40 Watt Gigolo

from the album Paradise Has No Border (2017)

As their name suggests, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra are a Japanese band who specialize in ska.  what makes them extra tasty is how their music veers into other sub-genres in both rock and jazz.

I am really digging their tune Girl On Saxophone X.  This is a ska instrumental with a hard, uptempo backbeat.  Meanwhile, the guitars deliciously play with surf and sci-fi tones and riff.  the guitars are counterbalanced with a hard-driving horn section and groovy, textured organ.

A great track to kick off your next eclectic, hallucinogenic party.

Click Here to listen to Girl On Saxophone X.

At first pass, this mix sounds like melodious alternative fare.  It is.  However, the more you listen, the more you realize just how fantastic the songwriting is.  Highlights include Father John Misty, Conor Oberst, and Frazey Ford.


Here is the playlist:

Over Everything by Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile

Hard Drugs by SUSTO

Preludes by Craig Finn

Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out by Conor Oberst

Gravity Rules by 5 Billion In Diamonds

Can't Hold On by Black Lips

Lacking In Your Love by Desperate Journalist

The Camp by PJ Harvey & Ramy Essam

The Last Ten Years by Mark Eitzel

When We Get By by Frazey Ford

Meat Is Murder by Tim Cohen

Ballad Of A Dying Man by Father John Misty

No. 5 Hurricane by Emily Barker

Poetry by Ray Davies


Check out my entire catalog of mixtape at MixCloud.

from the album Phases (2017)

On her latest album - Phases - songstress Angel Olsen introduces us to a collection of highlights and rarities from her impressive five-year music career.  The songs detail an artistic evolution well-anchored in excellent songwriting and powerful vocals.

My favorite track is titled Sweet Dreams.  The tune's most memorable attribute is a falsetto vocal reminiscent of Chris Isaacs.  However, rather than Isaac's trademark "dreamabilly" sound, the music here is a form of restrained garage rock.  I've never heard this combination quite this way before.  It evokes Roy Orbison at some level, which is very high praise.

Hope you dig it.

Click Here to watch a 2012 music video for Sweet Dreams.

from the single When We Get By (2017)

The last two Frazey Ford albums - Obadiah and Indian Ocean - rank amongst my favorite of the decade.  The quiver of her vibrato - coupled with exceptional songwriting and instrumental performances - hits a unique place on the musical spectrum that juxtaposes desolation and warmth, detachment and desire.

Her new single - When We Get By - a cover of a D'Angelo song that picks up right where Indian Ocean left off.  It is evident from the delta horns that lead us into song's central mantra of "When we get by" which trades off splendidly with falsetto-laced verses.  I also really dig the swirling keyboard and the guitar tone during the instrumental break.

This is a "late night" song, perfect for quiet self-reflection and a stiff drink.  Full of texture and substance.

Click Here to listen to Frazey Ford's cover of D'Angelo's Where We Get By.

Click Here to read my November 2014 blog post on Frazey Ford's song Ind…