Mating Ritual - How You Gonna Stop It?

Pick me up in your Monday suit and tie
Grab a drink in the lobby before 9
You complain about your weight and waking up on time
You need to chill out and follow me tonight

Waking up in a place I've never been before
It smells like piss and olives
Getting drunk never used to be this difficult
I hear the graveyard calling
Stop talking 'bout your work you know you're not gonna go
Might as well kick the bucket
Yeah it sucks getting old but how you gonna stop it?

Fast-paced, tongue-twister-ing, and just right for Friday night Mating Ritual (aka Ryan Marshall Lawhon) has just convinced me to take a chance on following him, musically. This is supposedly the early released first single from his forthcoming full album. His debut EP is just as fun and dancy so I believe we're in for a treat. 

RIYL: Miike Snow, Passion Pit, Day Wave

Upcoming Shows

Tove Lo - Cool Girl

You can run free, I won't hold it against ya
You do your thing, never wanted a future
Fuck if I knew how to put it romantic
Speaking my truth, there's no need to panic

No, let's not put a label on it
Let's keep it fun
We don't put a label on it
So we can run free, yeah
I wanna be free like you

I'm a, I'm a, I'm a cool girl, I'm a, I'm a cool girl
Ice cold, I roll my eyes at you, boy
I'm a cool girl, I'm a, I'm a cool girl
Ice cold, I roll my eyes at you, boy

Rules you don't like, but you still wanna keep 'em
Said you were fine so, for whatever reason,
Show we can chill, try and keep it platonic
Now you can't tell if I'm really ironic

For NYE, I picked a track that 1) might be played on the dance floor if you're out partying tonight and 2) is possibly an anthem for the single ladies prepping to go out there. Keith probably thinks this song belongs more in our (guilty) Pleasures section, but 1) I love the bassline way too much and 2) I have trouble differentiating in the first place! Swedish sweetheart Tove Lo hits that spot I didn't know I was missing in danceable music.

Upcoming Shows

Blossoms - Charlemagne

Hello, hello
You put love in my hand
I know, I know it's made of lead
Hello, hello
Science came, a kingdom reigned
Below, below my Charlemagne
And the river always flows, so if you go I will know
By the way, my Charlemagne

Hello, hello
Mars, tried, hide, cried, died
Inside the snow in the winter
Hello, hello
The doctors knew, prescribe me you
Below, below the amber sky
And the river always flows, so if you go I will know
By the way, my Charlemagne
And the river always flows tears of gold
Left me cold do you feel the same my Charlemagne?

British quintet Blossoms have been doing their indie thing since 2013, but just released their first full length (and self-titled) album earlier this year. Exactly one year ago, The Guardian named them one to watch for 2016 and this month NME named this track one of their top 20 songs of the year. While it doesn't make my short list, it certainly deserves a feature. 

RIYL: Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Oasi, Miniature Tigers

Upcoming Shows

Mount Saint - Excuses

If I'm a liar
You're the words I'll never speak
On and on the truth that keeps you from sleep
It feels like fire
Hot and burning everything
On and on it spreads and catch on your sheets
And I know
I shouldn't make excuses
But I
I'm on the road

Mount Saint was an LA-based indie pop band that released one EP, last year, and it was lovely. This was my favorite of those tracks. Earlier this month, they officially announced that they have split up, but good news is there are two new indie bands to follow:  Strange Joy and Tolman (Mount Saint singer with her husband, the drummer from The Moth and The Flame and both formerly part of Imagine Dragons. Bonus song embedded below).

RIYL: Chairlift, Kittens of the Internet, Wild Belle

Upcoming Shows

George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1

These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosers

This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses

The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we'll take our chances
Because god's stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us alt out to play
Turned his back and all god's children
Crept out the back door

And it's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
Well maybe we should all be praying for time

As a little girl, I loved Wham! And "Last Christmas" is an all-time, any-time-of-year favorite song of mine. My first concert was seeing George Michael in 1988 on his Faith tour. His duet with Aretha Franklin is a go-to encouragement anthem. I know he's released a few dance pop albums in the most recent decade that I've largely ignored, but his voice remains forever one of the most beautiful. I shared Michael's incredulity that LWP wasn't as popular an album as his previous - to me it is his crowning achievement of 100% listenability and full range of moods and emotions. It was always a disappointment to note there was not, and now will never be, a Volume 2. So, in memoriam to this gorgeous, emotive, voice, lost to the world yesterday, I decided not to decide and have posted the link to the entire Volume 1. If you stop listening after "Praying for Time" I understand - it is almost the perfect tribute in itself, except then you'd miss the rest of the ride.

(For the playlist, I'll let Keith pick... maybe "Waiting for That Day" or "Freedom (90)" or even "Knew You Were Waiting" - rather than one of the make-me-cry tracks.)