October Playlist

Hello!

October is a strange month; you have artists coming out with a softer note to their music, it makes their fans and other listeners feel cozy and enjoy everything that is autumn as a season. On the other hand, you have others creating purely for the spooky vibe that is Halloween. In years past, I feel as though I haven’t appreciated the gentle side and I am noticing how much I never watched the raining of the leaves with excitement as I have recently. And because of this, the music I have wanted to listen to has taken a totally different tone.

My intake of both Evanescence and In This Moment has been massive! I feel like they are the perfect bands for this time of the year. They have a certain creepy flare and almost every song, whether it is a ballad or heavy are built around the notion of mystery. Unfortunately, I only have two full albums from each band on my iPod but thankfully I have a giant collection of other metal bands from all over the world that also love that type of thing for their music. And I share a number of them on my October playlist from Spotify. If you would like to check it out, just click here to be transferred to the see everything that has some grain of monstrous in it.

Before I start going into depth about my Top 25, I have a little surprse for you. Here is this month’s Artist Highlight!

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I am always so happy whenever artists and bands send me a message on my social medias or in a regular email – just as a warning, if you have sent me an email, please send me a DM through any of my socials as a head’s up! Mandala was very nice and patient with me while I tried to figure out the best way to highlight him and music on my blog. His newest single, “Modern Struggle” is out and he will release his album “The Chronicles Of A Blind Man” next month!

The introduction has this a nice melodic but also sounds like an ode to a cell phone ring in a way. The entire beat is really good and subtle but thanks to the fact that his voice is nice and clear, you can clearly hear the lyrics and the meaning behind it is brilliant. We, as a society have a struggle between good and evil, a mere modern take of what is right and good. So, there is a lot of things to take into consideration about what we do as individuals living our lives.

If you’d like to look into Mandala, you can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

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I hope you have enjoyed that little review of a brand new artist! Let’s change gears, and go back to our regular schedule. Here are my Top 25 for October and I really hope you enjoy it!

Rather Be by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
I’m Not Mad by Halsey
Californian Soil by London Grammar
Wonder by Shawn Mendes
Pretty Savage by BLACKPINK
Still Have Me by Demi Lovato
Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
Power Over Me by Dermot Kennedy
Runaway by Ziggy Alberta
Eyes On The King by Benn
Moral Of The Story by Ashe featuring Niall Horan
No Place by Backstreet Boys
Running by Malinda
Change by Taylor Swift
Tears Of Gold by Faouzia
Everything I Wanted by First To Eleven
My Own Dance by Kesha
Harley by Letters From The Fire
Frontline by Pillar
Happy by Kurt Hugo Schnielder
Underdog by Alicia Keys
Together by for King & Country featuring Tori Kelly
Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
Haunted by Violet Orlandi featuring Jake Munro
Blood by In This Moment

If you follow me on Instagram, you might know I have tried to do a ‘Song Of The Day’ early in the evenings, and since I listen to a lot of different music, the genres and artists differ with every post. I was inspired to finally do them after my friend Ella started them in late September and one of the songs she shared actually made it to this list, Can you spot it?

What were you listening this October?

August Playlist

Hello!

Well we’re here again. By now, the majority of kids are back in school and they will hope to gain some kind of routine within their day, even if it means wearing a mask while being around their fellow classmates and teachers. I have to say, I’m so happy I am not in school anymore because I remember when I was sick with strep throat and bronchitis’s, they were both brutal for me but missing school and having to do two or four days worth of Algebra homework and on top of that worry about failing finals sucked even worse! I am not the type of person to take online classes either, I have to be in front of a teacher as they are doing the problems; thus why I never made it through one semester as college!

Every year I think about each person going into middle and/or high school. They are each big steps for anyone, but they all had one heck of a schedule to them! I can’t imagine what the 2021 senior classes are thinking right now. After the news of hearing about various of fall sports events being cancelled, I imagine the desperation in every athlete is heightened because their futures are basically up in the air. Whether or not you are in sports, I still give a lot of you kudos for keeping your head up and continuing to fight your butts off during this time. I have faith in every one of you that you will make it through. Stay strong and don’t let this pandemic destroy your determination, okay?

It feels a little odd to be giving a pep talk in a monthly playlist, but this is where we are now I guess!

Let’s talk about music now though.

For August, I really wanted to allow myself to listen to anything and everything. The summer music series I started back in May is ending next Monday, so I am trying to figure out what the heck I’m going to discuss as far as music on here for the rest of the year. Thankfully, I am back to my two week blog schedule, so I will only have to worry about six posts–unless I get asked to review an album or EP in the near future then I will bring on another week to help make it special. I have been inspired to play with various music from other countries, like Arab, French, Italian, etc, so I’ve enjoyed exploring outside of my comfort zones!

I am going to list my Top 25 songs for this month, because you know I can’t half-ass it, especially a good month for music anyways! If you would love to check out the rest of the songs included in the playlist, please click here now.

Building A Mystery by Sarah McLachlan
You Will Become by Glen Hansard
Pisces by Jinjer
Oops!… I Did It Again by The Animal In Me
Lie by Sasha Sloan
Excuse Me by Fire From The Gods
Strong by Amaranthe featuring Noora Louhimo
Parasite Eve by Bring Me The Horizon
Use My Voice by Evanescence
Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring Madonna & Missy Elliott
Black Velvet Sun by My Indigo
Dark Love Empress by Leaves’ Eyes
See You In Hell by Ad Infinitum
Inferno by Abir
Who’s Laughing Now by Ava Max
O Fortuna – Epic Trailer Version by Hidden Citizens
Control by Zoe Wees
Candy by Serena Ryder
Woman by Ellie Goulding
Slow Motion by Charlotte Lawrence
Face Down by Halocene featuring Lauren Babic
Catalina by Rosalia
A Little More by Alessia Cara
No Rest For The Wicked by Lykke Li
Strangers by Halsey featuring Lauren Jauregui

Earlier this month, I made this playlist that I ultimately titled it “Maud” but not because it contains old timey music, it’s because I’ve become obsessed with the name itself. Everytime I think of the name, this hue erupts within me. A combination of gray and purple; it’s very light but edgy at the same time. I’ve been in love with it for the past five months and since the two of them make me happy, the collection of songs included are a mixture of pick-me-ups and gorgeous ballads. I previously mentioned that I have been allowing myself all kinds of music lately and something very beautiful has come out of it but in a form of a list of songs. I guess you could say it’s like my alter ego.

I swear I’m not high whenever I listen to music, actually I’ve never been high but I feel the more I try to explain, I look and probably sound more like someone who enjoys weed but nope. I’m just weird I guess! I love when music is airy and simple, I always have, but this is definitely doing something absolutely different for me. I have always wanted to create the “perfect” playlist for decades and I’ve had great attempts in the past, but this one instantly awakens me mentally, physically, spiritually. I’m forever glad that I let myself dive deeper in the hole because I’ve never been happier.

Have you been successful at creating–in your mind–the perfect playlist before? What have you been listening to this month?

Music Monday | Scott Storch

Hello!

For this week, the next music producer is going to be Scott Storch. Scott has always been at the top of my list of best composers and definitely the inspiration for this series. Dr. Dre, Rick Rubin, Timbaland, Scott and Joost van der Breok were the five I originally wanted to discuss for the entire summer but I didn’t think I would have enough material so I made a last minute decision to add a few more people to the list and that was the end of it.

Despite my love of him being a producer, I fell in love with his way to create a killer beat. A lot of people tend to forget that a producer are also the ones making the actual music too! Back when the network VH1 use to air those episodes of The Lives of Rich and Famous. Scott was selected to be featured in one of them and he gave everyone a sneak peak into the way he came up with three of the biggest songs in 2003-04. He would play snippets of 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” and “Just A Little Bit” and Fat Joe’s “Lean Back”. I always found it hilarious that while both of these rappers were feuding with each other, they were working with the same person who was helping them their music! Anyways, once I figured out how these songs were made, I was floored! I knew both “Candy Shop” and “Just A Little Bit” sounded similar, but I didn’t know how to explain what I was hearing; everybody would have thought I was overly obsessed because at that time I was a huge fun of 50 Cent.

Unfortunately, Scott sort of disappeared from the music world for a while. I think he finally came back out of the shadows in 2014 or sometime after that. I know he had produced songs for Fat Joe in the last year and recently released a brand new song helping carry out the reggaetón flavor, that I definitely enjoy hearing, in the summertime. The track is called “Fuego Del Calor” and it features Ozuna and Tyga. I honestly thought I wouldn’t really enjoy it, because when I want to listen to that type of music, I’d rather have someone who knows that genre in and out, and can make it sound completely different than the others on the radio. So, it was a surprise that I actually enjoyed the whole thing!

Do you know any Scott Storch albums he’s worked on in the past? What are your favorite songs ever?

Music Monday | Missy Elliott

Howdy!

When I was thinking about doing the series, I know I wanted to keep it diverse, not because my love of music is all of the place, but it is very important to say that there are women music producers out there. In fact, I decided to talk about two of them that I knew were important to my life and musical journey. However, if you know and love of any other women producers out there, please tell me about them in the comments. I would love to learn more about why you adore them, and of course check out their music too!

A couple of years ago, Missy Elliott was awarded by MTV’s VMAs (Video Music Awards) with the Lifetime Achievement award. Back when MTV did play hours and hours (boy, do I miss those days!) of music videos, you probably saw one or if you were really lucky two Missy Elliott videos within 20-30 minutes of each other. I’d say from 1998 to 2004 is when she was just creating all kinds of stuff. A lot of them included dancing, but she was very known for her crazy antics and style in those days. They all looked fun every single time they appeared on your television screen. I’m sad to say I haven’t seen any of her previous videos, but remembering her others, I know she would continue going down that way for as long as she is allowed.

Missy is most known for her songs and friendship with Timbaland and Aaliyah, but I think it’s important to say that she has worked with all kinds of acts throughout the years! In 2004, when the R&B artist Ciara appeared, especially after watching her first music video for “Goodies” you probably hoped that she’d work with Missy one day. Dancing played a big part in the two artists, but it also just seemed like a great combination because Ciara has that same soft voice that Aaliyah was known for–even though nobody could ever be as good as her–you still hoped that they would work together. So, by the time “1, 2, Step” came out on the radio, it was like the music gods were really hearing our prayers and then it happened again in 2004 with Missy’s track “Lose Control” with Fatman Scoop. It was an awesome sequel to the story of these two big female singers.

Since we’re on the subject of girl power, I think we should discuss the remake of Patti LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” of the film Moulin Rouge in early 2002. Instead of having one singer do the entire song, she produced and worked with four powerhouses of the popular genres of that time. You had the R&B artist Mya to start off and then we move on to Pink, who at the time was a mixture of pop-R&B at the time. Brooklyn’s own Queen rapper Lil’ Kim lended a nice section and gave the song an added flare, and finally Christina Aguilera graced us at the end. I still think this is where she began weaning herself out of the cookie cutter bubblegum pop music. The song itself went on to win lots of awards but I think a lot of people either don’t know and/or forget that Missy Elliott was a huge part of making this happen. I mean, think of it as like the first time The Avengers assembled. Yes, I just did that and I’m not even sorry about it either!

Are you a fan of Missy Elliott? Do you have a favorite music video from over the years? Is there any other artists that you think she should consider working or maybe not collaborating with next? Please give me your thoughts about that down in the comments.

Music Monday | Rick Rubin

Howdy!

Last week in the series, I talked about Dr. Dre, who I have pretty known my whole life (music wise) because of my mother and the amount of old school rap that was played on our cassette player located in my parent’s room! However, for this week I will be discussing my admiration for Rick Rubin.

Rick Rubin is a very special person for me, because by the time I started listening to Linkin Park in 2009, he had just finished working with him on their album “Minutes To Midnight” (2008). This was my first memory of him working with anybody that I enjoyed at the time. So, while I was getting myself deeper and deeper into the world of Linkin Park, I was learning what could (at my own pace) of this interesting music producer. I call him “interesting” because although most producers want to work with a large variety of acts, they usually tend to stick to one genre and stay there for the rest of their lives. Rick Rubin has had most of his success in heavy metal, hard rock and rap music.

The two most popular acts I learned in the first two years was Jay-Z and the Beastie Boys. He has worked with many, many other bands over the years, but these were the two that sort of explain the reason why he helped Linkin Park in the past.

The album I associate Rick helping produce the most is “The Black Album” that was released in 2003. This was supposed to be the final album for the rapper before he retired from the music scene, but considering a year later he and Linkin Park came together like Run-DMC and Aerosmith did in the late 1980’s with “Walk This Way”. Although I don’t think they released an album like Jay-Z and LP did; technically they did an album and put on a concert and would later crash each other’s tours to perform “Numb/Encore” every once in a while. When Chester Bennington died in 2017, Jay-Z was out on tour with his wife Beyoncé, and he performed the hit but instead of doing Chester’s parts, the audience sang every word. It was very beautiful and a great gesture to Chester, his family and the rest of the band too!

Rick Rubin was the reason for this match to come together in the early 2000’s, because he had just finished working with Jay-Z and was close to LP too, as Rick is known to experiment in the nu metal scene in that time frame. The reason why it was so huge for these two acts to do this was because not many people went outside their comfort zones in the music world, you stayed in your genre for most of your career. At least, that’s my take on the scene and I was very much part of it since I really didn’t like to go outside of my bubble gum pop world although there were was a time were I enjoyed rap music, but you can tell I didn’t listen to a lot of rap between the year 1999 to 2002, because I was busy enjoying Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys too much to really pay attention!

Nowadays, it’s really accepted to like a wide variety of music and not to mention foreign languages that come with these new changes too! Radio is still a big way to introduce new music to a larger audience to the world, but it’s also important to realize that record producers to go through this switch too! They will always stay within their comfort zone, which I think for Mr. Rubin, it is heavy metal, but from time to time he will find something different to sink his teeth into and it might shock a few people that follow his journey just as much as the other musicians too.

So, if you are a lover of Rick Rubin’s work, who is your favorite act(s)? And do you have a favorite era of time too?