T.G.I. MIXTAPE 51

ANECDOTE: When I was like ten or twelve, I used to go to day camp ever summer. And remember very vividly riding the bus and listening to a bootleg CD-R of Gorillaz and wanting to learn how to play guitar and I knew every word. Now I am including their album like ten years later on a mixtape I write every week, and I guess what I'm getting at is we grow up quick! Cherish those Blow-Pops, because soon they will become an innuendo and then you know you're one step closer to worrying about politics and accredited universities and standardized testing, and then credit card debt and dry cleaning and mortgages (ew). Good thing we still have the lottery! And Gorillaz! I'll have one music please, hold the Ke$ha.

Thank you!

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Scroll Through The Player To Listen To All The Songs On the Mixtape



RYAN
1. "Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)" - Four Year Strong - Enemy of the World
I won't deny it, the way some people have a sweet tooth, I have an ear for pop punk. Whether it's because I'm a glutton for punishment or because I like to pretend I'm still 17, I can't help myself sometimes. Four Year Strong would have been pouring out of my car's windows in high school. At 20 though, it stays strictly in my headphones.

2. "Tonight I Have To Leave It" - Shout Out Louds - Our Ill Wills
When Shout Out Louds came to Williamsburg on Monday they played a lot of new stuff off Walls. But when they played anything of Our Ill Wills it was like a breathe of fresh air. "Tonight I Have To Leave It" is a great example of what Shout Out Louds do best.

3. "Always Running Out of Time" - Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life
Rumor is the Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland movie is a big psychedelic, 3D flop, but the soundtrack should do pretty well. It's full of really weird stuff from a really odd collection of artists. In the lineup though is this gem. It's a nice little addition to the groove they were working in on "My Dinosaur Life".

JOE
4. "Tightrope (Ft. Big Boi)" - Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
This head-boppingly good diddy from Janelle Monae probably owes a thing or two to (longtime friend and collab) Big Boi, who lends a very Outkast verse over an even more Outkast beat. Basically it feels like a Speakerboxx era Outkast song, and that is a very good thing. The album drops in May. DANCE!

5. "Empire Ants" - Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
Plastic Beach is definitely going to be a big one this year, you guys. Choose your sides. Though I long for the days of Gorillaz, with a more cognizant tie to Damon Alburn's Blur days, this song is a happy medium. The first half is a crooning 2D solo, and it gives way to an electronic playground more akin to Demon Days.

6. "Vendela Vida" - Dinosaur Feathers - Fantasy Memorial
A buzzy band out of Brooklyn (full disclosure: who I know personally) have a pretty tasty debut in Fantasy Memorial, and this track has been floating around the web for a while now (it is quirky and great). The harmonies and kitschy drum machine really give them a unique feel, taste-test them today!

7. "Measure" - Field Music - Measure
Part vintage, part post-modern music dork, these guys construct a confusing farce of rock-and-roll, and it's as enjoyable as the 1960's-80's at their best (a ton of notable influence). Definitely warrants multiple listens, especially when the ultra smooth sixteenth note riff comes in.

DAVID
8. "Third of Life" - A Weather - Everyday Balloons
Sometimes in introducing a song to you, we're really only introducing it to ourselves. Such is the case with A Weather; a band whose name I had never traced across until earlier this week. Now that I have, here's hoping many more do. "Third of Life" is a subdued little number: dual boy/girl vocals are quaint and neat...though it does eventually begin to spin into something more significant as it plays through. The song is pulled from the Portland based band's second album Everyday Balloons.

9. "None Shall Sleep" - Pepper Rabbit - Shakes and Clicks
The skinny on Peppered Rabbit? Well, it's skinny...not much really. They're an LA based band, sporting an EP compilation dubbed Shakes and Clicks. To support, the band will be touring down to SXSW, and beyond. Here's hoping the plot that's peppering this rabbit will thicken over the next few months.

10. "Joanna Newsom" - Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
Yup, that's me: David Pitz, selecting a Joanna Newsome song for this week's mix tape. Surprised? You should be. I've never quite understood this girl after all, nor the rabid fan base that seems to gobble everything she does. But I've also always thought, at the very least, her best moments might sound pretty fitting on a mix tape. Well, this here's the proof, and it's called "On A Good Day", from her latest release Have One On Me.

Until next week, I'll be relaxing all cool and shooting some b-ball outside of the school. Totally safe, Grandma! -joe