Seems like every part of our lives in some way links back to the election and its implications. This is not a post-election mix, but I've been very particular about music since November. It hasn't felt like a casual decision. This mix is a reflection of that.
I've needed lifting and action and movement -- and sometimes that comes in the form of D.R.A.M., my current pop favorite who is full of charm and sweetness and happy dance songs; or Harry Belafonte, whose Day-O song came back to me in late November and who is now our nightly routine during bathtime and it is just the purest route for joy; to Mahalia Jackson who seems to let me occupy a space that is just as aching as it is liberated.
I've been playing music louder, dancing a bit more at home, and feeling at times more dependent on it. Also yelling a good deal. I hope you guys get some good juju from anything on here. It's been my medicinal concoction and kept me moving (somewhere/something/around). xo
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The Wild Reeds / Where I'm Going
Maybe unexpected? I saw them live and they were so appealing, charged, beautiful sounding.
More Info from Last.FM
The Wild Reeds is an American trio based in Los Angeles comprising Sharon Silva, Kinsey Lee and Mackenzie Howe A three-part harmony-driven band, the trio has toured California multiple times playing festivals such as Make Music Pasadena, Echo Park Rising, Claremont Folk Festival, Lightning in a Bottle, and successfully captured large audiences every Monday night in December with their Holiday Residency at The Satellite. In 2014 the band released their formal debut album Read more on Last.fm more...
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Black Box / Everybody Everybody
Drove off the lot with my new (used) station wagon last month that I bought by myself on Super Bowl Sunday at a Ferrari dealership in rural Oregon and this is the first song I played as I drove home.
More Info from Last.FM
Black Box was an Italian house music group popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The members of the group included a trio made up of a club DJ (Daniele Davoli), a classically trained clarinet teacher (Valerio Semplici), and a keyboard and electronic music "wiz" (Mirko Limoni). The three created an image for the Black Box act using French fashion model Katrin Quinol as its album/singles cover art and supposed lead singer in all of the group's music videos. Read more on Last.fm more...
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D.R.A.M. / Outta Sight Outta Mind
I wish it didn't have a weird outro but this song is so chipper and yummy and fun.
More Info from Last.FM
Rapper, singer, and producer D.R.A.M. (which stands for "Does. Real. Ass. Music.") is best known for his 2016 summer hit "Broccoli." Born Shelley Marshaun Massenburg-Smith in Germany, the Virginia-based artist released his debut mixtape, #1 Epic Summer, in 2014. It featured the single "Cha Cha," a club-worthy cut that was a regional hit. In 2015, he broke on a national scale when Cleveland R&B radio station Z 107.9 FM began playing the cut as their "weekend warmer Read more on Last.fm more...
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Maggie Rogers / Dog Years
Noah put me on to Maggie on his mix and I'm generally so just down. Enjoyed her whole EP.
More Info from Last.FM
Maggie Rogers (born Margaret Debay Rogers on April 25, 1994) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer from Easton, Maryland. She rose to fame after her song "Alaska" was played to Pharrell Williams during a master class at New York University. Her songs "Alaska" and "Dog Years" placed numbers 64 and 173 on Triple J Hottest 100, 2016, respectively. After the Pharrell video went viral, several different record labels tried to sign Rogers. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Mahalia Jackson / In the Upper Room
I played this a lot in the evening in 45's first two weeks. I cried a bit to it but it also fires me up in a huge, real way. MLK Jr would call her in the middle of the night sometimes to ask her to sing to him over the phone. I mean...
More Info from Last.FM
Mahalia Jackson (October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel". Jackson became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world and was heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist. She was described by entertainer Harry Belafonte as "the single most powerful black woman in the United States". She recorded about 30 albums (mostly for Columbia Records) during her career Read more on Last.fm more...
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The Wild Tchoupitoulas / Meet De Boys on De Battlefront
This is an old record I got from my parents. Apparently this record was the ONLY thing that made me stop crying when I was an infant.
More Info from Last.FM
The Wild Tchoupitoulas, a group of Mardi Gras Indians formed in the early 1970's by George Landry, joined with New Orleans funk band, The Meters and recorded an album, featuring the "call-and-response" style chants typical of Mardi Gras Indians. Vocals were provided by Landry, as "Big Chief Jolly", as well as other members of his Mardi Gras tribe. Backing band was provided in part by members of the Meters. The album also features Landry's nephews, the Neville Brothers, providing harmonies and some instrumentation. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Harry Belafonte / Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)
I mean, it's Harry Belafonte, master of feel good and do right!
More Info from Last.FM
Harold George Belafonte, Jr. (born March 1, 1927 in New York, New York, United States) is an African-American musician, actor and social activist of Jamaican ancestry. One of the most successful Jamaican musicians in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style in the 1950s. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing the "Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes. Read more on Last.fm more...
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D.R.A.M. / Cute
The acapella version of this on Tiny Desk (look it up!) sold me on D.R.A.M. and this tune. I know, two by one artist, that feels like a strange mix-making crime but I'm also saying fuck-it about a lot of small potatoes these days.
More Info from Last.FM
Rapper, singer, and producer D.R.A.M. (which stands for "Does. Real. Ass. Music.") is best known for his 2016 summer hit "Broccoli." Born Shelley Marshaun Massenburg-Smith in Germany, the Virginia-based artist released his debut mixtape, #1 Epic Summer, in 2014. It featured the single "Cha Cha," a club-worthy cut that was a regional hit. In 2015, he broke on a national scale when Cleveland R&B radio station Z 107.9 FM began playing the cut as their "weekend warmer Read more on Last.fm more...
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The Friendly Seven / Thank You For Bringing Me Out
I wish I was better about finding the gospel I love because when I find it, I LOVE IT.
More Info from Last.FM
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Bob Marley & The Wailers / I Made a Mistake
Longtime fan of early Wailers, this particular one has felt right lately.
More Info from Last.FM
Bob Marley and the Wailers (BMW) was a Jamaican reggae band 1974-1981) lead by Rastafarian Bob Marley (1945-1981) when Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the old band, The Wailers. BMW, consisted of Marley himself as song writer and lead singer, 6-7 regular musicians in Wailers Band and the I Threes backup female vocalists. It is the most prosperous reggae band ever with +75 million record sales, known for songs like One Love, I Shot The Sheriff, Natural Mystic. Stir It Up, No Woman No Cry, Exodus and Get Up Stand Up. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Nina Simone / Mississippi Goddam
Always Nina. She's always in there.
More Info from Last.FM
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (21 February 1933 – 21 April 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone, was an American singer-songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, soul, folk, rhythm and blues, gospel, and pop. Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on 21st February 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA, one of eight children. Read more on Last.fm more...
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