1. Emily Rugburn by Playing Dead 2. Rid Of Me by Nilufer Yanya 3. Taking Inventory of a Frozen Lake by Thursday 4. Westside by The Jesus Lizard 5. POP POP POP by IDLES featuring Danny Brown 6. Feel Something by Grimson 7. Love Drunk by Steve Moakler 8. Here We Go Crazy by Bob Mould 9. Rock DJ by Robbie Williams from Better Man 10. 8th Deadly Sin by Miki Berenyi Trio 11. Chaotic by Alisa Xayalith 12. Nod by Rise Against 13. Seth Cohen by Beach Weather 14. Beautiful That Way by Miley Cyrus & Andrew Wyatt 15. With You by Dean Lewis 16. Coffee In The Morning by Wet 17. Who Laughs Last by Lord Huron featuring Kristen Stewart 18. Setagaya by Gaiko 19. Seeing Red by Architects 20. Happy by Alison's Halo 21. Superwayne by Playing Dead
It's the end of the year, things are winding down. Some of you may be planning to travel in a bit, see family, celebrate the holidays in style! If you have a long commute or flight ahead of you, then let me provide you with some musical entertainment! It's that time of year again for "The Master Playlist" mixtape, 2024 addition! It's a combination of all 7 volumes of my mixes from this year, PLUS bonus tracks, listed below, which pretty much make up a volume 8.
When I look back on all the great music from this year, I was so humbled and in awe of my friends that are out there, writing and sharing great songs. My buddy Harris with his bands Name Brand Safe and Hepburn. Sam Hoyos with Playing Dead. Clint Carney with System Syn.
My favorite new band discoveries were Beach Weather, fellow Long Islanders gursday, Royel Otis. There were long overdue welcome returns from Poe, Sky Ferreira, Chantal Claret, Body Count, and The Cure! Blown away by new female artists like Nilufer Yanya, Alisa Xayalith (formerly of The Naked and Famous), and Lauren Mayberry (whose solo debut I like even more than her work with CHVRCHES). I kicked off the year with a deep dive into the music of Mark Lanegan! Listening to him is like drinking whiskey on a cold night! So if you start at the beginning and listen to the entire thing, you've got 12 hours of music to enjoy. 195 songs total! Hope you discover at least one new thing here.
175. December 25th by Charlie Puth 176. Coffee by a!ka 177. Crocodile Tears by Lauren Mayberry 178. Fake Nice by Beach Weather 179. pleased to be here by gursday 180. Girl From North Country by Timothee Chalamet & Monica Barbaro 181. Middle of Love by Picture This (with Dean Lewis) 182. Let It Burn by FIG 183. Different Light by Alisa Xayalith 184. This Road (The Mirror Is A Trap) by Poe 185. Leash by Sky Ferreira 186. Dusk Till Dawn by ZAYN (featuring Sia) 187. Avalon by Alan Walker & Anne Gudrun 188. Lower Forms by System Syn 189. Burn The Tyrants by Fake Figures 190. The People's Microphone by Shellac 191. Crooked Heart by Teardrops 192. Whiplash by Architects 193. Tomorrow by The Fluid 194. White Bikes by Thursday 195. A Genesis Christmas by Wolfie's Just Fine
1. Safety in Numbers by Hepburn 2. Over Each Other by Linkin Park 3. Disease by Lady Gaga 4. Drone:Nodrone by The Cure 5. High In Low Places by Beach Weather 6. Interstate Love Song by Sponge 7. Something In The Air by Lauren Mayberry 8. (Isn't It) Obvious by Alessia Cara 9. People Watching by Sam Fender 10. APT. by ROSE & Bruno Mars 11. Fix You by Dean Lewis & Daniel Seavey 12. Lion Rumpus by Mogwai 13. stupid by gursday 14. Ordinary Love by Alisa Xayalith 15. Merry Mary Marry Me by Royel Otis 16. Paperface by Weezer 17. me, without you by Evan Honer 18. Your F***n' Head Split (Instrumental) by Necro 19. How Do You Feel? by Chantal Claret 20. Champagne Supernova by Middle Kids 21. Love Will Tear Us Apart by PJ Harvey & Tim Phillips 22. Let the Flowers Grow by Peter Murphy & Boy George 23. And Nothing Is Forever by The Cure
There's always one song or artist that usually lights the spark of inspiration for every mix I make, and becomes the foundation for what I'm about to share. In this case, it was two. The first; while on my recent visit back to New York, I was driving around with a friend that still listens to terrestrial radio. A cover version of The Cranberries"Linger" came on performed by Royel Otis, whom up until that point I'd never heard of. It immediately gave me a new-found sense of appreciation for this beautiful, beautiful song that I'd always liked, but never fully loved until hearing this reinterpretation. I knew it would have to be the opener for my next mix.
The second inspiration came in mid-September when I reconnected with my high school buddy Harrison Schoenfarber here in LA for dinner. It dawned on me we probably hadn't seen each other for over 20 years at this point, but we grew up in the same circle of musician friends in our most formative years. I was familiar with his post-high school band Hepburn, who were pretty awesome. But I had no idea that back in 2012, he had made an album under the moniker of Name Brand Safe, with a friend he was helping go through a difficult divorce. Much in the same way that Christian James Hand had helped me make the Pike Project album as a way to cope with grief. The next day when I listened to this album, "Celebrate Your Wounds," I was blown away beyond words. I couldn't believe this guy I went to high school with had written such a beautiful album, which is now, literally, among one of my all time favorite albums. Especially the two tracks "Don't Look Back" and "Let Go," which are more relevant to me now than ever! So, thank you, Harris. Ever since our meet up, he's been cranking on a new album's worth of stuff and posting it online, and it's GREAT. And it's inspired me to finally start hashing out the next Pike Project album, whatever that might be.
So, that's the foundation for "With Friends Like These..." which is a title that also came to me out of the ether, and felt perfect. This features new tunes by my friends in Playing Dead and Skyhill, as well as The Cure, Jane's Addiction, Mogwai, Dean Lewis, Anthony Raneri of Bayside. Covers galore with Willie Nelson playing Flaming Lips, Sponge playing Oasis! The All-American Rejects playing Harvey Danger. New discoveries like gursday, a Long Island band recommended to me by Sam Hoyas. And a Bob Moses song "Broken Belief," which I heard on an episode of THE PENGUIN of all places!
A few older songs round this out because of their personal significance with me while putting this together; Taking Back Sunday's"Faith (When I Let You Down)" and the mighty John Parr's"St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)," which could be the one break-down from Christian James Hand that I've listened to the most. I know I say this every time, but it's because I truly believe it... this is my best mix yet!
RE: the cover image, I just googled the phrase "With Friends Like These," and it brought me to this artwork created by Michael Whelan for the Alan Dean Foster book of the same name. Synchronicity!
Without further ado, I give you...
2024, Vol. 6: With Friends Like These
1. Linger by Royel Otis 2. High Road by Anthony Raneri 3. We Dont Want The Same by Playing Dead 4. Let Go by Name Brand Safe 5. Supersonic by Sponge 6. Flagpole Sitta by The All-American Rejects 7. Broken Belief by Bob Moses 8. God Gets You Back by Mogwai 9. Alone by The Cure 10. Ghost Light by Skyhill (featuring Maiah Wynne) 11. Black Hole Heart by 1000 Years (featuring System Syn) 12. Empire by Dean Lewis 13. don't stop by gursday 14. Do You Realize?? by Willie Nelson 15. Boys & Girls by Alisa Xayalith 16. True Love by Janes Addiction 17. Don't Look Back by Name Brand Safe 18. Faith (When I Let You Down) by Taking Back Sunday 19. St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion) by John Parr
1. X-Men '97 Theme by The Newton Brothers 2. Raise The Red Flag by Marilyn Manson 3. F**k What You Heard by Body Count 4. Say My Name by Cassyette 5. Fix by BONES UK 6. War Dreams Of Itself by The Smashing Pumpkins 7. Imminent Redemption by Jane's Addiction 8. On The Block by Pye Corner Audio 9. Roses by Alisa Xayalith 10. Rest by Dean Lewis and Sasha Alex Sloan 11. Rainbow Overpass by Bright Eyes and Alex Orange Drink 12. Falling Apart by Playing Dead 13. Drown (Waves Mix) by AL1CE 14. Zero Sum by The Smile 15. Tears by Julia Wu 16. Heart-Shaped Box by Marcin 17. Crystal Breath by Kim Deal 18. Heard A Train by Mark Lanegan 19. Cherry Pie by Fazerdaze 20. As The Waters Cover The Sea by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 21. Chronos by Pye Corner Audio 22. The Emptiness Machine by LINKIN PARK 23. The Crow (In Memory Of B.L.) by Life Of Agony 24. Burn by Corvyx 25. ---- -- --- ----
New mix! And I named it after a song that my friend Erika Smith introduced me to called "Attention" by Charlie Puth, because... well, it seems a lot of people these last few years really want attention!
New discoveries include Nilufer Yanya, The Beaches, Justice, Grimson. New singles from my friends in Playing Dead & AL1CE. Welcome returns from Bright Eyes, The Jesus Lizard, Phantom Planet.
I had to include a track from BudDihKuh (aka my Pike Project band mate Kyle Arneson) and former fellow Amoebite Rona Rapadas.
Oh, and I already had the Ruth B and Dean Lewis duet 28 on my previous mix, but I feel like it got lost in the shuffle, and so I'm opening this mix with that! ENJOY!
2024, Vol. 4: You Just Want Attention: 1. 28 by Ruth B & Dean Lewis 2. The Algorithm by Puscifer 3. Attention by Charlie Puth 4. Like I Say (I runaway) by Nilufer Yanya 5. Welcome To The Show by BuhDihKuh featuring Galen Aamot 6. You Cant Say No by Playing Dead 7. Bells and Whistles by Bright Eyes 8. Drive On by Phantom Planet 9. All I Ever Wanted by Dean Lewis 10. Spent The Day in Bed by Morrissey 11. Everything Is Boring by The Beaches 12. Generator by Justice 13. Into You by Daniel Davies 14. Kiss The Blood Off My Fingers by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies 15. Me and You by AL1CE 16. Our Blood by Rona Rapadas 17. Broken Thread (Love Theme from TOUCH) by Hogni 18. Starburster by Fontaines D.C. 19. Field of Vision by Laika Songs featuring onelinedrawing 20. Ephemeral by Sons Of Alpha Centauri 21. Hide & Seek by The Jesus Lizard 22. Chimney Sweeper by Grimson 23. Like A Stone by Atreyu
I don't know if anyone out there cares about the mixes I make, but it doesn't really matter. For me, they are perfect time capsules; digital soundtracks, to very specific moments in time. I was just re-listening to the master playlist that collected all my mixes from 2021 and it brought back a lot of sensory memories, good and bad, from a time that wasn't that long ago, yet feels like it was a decade back.
That said, I always test the mixes out before I publish them, and I can say with confidence this one features some pretty great tunes. AND an unintentional theme. I think most of us are sick of the "complainers." The perpetually, supposedly infallible finger-pointers (aka frauds and imposters) out there. So this mix started with Infinity Song's "Hater's Anthem," (which perfectly captures what these people are really like) and grew from there. With song titles like: Life Is A F-ing Miracle, Philosophy, Gaslight, I Came To See The Wreck, Keep Going, and so forth... This one definitely tells more of a story than my previous mixes and it all formed organically. And you know what? The Truth Is Out There.
It also doesn't get much better than that last home stretch with Vertigo (the new single from LUSH frontwoman Miki Berenyi), going into new Pearl Jam, a rare Mark Lanegan collaboration with Warpaint and Martina Topley Bird I just discovered, Trent & Atticus for Challengers and finally Thom Yorke.
2024, Vol. 3: The Truth Is Out There
1. Blackbird by Beyonce 2. In Circles (Diary - At London Bridge Studios) by Sunny Day Real Estate 3. Running by Pearl Jam 4. Life Is A F*****g Miracle by James 5. Hater's Anthem by Infinity Song 6. Philosophy by Middle Kids 7. Gaslight by Travis 8. I Came To See The Wreck by Ride 9. Keep Going by Guster 10. Teenagers Forever by Durry 11. Ok? Ok!? Ok? Ok! by Mannequin Pussy 12. Pheurton Skeurto (Diary - At London Bridge Studios) by Sunny Day Real Estate 13. Application For Release From The Dream by Thursday 14. But You Said by Plutocracy Planet featuring onelinedrawing 15. QWERTY by LINKIN PARK 16. Fallout by Sleep Theory 17. Hidden Agenda by Manuela 18. Change Shapes by Lauren Mayberry 19. This Is Nowhere by The Black Keys 20. Wild God by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 21. I Know Why by Daniel Davies 22. Shuttle Astronaut by Firewoodisland 23. Baby I'm the Wolf by Ha Vay 24. Guy I Used To Be by Lawrence 25. Team Side by Alan Walker & Sofiloud 26. Vertigo by Miki Berenyi Trio 27. Metamorphosis by Infinity Song 28. Won't Tell by Pearl Jam 29. Crystalised by Martina Topley Bird featuring Mark Lanegan 30. Compress / Repress (MIXED) by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross 31. Knife Edge by Thom Yorke
