Crusin' For A Good Time
I knew right away I wanted to collaborate with my friend Ilana Michelle Rubin right when I got the idea to connect with folks for my monthly mixtapes. We've connected over music a bunch, including on her stellar podcast The Bop Pod. You should listen/subscribe/etc.
I trust Ilana's taste so much, because she listens to music I rarely find myself exploring, but every time she shows me anything, I'm blown away.
Ilana started throwing around songs she could listen to, no matter what mood she was in. I responded with the same. And we built around those to naturally find ourselves in this deep LEAD UP kind of groove. You know the one. The beginning of the night when anything can happen, and something special just might.
Unlimited potential lies in these songs. Good things will follow, and these songs will make sure you get there. Drop the top and start cruisin'.
And hey, if you like it, why not share the mix or this newsletter with a friend?
AN:YTIME PM
Created in collaboration with Ilana Michelle Rubin for the lead up.
A few words from Ilana:
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My approach to listening to music is both prescriptive and for pleasure. I've got my AssMusic™️ staples, my Feeling Feelings go-to's, roadtrip tracks, etc. Generally, I'm listening to what I'm enjoying specific to that week or month or an artist I'm feeling distant from. But sometimes the motives are a bit darker. Whatever emotional sickness is ailing me whether it’s failure in romance, professional and creative stagnancy, or the archaic structures of the world that won’t seem to change there is a song to cure, dwell, or distract from it.
But throughout life I have come across songs that I can’t seem to compartmentalize, and I have come to know them as the Anytime Songs. The ones that require no mood or event to inspire me to listen. Songs like "California" by Phantom Planet, Ozuna's "Ibiza," "I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore" by Lucy Dacus are all tracks that represent something larger for me but have grown to be songs I'd be happy listening to under any circumstance. The third might be a darker track in nature, but I think they all have an upbeatness that matches one of an 'open and up for anything' spirit, even if that 'anything' might be a change of identity.
I think music is something a lot of listeners take very seriously–I know I definitely have my moments. But I think if you're always looking for meaning in something, you can miss the unexpected magic in the titles you didn't expect much from in the first place. Like the soft piano ending of Pitbull's "Give Me Everything Tonight" or the crescendo of Destiny's Child's "Jumpin' Jumpin'". Like watching certain movies you know are bad but still feel attached to (Gotti is one of the greatest films ever made), music doesn't always need to have a purpose, an ascribed mood, or a reason to be listened to. It's ubiquitous, often there even when we don't call upon it: in drugstores, vehicles passing on the street, the doctor's office. If you think too hard about it, you might not realize the song playing at Walgreens while you pick up a new pack of toilet paper is your next Anytime Song.
Take Bad Bunny's "Safaera." "Safaera" is not a song, it's an antidote, an exorcism even. I'm not being hyperbolic. If there is a person on this earth whose demons aren't expelled from their body at the first note, even if temporarily, that is a person I don't relate to and don't trust. "Safaera" isn't a song. It's an epic, an amalgamation of reggaeton's many iterations and influences and even cinema's (there's a Jaws sample in there). I love this song more than a lot of things. It has saved me on my darker days. I will walk down the aisle to this song at my wedding, and if I don't, my marriage is likely doomed and it is on you, the reader, to rescue me.
Some people ask what my nationality is and to answer their question: Bubbly but Mildly Depressed. I often look to music to assuage those feelings. This mix captures a lot of them. Turns out that energy is good for a pre-game (a friend of mine once remarked my taste in music reflected pre-game energy), when anything is possible.
Don't worry, though, I recently did start antidepressants so maybe the way I listen to music will change as well.
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Love you all. Hope you enjoy!
Join Me: Todd Snider @ Gramercy Theatre, Monday, August 30, 7:00 PM
Y'all might remember Todd Snider from May's a better world mix as the dang dude singing a pro-worker anthem for the ages. Y'all might also remember my good buddy Sean O'Reilly from May's a better world mix as the man who introduced me to said song.
Well, now Sean's introducing me to seeing Todd Snider. I owe him a concert ticket or two, because, wow what a dream. Maybe you'd like to join us?
RIYL: Guy Clark, Woody Guthrie, Rodney Crowell
Listen to Todd Snider's "I Can't Complain - Live".
Some Other Things Ilana Loves
(that you might love too!)
Four recommendations of anything, you ask??? Can never resist pushing my interests on others!
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST - I feel BURIED by the music that's dropped this summer I've had Tyler, the Creator's CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST on repeat pretty consistently.
TEMPORARY HIGHS IN THE VIOLET SKIES - I have found myself transitioning to Snoh Aalegra's TEMPORARY HIGHS IN THE VIOLET SKIES when I'm in a softer mood.
Never Have I Ever - I pretty much downed season two of Never Have I Ever in a day. Is it charming that I still relate to high school plight? You don't have to answer.
Paper Girls - Lastly, I picked the graphic novel Paper Girls a couple of months ago and I have been slow to start reading, but I recently did, and if you love sci-fi and female friendship, go grab it!