This Week In Music - Part 2

Free Form Telephony is your cure for the paradox of musical choice, or a weekly mixtape of 24 songs presented in two parts.

Scroll to the bottom for the full mixtape or dissect the songs one by one. The choice is yours.

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YENDRY - El Diablo

Born in Santo Domingo before moving to Italy at the age of 3 YENDRY is truly a woman of the world. She clinched a contract with Sony Music after reaching the finals on X-Factor, but quickly left them behind sighting her unwillingness to compromise her creative vision. Her song El Diablo embodies this boldness. Over a latin inspired dance beat she extols the virtues of surrounding yourself with those who love you for you. Even if it means forgoing those who wish to shape you in their image.

It is actually a strange album, in the way that we did not put limits to our creativity, we didn’t give ourselves a unique genre to follow since we are independent and we can still afford it, we simply walked into the studio to record and create music.

Mark Clennon - Don't Start A Fire

Mark Clennon is a Jamaican born Toronto based musician creating Neo Soul which folds in a wide array of genres. His honest, heartfelt lyrics work to dismantle the stereotypes of male culture. Foreign, his latest album was produced by Rainer + Grimm who have helped shape songs for The Weeknd and Drake.

My goal as an artist is to create something that hasn’t been heard before or to take something and make it my own. I’d much rather do my own thing than follow a trend

Throwback: Gossip - Heavy Cross

This rock band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1999 before disbanding in 2016. Their music was a sort of soul/gospel funky/punk hybrid drawing inspiration from rock legends as well as dance and hip hop giants. This rocking dance track off their 2009 album Music For Men was a huge success in Germany being certified triple gold and spending 82 consecutive weeks on the German Top 100!

It’s also nice because we know that not everything lasts forever. We’ve been doing this since we were eighteen, all of us, and if you think about kids who got instantly famous when they’re eighteen, how they’re gonna feel when they’re twenty-four and it’s over. At least we got to be twenty-five and we’ll be thirty when it’s over!

KOTA The Friend - SEDONA

KOTA The Friend, born Avery Marcel Joshua Jones, in Brooklyn, New York developed a love for music at a young age. He learned to play piano, guitar, and bass before attending Five Towns College to tackle the trumpet. Here we find another independent spirit. As he turned down offers from 3 major labels before creating his own imprint and clothing store FLTBYS. SEDONA puts his laid back and playful attitude on full display over a bouncy beat.

Everybody’s really kind of selfish with their support and it just didn’t make me better. So the only way that I’m going to get it done is if I get up and do it. And it just so happened that every time I leveled up, the people that I was trying to get in touch with before were hitting me up.

Claud - Gold

Claud Mintz is a non-binary artist who creates bedroom pop under the name Claud. In 2019 Claud dropped out of Syracuse College to pursue music full-time. Claud was the first artist to sign on with Phoebe Bridgers' record label Saddest Factory. Gold is a funky yet intellectual track taking on the deficiency of support one often finds themselves up against within relationships.

I had feelings for somebody and they were jokingly kind of mean to me about it. It’s like, OK get it: you don’t like me back. And that’s fine. But, like, ow – it still hurts, you know?

Bartees Strange - Mustang

Bartees Strange was born in Ipswich, England, raised in Mustang, Oklahoma, and is now operating out of Washington D.C. where he creates anthemic rock'n'roll. 2020 catapulted him into the spotlight after releasing an EP of re-imagined The National covers before releasing his first full length, Live Forever, to universal critical acclaim. Mustang tackles growing up in a small town and watching many of the people around him pass away long before their time.

Pop, rock and indie music comes from Black people and Black history, which has been twisted and recategorised over decades. Just look at how music is classified: the last two Tyler the Creator albums were called hip-hop… those aren’t hip-hop records! They’re pop records: adventurous and futuristic pop.

Cleo Sol - Butterfly

Cleo Sol grew up in West London with her half Serbian and Spanish mother who sings and plays the guitar and flute and a Jamaican father who plays the bass and piano. She began developing her voice at a young age drawing inspiration from her parents eclectic record collection. Butterfly off her 2020 album Rose in the Dark is a soulful reminder of the courage and persistence staying true to yourself requires.

But this is bigger than me, and I always have to remind myself I'm simply a vessel...so my album is here for you to listen to, to uplift you, move you or be your backing track vibes whilst we are all moving through this moment.

Alex Bleeker - La La La

Alex Bleeker, best known as the bassist for the band Real Estate, has recently released a laid back solo album, Heaven on the Faultline. Drawing on his 20+ years of experience creating music he delivers a deep yet playful sonic experience across 13 tracks. La La La is an effervescent song about the transient nature of love.

Well, In 2050, assuming that I don’t die an untimely death, I will be 64 years old. That’s still below retirement age so hopefully I won’t need to be remembered at all! No matter where I find myself in my life, or what predicament humanity may or may not find itself in, I hope that I’ll be continuing to write, record, and release my music into the world by way of some unimaginable futuristic platform. Maybe we’ll still be pressing records on vinyl in 30 years too.

Lady XO - Innovative

Lady XO garnered attention from a series of magnetic freestyles released to social media. Her style is progressive yet authentic by fully embracing the raw emotions of a young woman growing up in today's culture. Innovative grapples with her struggles with addiction by creating one's own path in this world.

Every girl loves feeling exclusive with her man, I wanted to do something for the solid females out there who listen to me. Technically I had no idea what I was doing, I just wanted to try something new and test my limits.

Ole Kirkeng - Rocking Chair

Ole Kirkeng a Norwegian native spent five years at The Berklee College of Music where Susan Rogers, who worked with Prince throughout the 80s, became his close mentor. After graduating he moved to Brooklyn roving from venue to venue with his guitar on his back. During the beginning of the pandemic he returned to his native Norway. Rocking Chair is a beautiful song about thinking we're getting somewhere yet always returning to the same place.

I gave every musician on this record full trust in their musical compasses, and I didn’t give any pointers on how to approach each song. Something special happens I think, when someone reacts with their natural instincts, and they have the opportunity to express their own musical gift with no interference.

WILLOW & Jahnavi Harrison - Surrender (Krishna Keshava)

Willow Smith joins forces with Bhakti star Jahnavi Harrison to update this ancient Indian devotional. Krishna is an ancient manifestation of godhead. Keshava is one of his many names meaning the one with beautiful hair. This choice couldn't be more fitting as WILLOW was made famous by whipping her hair back and forth.

It was so beautiful because I look up to Jahnavi so much and I had listened to her music for months and months before we started working together and really got acquainted with just her vibe. She has just a divine presence and I was really excited to be around that and learn from that.

Plaid - Dancers

Plaid are an English electronic music duo composed of Andy Turner and Ed Handley. They were founding members of the electronic group The Black Dog in 1989, and have since collaborated with artists from all across the musical spectrum. Their music may be considered post-techno employing a variety of time signatures to create syncopated beats.

We don't feel like we're writers in a way...we're more like explorers, waiting to identify a new riff or melody.

Hurray! You've reached the end of Part 2!

Or, did you simply scroll down here? Irrelevant! We're here now at the full playlist!

Did you know Napster pays musicians nearly Twice As Much per stream as Spotify?

Now you do! I switched and so can you!

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