Mix Tape – June 25, 2020

Drop that needle and lets get ready for another instalment of The Mixtape! Each week, I’m putting together a list of five tracks that are whirling around ion my record player until my kids skip the needle!

I’ve also created a Spotify playlist embedded below that will have each track added to it weekly, so you can subscribe and follow along. So, with that said, let’s get to it!

Testify – Rage Against The Machine

If ever a week needed a kick in The Machine, it was this one. And if ever a track was the soundtrack to it, it’d be Testify. I was lucky enough to see Rage Against The Machine on their Battle of Los Angeles tour (at Maple Leaf Gardens of all places!) and they were a force to be reckoned with. Subsequent reunions and side projects with the members of the band haven’t really had the same fire, but if you put this on and aren’t inspired to tear down the system and build a new one, then you should probably listen again. And again. And again, etc.

Everything – Murs

With a great hook and slick flow, Murs brings the heat to this bouncy track. It’s also rife with something that we desperately need these days: redemption. Hope. Positivity. Murs’ calls out a good chunk of society’s ills and encourages the listener to act as well as learn and acknowledge. Considering the song is a decade old, that’s a pretty good amount of forethought. It helps make this a track that’s perfect for today and tomorrow. It’s killer beat helps too. Also Wirth checking out is anything Murs does with 9th Wonder. Just killer stuff.

Sister Rosetta – Frank Turner

Frank Turner is a killer punk-folk songwriter from the UK who’s jams end up being more like stories than anything else. In this track from his No Man’s Land album tells the tale of one of the unsung pioneers of rock and roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Tharpe was born in 1915 in Arkansas, and became renown for her gospel recordings, that mixed in some great guitar playing and out, and essentially laid the framework for rock. People who cite her as an influence are Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and more. Her contribution to music is massive, even though she doesn’t get much praise. Tharpe died in 1973, and I’d highly recommend a deep dive into her recordings, as well as Frank’s.

Harmony – The Midnight Hour

To offset the more aggressive tracks on this week’s list, I present Harmony by The Midnight Hour. The Midnight Hour is comprised of Ali Shaheed Muhammad (formerly of a Tribe Called Quest) and Adrian Younge, both accomplished producers in their own right. It’s orchestral should-jazz that is perfect for the crackle and pop of vinyl. Harmony is smooth, relaxing and then switches gears into hip-hop and jazz without warning. These guys are also responsible for the unbelievably good soundtrack to Netflix’s Luke Cage series. If you can get ahold of a copy of that, I’d highly, highly recommend it.

Hardwired (To Self-Destruct) – Metallica

From their 2016 album of the same name, the only way to describe this Metallica track is blistering. Chock full of speed and aggression this tune is more of a wake up call in the form of a slap in the face. Putting humanity in the hot seat, Metallica asks why we are doing the things we do to each other? Why are we so hell-bent on our own self-destruction? Toss in a ripping solo, the Hetfield growl and this song will tear through your speakers and when it’s over, you’ll reach for that repeat button.

There you have it! If you want to follow along, you can check out The Mixtape’s playlist on Spotify (below). I’ll be updating it with five good ones every week!

If there’s someone you think people should be listening to, or just a catchy jam that’s in your ears this week, post it in the comments and share the magic with your fellow readers!

Until next time,

-moss