Happy Saturday y'all! Hope your weekends are off to a good start. It's a gorgeous day here on the east coast. I'm about to film for the next main-channel video, but before I do, I wanted to share some of what I've been listening to over the past month. So this is that! It's here right now!!
As always, there's a playlist linked below. And let me know what you've been digging too!
THE STROKES - "GOING OUTSIDE"
New Strokes song!! It's hard to believe (👀) that it's been over six years since their last album. This new song is good! I'm a sucker for auto-tuned Julian, and I like how they continue to push the new-wave sound without sacrificing the classic hooks. As long as there's one bit where Nick and Albert jingle-jangle their guitars on top of each other (like at 2:33 in this song), I'm a happy man. Not a huge fan of them using AI for the teaser videos though, if the rumors are true.
THE VOIDZ - VIRTUE
That new Strokes song got me checking out their older songs, as well as the second album from Julian's side project The Voidz. If you've been a viewer since the earrrrrrrrly days, like 2018, you might know I put this album on my Top 10 list. And that opinion still holds up! It's a solid album that's both stylistically diverse but also pretty consistent throughout. QYURRYUS is another example of why I love auto-tuned Julian. (Auto-Jule?)
JEAN JACQUES PERRY - "GOSSIPO PERPETUO"
Came across this one on Instagram, and it's just goofy and fun. It's a rendition of Paganini's Moto Perpetuo Op. 11 (No. 6) for violin, but with a more tropical feel and funny blah-blah-blah vocoders (or maybe just synths?). More songs should have blah-blah-blahs, right now I can only think of this song and Kesha + 3OH!3.
ILOVEMEMPHIS - "HIT THE QUAN"
One of the videos I'm working on is a retrospective on 2010s one-hit wonders. (Of which there are 131 according to my research!) It's been fun going back and revisiting all the classics and all the songs that deserve to stay in the past like finger mustache tattoos. I don't know how many people will feel this way, but I've always loved Hit The Quan. Not only because it's a fun song, but also for how it was used in that one Kendrick Lamar music video. I had "please watch your step, cause I'm feeling myself" stuck in my head for a lot of 2015/2016 because of Memphis and Kendrick.
MARVIN GAYE - "TROUBLE MAN"
Sort of an offshoot from all my Stevie Wonder listening, but being reminded of Marvin Gaye had me going back to Trouble Man The Song off Trouble Man The Album, and it had me feeling like Trouble Man The Person. Very good song for wandering around in a city at night. Also funny timing because right as I was listening to it again, it got used in one of the trailers for Euphoria Season 3.
SOUTH ARCADE - "SUPERMAN"
A second kind of man!! South Arcade got big off their funny social media videos, which I think have pigeonholed them in some folks' minds. A TikTok band, IG Reels music, burger music (whatever that means), etc. But I like them! They make good songs!! And this new one they just put out is good too.
NAOMI SCOTT - F.I.G.
I got turned on to this one by a friend. So apparently Naomi Scott (the actress from Smile 2 and the live-action Aladdin) has started making music, and it's pretty damn good. Highly recommend if you like DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ, Carly Rae Jepsen, or really any other main alt-pop girl.
All these songs + a few extras are in this playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7niBhKmil5igVOrGQyasJU?si=4882c7d5ba6b48a1
And if you wanna transfer it to your streaming service of choice, check out Soundiiz: https://soundiiz.com/