In our new feature TYF Monthly Mixtape our music writers share Spotify playlists of the songs – new and old – they’ve had on repeat for the last month.
Think of it as a successor to our old Newish Music Tuesdays column. Here’s what we loved in August 2019.
Mark Wesley
We’re finally at the end of summer. This time of year is always a bit melancholy for me, to be completely honest. For August, I wanted songs that perfectly set up the (somewhat) depressing shift from the warmth of summer to the chilly fall season. There’s a real flow to these tracks that begins with some bops from Charli XCX and BROCKHAMPTON but as it progresses, the mellow moments begin to show themselves. One thing of note is that the first two tracks “Time Flies” and “Trappin Benny” are from two artists from Washington DC and Maryland (Rico Nasty and Yung Gleesh, respectively), which is where I’m from. I wanted to pay homage to these two hometown legends.
Ryan Gibbs
The album I’ve listened to the most this month has been Basking in the Glow, the acclaimed latest release from emo project Oso Oso. The band puts their own spin on the classic mid 00s power-pop sound of The Juliana Theory or Motion City Soundtrack, and have a knack for writing catchy choruses and hooks. I also really loved the long-awaited single from Battles, who are now a duo and bring guest Sal Principato of Liquid Liquid into their prog-math-punk adventurism. I’ve also been re-listening to This is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes 1983, a demo by 1980s California cowpunk pioneers Lone Justice that shows the power of the band better than any of their studio albums. Lastly, my introductory song for this month’s playlist is “Mt.”, the best known track by Christian alternative rockers The 77s, a band that is much more interesting than their religious affiliations will have you believe (If you’d like to know more about them and what made them so great, you should read this post on J. Edward Keyes’ excellent Tumblr blog An Athiest’s Guide to Christian Rock).
Allyson Johnson
Here is this month’s playlist from our film editor Allyson Johnson.
Beth Winchester
At the end of July and very beginning of August, I saw or revisited a few films that take place in the late 60s, so naturally I fell into a musical rabbit hole via their soundtracks. I’ve included a few gems here, including the spooky “Twelve Thirty” and the more rollicking “Vitamin C” and “Send Me a Postcard.” I filled out the playlist with other 60s-70s songs, or ones that evoke the kind of gloom of 1969 (which feels appropriate for the gloom of an August coming to a close). My favorite oldies on the list are “Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp,” “As Tears Go By” and “Suzanne” while I’ve added a few modern songs, like Father John Misty’s “Funtimes in Babylon” and Lana Del Rey’s “Freak,” both of which would fit in with the scene of decades past. Finally, I ended the set with a song, “Celestial Light,” that is somehow appealing to me, despite having an inexplicable album cover and musically sounding as though it should be piped through a Busch Gardens Europe souvenir shop speaker.
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