2019

March 26

For forty-six straight months

I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time building and curating monthly playlists on Spotify. This process has served as a distraction from work, an audio journal for the soundtrack of my life, and a record of tastes made and broken.

Music transports me through time. I consider that relationship worthy of documentation.

Join me as we travel through the March 2019 playlist: MANIACAL

“Daze 22.00” by Flume

After a day of boating on Lake Austin, an exquisite meal at the Salt Lick, and an evening in the Rainey Street drinking establishments, I was introduced to Flume’s remix of “Tennis Court” by Lorde. An all-year jam of 2014. Go listen to it right now, consume the sound engineering marvels this man pioneers, and then patiently wait for the horse at 4:54. To this day, it makes me laugh out loud with joy.

Everyone was dripping wet over Flume’s newest mixtape, “Hi, This Is Flume,” and rightfully so. He’s always on the bleeding edge of sound engineering and it’s highly respectable. Not all of the tracks strike a chord with me, but this one is real nice.

“Fire” by KIDS SEE GHOSTS

All the Kanye madness in the media is tiresome. Yes, he can act nonsensical and yes, he says some ignorant shit. I try not to let that, or any celebrity beef/media drama, detract from the art. My wife and I picked up a “The College Dropout” vinyl on our honeymoon at Requests in Wailuku, Maui. As an early addition to our vinyl collection, it’s getting loops. Naturally, this leads to deeper dives into Kanye West discography. While I drift towards “Late Registration” and “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” I’ve recently given his recent work another listen. This collaboration with Kid Cudi is pretty fire. I say that like I’m surprised, but as just alluded to, Kanye can do little wrong in the music world.

March 17, 2023 update: I don’t support Kanye anymore.

“West Coast” by G-Eazy and Blueface

Caught this slapper while getting ready for work the day it came out. It bangs, simple and plain. This track elevated to a new level later that day when I discovered a college friend and teammate produced the track. JULiA LEWiS, aka Ben Falik, has been absolutely grinding in the music game since I met him in 2006. Love hearing this banger pump through the airwaves. Dedication and hard work pay off, and this is a prime example in my book. Well done, Ben.

“I’ve Been Waiting” by PINES

This was spoon-fed to me by Spotify’s Discover Weekly (DW) feature. Hard not to bounce along to the whispy melody.

“Deep Inside” by Mat Zo

HOLY HEATER! This whole EP is fuego puro, and this song is absolute heat. The first drop hit when I was pouring coffee the morning it was released. This song made me involuntarily wince, nod my head, and spasm with the coffee pot simultaneously. I didn’t get burned but probably should have because of the pure heat blaring through the Play One. It was an immediate addition to this playlist.

I continued through the day listening to new releases and consuming “Shoe Dog” on Audible. The next day, Andrea and I were doing our taxes and this came on again in the next room. Again, that drop hit and I lost control of motion.

“This song is sick. Who is this?” I asked Andrea.

“It’s that new Mat Zo song you like,” she responded.

Of course it is, I nodded. Of course, it is.

“Sahara Love - Seven Lions Remix” by Above & Beyond, Zoë Johnston, and Seven Lions

My friends and I are proud members of the Anjuna family. Beats, deep, ABGT, all of it. There’s a group of individuals I can count on running into when Yotto or Luttrell come through Vinyl or Bar Standard. Without doubt, we’ll also cross paths at Red Rocks and the Denver Convention Center when the Anjuna crew comes to town. This will be a motif throughout this journal.

This is an exceptional remix of the best song on the “Common Ground” album.

“Mama Africa” by Ilan Bluestone, EL Waves

“Happiness Amplified - Above & Beyond Club Mix” by Above & Beyond, Richard Bedford

“Show Me Love” by Above & Beyond, Armin van Buuren

An obligatory stretch of trance.

“Freak” by JIL, Salomon Faye

Not sure where this one came from but the deeper bass coupled with soulful vocals is refreshing. An unlikely combination that I was pleasantly surprised by.

“Preacher’s Daughter” by Wu-Tang Clan

It came on en route to the gym. Crossing the street of Lawrence at 17th, the beat hit a nice pop while stepping on the pavement. While this song is catchy, the more I listen to it, the more it exposes itself as one of the less original and, dare I say, easy Wu-Tang songs. The sampling isn’t much of a diversion from the original Dusty Springfield. The first three verses aren’t memorable but Ghostface does bring some power. The chorus is repetitive. It’s not my favorite, but made the list and wasn’t removed by the end of the month so we’ll keep it.

JAM OF THE MONTH: “Find My Own Way” by GRiZ and Wiz Khalifa

A truly beautiful song. The positivity is potent. It’s visceral and contagious. Dancing is instinctually mandatory. Crisp, genuine verses from Wiz meld with the ever-touching melodies of the chorus and pure saxophone ingenuity of the bridge. This came on the other day at work and eyes closed, hands in the air, swaying back and forth, sang along despite not knowing all the words quite yet.

This tweet from GRiZ resonated with me and he accomplished the goal with this track.