Hope You're Ready For High School
I learned to love, or more realistically obsess over, music in high school. Before I went through my elitist phase (we all sometimes head down the wrong path), I, like every other high schooler in the early aughts, loved emo and pop punk.
I asked my friend Michele Travis from Philly (iykyk) to help me piece together some classics, some deep cuts, and some new players in the scene. I love this mixtape. It reminds me of driving to school in my 1987 Volvo station wagon with my iTrip and burned CD-Rs and Matt, whom I made listen to "Konstantine" at 6 AM every day.
I hope it brings you back too.
Like the mixtapes? Help me spread the love by throwing a few bucks my way via BuyMeACoffee. Thanks to everyone who has already supported me there. I'm something like 80% of the way to offsetting the price of my Apple Music subscription so I can share the mixtapes there too, and that is just wonderful.
And hey, if you like it, why not share the mix or this newsletter with a friend?
13th Grade
Created in collaboration with Michele Travis for the kid with a lot of feelings.
A few words from Michele:
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I turn 34 this year but I still listen to the exact same music I did in high school. It’s been 15 years and 4 therapists since I graduated, and yet I’ve never felt more understood than at a Warped Tour. And even though I have a 401k, my idea of a good time is still scream-singing “I’m not okay (trust me).” Right now you might be asking the quintessential question: Who hurt you? Okay, here’s a list:
Ms. Nostrom, who gave me my first detention over forgetting a textbook
Mike D’Antonio in 7th grade, for dating a popular girl that didn’t give a shit about music
My best friends in high school*, various offenses
My mom*, who grounded me for things like taking too long to read Jane Eyre, even though my brother did things like sneaking out and getting arrested
My dad (Exhibit A: Outback Steakhouse parking lot incident)
Late-stage capitalism, various offenses
Rivers Cuomo
The New York City MTA
Most of the Supreme Court
My neighbor Janet
*people whom I have hurt in turn
To me, pop punk is a means of alchemy, converting pain into power. Bands like blink-182 and Dashboard are so fun because there’s a positive energy you get from being so ridiculously and unapologetically sensitive. I grew up in a half-Asian household where I wasn’t exactly encouraged to be in touch with my emotions. So my way of processing my feelings was to pack them up and put them into my walkman. It turns out that pop punk, at just the right volume, is pure emotional catharsis.
This pop punk mixtape is a love letter to you: the kid with a lot of feelings. It’s medication for all of us who've been hurt, regardless of age. It’s 2022 and yes, we got older, but we’re still young. It’s been an absolute honor working with Brady on this one. I hope you turn up the volume and listen with us til the end. You might be stuck in 13th Grade, but you’re not alone.
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Love you all. Hope you enjoy!
Join Me: Joshua Hedley @ Skinny Dennis, Wednesday, Sep 28, 8:00 PM
Well, well, well... It's certainly a treat when Office Hours happen to coincide with an exciting live performance. I encourage you to make use of the time.
Joshua released a vintage country inspired record on Jack White's Third Man Records that is wonderful, but his newest record Neon Blue is a GEM. It sounds like all your (my) favorite 90s country music hits. This is the music that raised me, and this show is going to be an incredible time.
RIYL: 90s country, Brooks & Dunn, Clint Black, Office Hours.
Check out Joshua Hedley's "Neon Blue".
Some Other Things That Michele Loves
(that you might love too!)
Meet Me @ The Altar - If you take a deeper dive on any band in this playlist, give these kids a shot. And after you’ve burned out Model Citizen, you can palate-cleanse with the acoustic version.
The Current - Minneapolis’s local MPR radio station - where I’ve discovered great new(er) acts like Wet Leg, Ondara, Gully Boys, Samia, TYSM!, Rafaella, and more. It’s made me feel connected to music in a way that I haven’t felt since Philly’s Y100 era during middle & high school. If you want to hear great playlists and wild winter weather reports, listen with me at thecurrent.org or their super easy-to-use app.
The Best American Science Fiction And Fantasy - A yearly roundup of the 20 best SFF short stories published in the US. I recently finished the 2021 collection, which was guest edited by Diana Gabaldon (past guest editors include SFF gods N. K. Jemisin and Ken Liu). Quick, weird, and wide-ranging, they’re great for newcomers to the genre as well as long-time nerds. A tall, cool glass of water for anyone else who just invested a year+ immersed in the Dune novels. Alternately, for anyone trying to escape our own shitty timeline for a bit.
Aaron Paul's Architectural Digest Tour - Lately all I do is think about this tour on YouTube. Winter rules.