Starting work in a trade has opened up the new world of van life for me. I'm used to the cross country drives in anything from a Honda Accord to a 1975 Ford Econoline, but I've never experienced the work van commute day after day. We're big, we're slow, and we don't care. It's way better than using your own gas though.
With most of our drives clocking in at over an hour one way we pass the time with podcasts or music - Thank god there's Bluetooth. But its not all that its cracked up to be. Being the apprentice, or how they'd like to say it, helper, you don't get too much say in anything. So, when it comes to what we are going to listen to, I never get to give my suggestions. The fantastic part is that I work with my best friend who I share a very similar music taste with.
I find it interesting in how similar tastes can still be vastly different with what artists and specific songs someone listens to. The first two songs on this playlist are ones I'd never have listened to without being introduced to somehow.
One Drop came on amidst a barrage of Bob Marley. I've never heard this particular Bob track, but I was intrigued from the start. The opening drum fill came in and my friend immediately started to move (well he always moves while he's driving - if you know you know.) He started singing and it had me thinking why I didn't recognize this track. So, I did the only logical thing there was to do at 5:45 in the morning when listening to Bob Marley - I started grooving too.
I've added this track to my favorites list and have sampled it numerous times since its addition. Despite the song being slower tempo than some of the more groovier songs in his catalog it captures your motion and sets it amoving. For me, it felt like a completely different style of Bob Marley, most likely because I haven't dove deep into the world that is Raggea.
I think lately I've been searching for songs to throw on these playlists instead of having music come to me. In the past two weeks it has felt like a mad dash to the finish line where I've gotten less and less sleep, no rest, and more stress. But it is plain and simple - listening to "One Drop" has brightened my mood and made me feel better. That's a damn good way to start a playlist if I've ever heard one.
Blood on the Ground - While I've previously enjoyed the music of Bob Marley, I haven't been an Incubus fan at all. I know their popular songs thanks to the radio and friends randomly playing them, but I never sought them out on my own. Maybe they weren't my style? It just happens like that sometimes.
Another van song, "Blood on the Ground" peeked my interest as the beat dropped and the heavy guitar riff rifled through the speakers. Another 5:45 am listen that surprised me, this Incubus track threw me through and loop and had me questioning, like so many times before, why I hadn't been listening to this sooner.
Another plain and simple explanation - I really like this riff and it hits that right head bang spot. The band has great sound, the mixing is superb, and its got the bass (in the corn voice - you know). As always, pop it on, turn it up, turn it up more, and enjoy.
Reaper - I stumbled upon this tune after listening to the saved tracks throughout my Spotify. Listening to bands like King Gizzard, Khruangbin, and The Budos band, my Spotify cooked up a little present for me.
This band, most specifically this song, seems to take all the music I enjoy and roll it into one bad ass track. We have the bassy aspect of the tune, we have the reverby, eerie verses, and then there is the distortion overload that wacks you when you're least expecting it. This is my kind of music, this is the kind of music I aspire to make. Take a good groove, groove on it, groove some more, then hit it em with the heaviness. It entices you and then piles it on at the right moment to keep your bob going and your body moving. There seems to be a formula for music I enjoy and if it's got my head moving it receives the stamp of approval.
An Honest Conversation - I'm a sucker for a good playlist, especially when it's made by someone else specifically for you. With a large list of songs to get through, the opening track, "An Honest Conversation," started the party off on the absolute top tier. It came flying in from the tight ropes and close-lined me to the ground. I was not expecting to be so into a son - and the first track on the playlist at that.
Choir Vandals sounds like a band I'd listen to around 2014 when I was in my sad boy era and going to shows. Melodic, heavy, scene, punk, this band dropped a nostalgic bomb on me.
As I listened to this track over and over again and sung it in my head at work I found myself focusing in on, non other than, the drum parts. The simplicity and repetitiveness of this arrangement cemented itself in my brain so much that I could feel the specific hits coming before I even knew they were there. A testament to good drumming is the anticipation of the next beat even if it is overtly expected. The beauty of playing that way is the fact that you can switch up the smallest part in a song and it will seem like the biggest innovation since the start of Rock and Roll.
I love the use of the bass drum and the cymbal attacks as the track flows on. Parts like these drive tracks from start to finish and provide a floor that most people won't notice without being told. This is the type of thing I hear in music rather than the lyrics or the hooks in a chorus. I focus on the back beat of a track - the rhythm section.
Listen closely and see if you can feel out where the next beats are going to be, see how it impacts the groove, and notice why the drummer is choosing those specific hits. I think you'll be able to understand why any sort of syncopation or difference, no matter how small, could be enormously enjoyable.
PORSCHE TOPLESS - Here we are again with another van track straight out of the real music I would never listen to on my own. The last time we played this song my friend looked over with a look of intrigue and worry as he turned up the volume. I quickly responded - "I actually like this song."
Kid Cudi serves as yet another artist that has come and gone, impacting my streams with a handful of tracks, but not sticking around for the long haul. I would have never known he released a new track if it weren't for my friend. Maybe it's a good thing he has the controls and I can't keep playing the same stuff I've been listening to forever.
Music like this is funny to me, not in a make fun kind of way, but in a way that makes me smile in awe of people having fun and enjoying their brand of music even if it's not my vibe. I could describe this track as simple as - fun.
This track serves its purpose. It gets you hyped, makes you move your body, and has me making funny faces. I don't take it too seriously, but then again I don't think most people do. It's all about having a good time and letting loose. If that's not the definition of what music should be doing then I don't know a thing.
Pubic Enemy - I wonder if there are fans out there that are like me. I do know that there are people out there who get into music from the radio, the big hits, songs that really put people on the map. With A Tribe Called Quest that might look like any song from The Low End Theory. In that case, I think people would fall in the same category that I'm in as someone who may only know or had known Tribe's second and third album before getting into their other material.
I used to be the strict fan that only listened to a portion of an artists catalog, but I've changed my ways. I don't remember when it was, but at some point I took a look at People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. Tribe's debut album was anything but ordinary and it quickly established them as a force to be reckoned with. Once I dove in I couldn't get out - it had a hold on me and it was tight.
"Pubic Enemy" has worked its way to become one of my favorite Tribe songs. Whatever it is, it just gets me going and gives me a chuckle all at the same time.
That's Not Me - Have you ever had a friend who would ask you wild questions that never seem to matter or are so niche it's always out of left field? Well, I'm that friend when it comes to music. These types of questions pop into my head when listening to artists like The Clippers. A two piece band churning out fun, hard, poppy rock songs makes me think of all the other bands that perform as a duo.
The Clippers really blew me away once I learned that there were only two guys playing this music that sounded like a full punk barrage flying by you at the speed of light. Their intricate sound fills the space around you with precise and innovative guitar work as the drums lay down their own memorable riffs and solos. The talent alone could make these guys play any genre they were given and they'd succeed. It's why their songs are so catchy, so easy to listen to. They are complex, yet quick, but played by such great musicians that anything coming out of the speakers seems right.
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