTGOOD teamed up to create 3 remixes of songs that came from Turnstile’s Glow On album, one I adore and was hooked on all of last year. I saw them live with Joel and friends in St. Pete last year and we still talk about how much of an incredible show it was to this day.
“Underwater Boi” is one of my favorites from Glow On and this remix is a funky, jazzy version of it. Also — I’m just now finding out (as I type this) that Julien Baker featured on the original version?? Wild.
“Fallen by the wayside
Never on the timeline
I just need to know I'm
Working for the big prize
When I get to heaven, will I know?”
Reminds me of: Video game music (in the best way), WEIGHT OFF by KAYTRANDA + BADBADNOTGOOD, Another Lover by Little Dragon, Coffin Nails by MF DOOM
Touching Yourself by The Japanese House
It has been 4 long-awaited years since The Japanese House (Amber Mary Bain) put out a new album — and it’s finally here. In The End It Always Does is a breakup album through and through, but it doesn’t necessarily sound like it.
Picture it this way: you’ve been broken up with (or just broke up with someone) and you’re sad (duh) but also painfully self-aware of how raw and real and annoyingly dumb the experience is. You’re ebbing and flowing between crying, laughing, and rolling your eyes. That’s what In The End, It Always Does sounds like. It’s upbeat, funky, and playful (with songs you can’t help but shimmy to) while also being brutally honest and somber.
“Touching Yourself” is reminiscent of the vibes that came with “Maybe You’re The Reason”, a hit from Bain’s 2019 album Good At Falling.
“I had to go into the other room
She sent me something and I can't think about anything else
Guess it could wait 'til a later date
Now I'm picturing you and you're touching yourself
Yourself
Picture your face
I wanna touch you but you're too far away
And when you call me, I'm all over the place now
You think it's different but it's always the same
I wanna touch you, but”
Reminds me of: Maybe You’re the Reason by The Japanese House, Kamikaze by Carly Rae Jepsen, Races by Barrie, Pressure to Party by Julia Jacklin, A Long Walk Home for Parted Lovers by Yumi Zouma
That’s it for this week. Let me know what you think if you end up giving any of these a listen. Hope you enjoy + happy listening!
-Pam