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diSKOAver weekly: week of May 3, 2023
Heya cute lil disco babies ✨🪩
Given that we are in the middle of one hell of a Mercury Retrograde (😮💨) and also about to have a major lunar eclipse in Scorpio on Friday that’s all about releasing what doesn’t serve you, I thought it would be helpful to offer the collective some amulets of protection and strength to navigate any particularly prickly moments of reflection that you may experience over the next few days.
I won’t front, it’s been pretty prickly the last few months. As I mentioned previously, I’ve felt stuck in this transitional phase that I’ve been in for awhile and decided to do some digging to see if there was anything that I was missing that was preventing my progress. What I finally allowed myself to see had been in front of me the whole time. If I may be so vulnerable to the void, I will bravely admit that I was toting around some really heartbreaking self limiting beliefs. I was allowing myself believe that:
I am a disposable person 😔
Connection with me is something people can easily let go of 😞
My full authenticity is *too much* and pointless to offer anyone because people will abruptly leave you no matter what anyway 🫥
A relationship with me isn’t worth fighting for 🫠
I’ve been essentially wearing these self limiting beliefs as a pair of prescription lenses that are VERY MUCH NOT YOUR PRESCRIPTION ANYMORE. 👓 For people who have privileged eyesight and have never experienced what happens when the prescription is off on your corrective lenses, it fuckin SUCKS. 😩 You get headaches from the eye strain and all sorts of other micro annoyances until you can rectify the issue and go back to full clarity.
Happy to report that those metaphorical contact lenses have been chucked into the fuckin bin, y’all. 🚮
As a result, I’ve been carefully setting some new boundaries to reflect my restored vision. This morning after meditation I drew the Nine of Wands, of which Jessica Dore’s reflections on that particular card in her book, Tarot For Change: Using The Cards For Self-Care, Acceptance, and Growth just so happen to be about boundaries. 😎
She writes that,
“Ideally what we want is a boundary that’s firm, visible from a mile away but not unwelcoming. There’s a doorway through the wall, but the gatekeeper is discerning and has a zero-tolerance policy for nonsense.”
I liken this line of thinking to that of all things, a bubble. 🫧
Think about it. Visible from a good distance and completely transparent but something that you know if you were to penetrate it you would literally wreck the whole vibe. Furthermore, bubbles are adaptive in more ways than just floating around making Ozzy Osbourne feel less like the Prince of Fucking Darkness. Bubbles can freeze and be rigid and seemingly impenetrable, which while looking kinda cool aren’t as fun as regular bubbles because they’re too heavy to be all floaty and cute. They can also bump into other bubbles and subsequently stick together and float around together in fun new shapes as a result. 🫧
To me, this last lil bitty bit here is ✨the goal✨. Right? I’ve had to learn the hard way that having good boundaries with yourself means only sticking to people who wouldn’t want to burst your bubble, and a good indictor of that is whether or not you actually see a bubble when you encounter anyone outside of your own. 🧐
On communicating boundaries, Dore offers the following (my flair added),
“I often think of communicating a boundary as a bit like getting informed consent from someone. 🫧It’s right to let others know the terms of engagement before they get involved. This keeps you safe, and it also keeps the other person safe from the possibility of your exploding in a fit of rage because you said yes too many times when you should’ve said no. 🫧 It’s scary to be close with people who give indiscriminately without a sense of their own limits.”
Apparently I’ve been in the energy of this bubble metaphor for boundaries for awhile now, because I just remembered this little nugget of wisdom from my chat with Goo Goo Dolls bassist Robby Takac that I’ll leave you with (and obvi my flair again):
"It is what you make it," he said, "It's your bubble man. You're in a bubble when you're out here [on tour] but it's your bubble. Like we say 'life's good in the bubble, man'. You know, for a lot you get to choose what's there and what's not, you know? So we just kind of keep it sane back there, […].”
So much love to all of you. Now go blow some beautiful bubbles already!
🫧💖✨
Fischerspooner - “Amuse Bouche”
KAMAUU - “the vibe — A COLORS SHOW”
Chris-n-Teeb - “First”
Lily Allen “Trigger Bang (feat. Giggs)”
Yves Tumor - “Purified By Fire”
Joshwa - “Magalenha”
Pat Lok - “Set Me Free (feat. Kiinjo)”
Mont Duamel - “Young”
Moullinex - “Break Me In Pieces (feat. GPU Panic)”
Qveen Herby - “NAH”
Courtney Govan - “stay still”
Posie Pocket - “Peace>Pleasure”
Aaron Taylor - “Patience (feat. Madison Ryann Ward)”
NAMIRÉ - “Let Go”
Bayonne - “Solo”
Sego - “SURRENDER”
Nothin But Fuckin Love Songs vol. 4
OH HULLO! ✨👋🏻
How’s my Valentine!?!?! 💘
Yo remember when I had a lot of intense but well meaning things to say about love on Valentines Day when I dropped vol. 2 back in 2021? I just had such a moment looking back at that post now, it’s so beautiful to be able to witness myself at the beginning of this healing journey I’ve been on. I’ve really been committed to making space for everyone to feel loved since I got in the thick of this. (She’s always been such a sweet sweetie! 🥹)
So wild to think of how little space I was actually making for myself in that moment.
It can be really hard to see the love around you, let alone be open to receive all of it. I didn’t realize just how bad I had gotten at receiving love until I was fortunate enough to enroll in yoga teacher training in the fall of last year. During the week when we were covering the heart chakra, we were told we would be doing an exercise where we were going to sit in a circle with our knees touching, hands on our knees, and then have someone sit in the center of the circle. That person was then supposed to make eye contact with you, say something they loved about you, and you were just supposed to take a breath and receive whatever they said while maintaining eye contact.
You had to rotate and have this experience with every single person in the circle.
Yeah.
I remember thinking to myself, “OMG That sounds so uncomfortable. Watch, they’re going to make me go first or some shit.”
THEY TOTALLY FUCKING DID. 😂
Let’s just say thankfully(?) it was just about as overwhelming for everyone else as it was for me. 😮💨 I probably had the most snot on my hoodie tho 😪. It was so fucking sweet. We all got so much closer after that.
I’ll never forget that experience. It’s made me think a lot about how it seems like it’s become just as hard to receive love as it is to feel comfortable asking for it, and not just from other people, but also from ourselves.
I’ve recently started to use love songs as a litmus test to see where I’m at with my relationship with myself on any given day. 🧪 If I catch myself hung up on a song and I’m feeling anxious as a result, I pay attention to how the lover is addressed in the song and show up for myself in that way. When the song goes back to feel good vibes that’s how I know I’ve done my job effectively. It’s a pretty cool concept to experiment with. I invite you to give it a try with your favorite love songs. Alternatively, as per usual, I’ve assembled another stack of songs from my stockpile for my annual offering, so if you’re open to receiving some love from me while you venture inward, amazing. You can also just listen to these and pretend like they’re all for you, too. You know how to love yourself best (or you should anyway), so take all the love you need from these pixels you’re interacting with right now.
Sending you Lots of love, Valentine! 💖
diSKOAver weekly: week of February 8, 2023
Ayo bestie what’s good !?🥰👋🏻
To quote my absolute favorite vine of all time,
✨✨GUESS WHO’S BACK AND BETTER THAN EVAH!? ✨✨
omg the way that i have missed this space. 😮💨
Also, how do we like the new digs? 🥰
Isn't it fun here now!? I'm obsessed with this design! 🤩
There are still a lot of tweaks left to do. Porting over *CHecks Notes* about10k blog posts and shit to a new Squarespace account so I could have all of the latest features to play around with was a bit tedious, but if I’m being honest I don’t regret it. This shit is pretty cool! RIGHT? RIGHT?🥺 Anyway I’m working on it, so please excuse the stardust in the meantime. 💫
Bestie you would be so proud of me. I’ve been doing so much work on myself while I was away. I learned so much about how I came to be Some Kind of Awesome and the way that unbeknownst to me until literally this past weekend that this little web log of mine has been a little beautiful container for healing. It’s so funny, ever since this site transitioned back over to just being me contributing I’ve had such a hard time feeling comfortable with doing whatever the fuck I want to here. The long and the short of it is internalized sexism fucking sucks and I’ve learned that the only effective vaccine for protecting yourself from your insecurities is 💉radical self acceptance💉, bb.
Oh I forgot to send you this when I first saw it. 😑 My bad, I’ve been ruminating on this Instagram post that Questlove made as he was in the throes of processing and grieving the loss of renowned rapper Takeoff, who we lost to gun violence. Tell me this doesn’t just stop you dead in your fucking tracks:
No wonder the never ending quest of being cool is so fucking toxic. It’s literally a byproduct of white supremacy/systemic racism. 🙃
God I used to want to be seen as 🥶 cool🥶 so bad. I used to waste so much brain space worrying about how I was being perceived. I would literally exhaust myself overthinking every little last pixel of this place, trying to prove that I was like, worthy of an industry that has time and time again showcased that they intend to strip you of everything that makes you so perfectly and wonderfully you in order to essentially win a popularity contest. I can never decide if living with that as our reality is more embarrassing or infuriating, you know what I mean? Like we have lost (and continue to lose) so many people in this community to mental health related issues because we push artists to such unrealistic standards to try to keep up with capitalism’s insatiable desires. As a recovering perfectionist myself, I can share from firsthand account that just feeling the pressure to perform without a single mistake all day every day will take you to the darkest and twistiest of places inside one’s big beautiful brain. Musicians then have to factor in the grueling demands of touring until you drop dead while fanbases leave them feeling beholden instead of empowered because their art gets reduced to something that if it’s not solely consumed in excess it’s considered worthless. that’s so fucking gross. 🤢
IDK about you bestie, but everyone I know who makes music is trying to 🔌 connect 🔌. They wanna connect people to shared experiences. To parts of their firsthand lived experience that someone else may not have been exposed to so that the slight shift in perspective just for a handful of moments might click something into place in their spirit so they can know themselves better. You know, like all the things that art is about! 🤩 as someone who was briefly obsessed with trying to monetize people’s consumption of my self expression with the unrealistic expectation of somehow eliciting an insatiable demand for my ✨rock mom ramblings✨, I can tell you it makes you feel really fucking worthless that the thing that makes you happy will probably never fit unless you change every last thing that makes what you have to offer so special in this lifetime.
And bestie like, you’re so fucking special. Especially to me. 🥹 Has anyone told you that yet today? Because if not I can say it again and like 200 more times today and for the rest of our lives if you want. Cheering you on to greatness is my 2nd favorite thing in the world (after making playlists, obvi).
🪩 The world deserves to see you in your most authentic form of self expression that you feel safe enough to release out into the world. Whatever that is. Regardless if it’s on trend or not. Period. 🪩
As you can see, all this radical self acceptance I’ve been practicing’s got me riled up, bestie! So much so that I woke up this morning and decided that I had to make sure that in the time we’ve been apart that you haven’t forgotten that your creative expression is so precious to this world and you deserve to have people take the time to make you feel seen and that they deeply understand what you are conveying to them. AND! AND! You deserve to feel abundant as fuck as a result of your willingness to be that fucking vulnerable. Not everyone can do it like you do, yo. Your way is so magical! you’re really just out there drastically changing lives all effortlessly and shit by doing what comes naturally to you. And yeah, ofc there are gonna be some people out in the world that will forever be committed to misunderstanding you, but honestly that’s their fucking loss. Just look at you In all your splendor enduring all this hot pink to connect with me right now! Making me feel all seen and valued and shit. 🥰 anyone who wants to sleep on you is gonna be kicking themselves for the lapse in judgement eventually, so just try to focus on the people who try to give as many fucks as I do about what you do.
You know how I love to make you playlists, so I’ve decided that as a way to be a good friend to you that I’m going to commit myself to sharing all the songs that have been helping me get to the really beautiful place that my spirit has settled into lately. It’s been really wild to see how all these songs that have sought me out in the last few years were helping me retrain my brain so I could be the person who is blissfully babbling into a Squarespace to you right now. I’m so excited to see what resonates with you. That’s by far my favorite part of music: that moment when you can really see another person from a very specific perspective that could only have been facilitated by self expression. Makes my eyes water just typing that 🥹.
I hope these songs make you feel as safe and supported as I feel right now having you here reading this. I saw this sticker recently from this decolonial Native Xicana Feminist Fanzine that I stumbled into on Instagram awhile back that said, “We keep each other safe so we can be dangerous together.” Huh, I guess my brain needed to simmer with that for a minute so I could be inspired to drop you this playlist. Anyway I’m gonna wrap this up so I can get to work on your Valentine for next week💘. You know how much I love Valentine’s Day.
To recap: I think you’re the fucking best. I’m proud of you all day every day. please don’t overthink anything that makes you feel like the happiest and most authentic version of yourself. Keep doing what you’re doing. Stay true to yourself. Fuck the haters. And fuck worrying about being cool. You’re so much more than cool. You’re everything. Also, you don’t have to stress about where you’re tryna go, you’re already there. 🪩✨
That’s all for now.
Talk soon, you little sweet sweetie!
Love you!
p.s. I did that thing I always do where I put lil notes in the tracklist below so you’d feel extra special. Excited to hear your thoughts!
1. DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? - “Guess Who Just Rolled Back Into Town”
You’ll have to excuse me, I think I’m hilarious opening with this. Also lotta people missed this one when it dropped last year so had to make sure you saw it.
2. salome - “What’s Home”
I regret not venturing out in the rain last year when I was in Paris to see Salome. Woulda made catching covid while I was there worth it. 😮💨
3. Memphis LK - "Tricky”
It makes me so happy to see Memphis LK doing so well.🥰 Has it really been *checks notes* almost 3 full years since I first fell for her? Hell yeah. My love is steadfast when the vibe is right and she’s def ✨got it✨.
4. Son Little - “drummer”
I love Aaron so much. I am always so thrilled to see him doing well. This is such a fuckin jam. If it doesn’t make you do a cute lil shimmy then maybe you need a nap (or I need to remember that not everyone chair dances as often as I do).
5. Djo - “Change”
About to make you sound really cool at parties: did you know that Joe Keery of Stranger Things fame is in a band and it fuckin RULES!? I think I love the new record so much because I’m convinced that Joe is channeling Matt Mahaffey, which is weird because he’s very much alive and well. He’s even apparently working on another sElf record! But yeah, back to Joe. It's such a cool little record that could not be anymore well received by yours truly.
6. Telenova - “Haunted”
Bestie did I tell you that Slum Sociable broke up? 😭 As you can imagine, I was absolutely fucking beside myself. But! In true Aussie fashion as detailed to me by the homies in Kingswood, there was an amalgamation of talented Aussies that emerged from that chapter coming to a close. If you thought Slum Sociable was the shit Telenova will absolutely knock your fucking socks off. Singer Angeline Armstrong is such a powerhouse and cool as hell. If I have to swim to Australia, put the band on my back, and swim them to America myself I’ll fucking do it. That’s how badly I want to be her friend 🥺.
7. Casually Here - “Apex”
“Hey Kibbe what was your most played song of 2022?” This absolute fucking masterpiece. This whole record is good, but this is just such a stunning little meditative moment. If I’m freaking out about something this can normally calm me down pretty quickly. AND Nic was a real one dropping it on the first day of birthday month. What’s not to love?
8. Fyfe + Iskra Strings - “Egosystem”
Now this lil lovely, whewwww. Makes my heart soar. If you feel like swooning for about 45 minutes, this is your record.
9. Ab-Soul + Zacari - “Do Better”
This song is so well written and meticulously executed. I love how when I’m in a moment where I’m being really hard on myself that the hook feels perfectly reflective of the moment so I can help the feeling come and go with ease, but then once the feeling passes I find it motivating. Potent medicine here. Be careful tho! It’s addictive.
10. DanDlion - “I Can’t Go FOr That (No Can Do)”
Speaking of addictive, this is one of the best covers I’ve ever heard. I can’t get enough of it. I hope that Dandlion has his moment soon. It’s gotta be any second now at this rate. His vocal performance on this is just 🤌🏻.
11. Mason + The Melody Men - “Better On My Own”
Choosing to be more deliberate with my energy even if it means I’ve been mostly keeping to myself during this little emotional growth spurt has made me feel as good as this song does.
12. Étienne de Crécy - “Kepler 186f”
You deserve to strut around like the kooky little badass that you are and this is the song to ensure that.
13. HERO - “POWER”
FYI - If you play this one loudly enough when you’re having a moment of uncertainty in the power that you posess, the feeling typically subsides by the end of this song.
14. Kutay Soyocak - “Hiçbir Şey”
The darkling lead singer of Jakuzi released this little one off solo track last year and it makes me feel like a lil sexy ass glitch witch every time I put it on. 🔮 Oh speaking of that sweet boy. He’s been posting Mutual Aid resources related to the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria on his instagram stories but they’re all in Turkish. NPR shared this detailed resource of ways to lend your support from over here.
15. Yulia Niko + EREZ - “I’m Everything”
I have a goal to get this added to a playlist at the yoga studio I’ve been going to while I’m in Raleigh by the end of the week. This was cool to flow to the other day when I practiced at home, but I want this loud in the studio with my favorite yogis. This song is badass.
16. Myd - “We Found It (feat. Bakar)”
Speaking of yoga, I have the most beautiful memory associated with this song now. When I was in Paris in August 2021, I stayed in a studio on a houseboat on the Seine (yes, really). I had a little private terrace where I could do yoga outside. It was heaven. I added this song to a yoga playlist I made for my practice on the houseboat and this song always came on when I was in camel pose, which is a heart opener. Anyway, one afternoon around the full moon (which was also a Blue Moon) I was in camel pose listening this song. The sky was so blue. The clouds were puffy and white. THe moon was out and really feeling herself. My heart was so full. I hope you get the same feeling I did from this one. 💖
diSKOAver weekly: Week of December 8, 2021
Hello gorgeous internet friends!🥰✨💖
Did you miss me? I sure missed you.
I think the hiatus is over? IDK. I feel like I keep saying that, but I’m pretty sure this is the real deal this time, haha.
In the past I have spent a lot of time overthinking what I share on this silly little site because I want it to be an equally fun and informative space that also happens to be aesthetically pleasing to My People. Plus there’s that pressure to figure out how to monetize the thing that makes you happy 🤑, which can easily become a thing that makes you really unhappy when you get caught comparing your internet offerings to someone else’s. Juggling all of those feels on top of a pandemic made trying to express myself even more stressful so I gave myself as much space from this as I needed until I missed it so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
And some of you even reached out a few times to ask when the next update was coming. 🥺 You’ll never know how much that meant to feel like my contributions are actually meaningful to y’all even though most of the time I feel like I’m gushing into the void, lmao.
Anyway I hope you all are doing well and have been stuck at least twice by now. 💉
Enjoy!
Mickey Kojak - ”Club Is On Fire”
Okay so for whatever stupid reason when I want to take myself seriously about loving on this Sydney sweetie I always tell myself his full name is actually Michelangelo Kojak. I might have dreamed that once? Either way, that’s not even remotely true. I know his real name is actually Michael Dable and yet here we are lol. At any rate, our fateful hero has been doing his part during the pandemic to regularly drop techno treats on Tuesdays of his choosing to keep the fire burning in our hearts for his adorkable ass while he continues to work on new music. Luckily we managed to get a remix and two originals from Mickey in 2021, “Lights Out” and “Club Is On Fire”, the latter being the more splendidly chaotic of the two.
Pat Lok x Party Pupils - “So Fine”
Over the course of 2021 the Twitter homey Pat Lok has been doing the Lorde’s work by keeping us satiated with shit that slaps. His recent collaborations with Party Pupils have been especially hitting the spot as of late. “So Fine” is an obvious fave because it makes it easier for me to pretend like I’m getting the attention I know I deserve, but I also really love their latest, “I Want You”. Which is also more attention seeking from me I guess? lol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Lxury - “PAD MA”
I was really glad London’s Lxury snuck in another EP after last year’s No Real Rush. This new one, Smart Digital Life is a lot more airy and brighter than NRR. There’s not a track I’d cut. In a parallel universe I would’ve included “Up High” but I was really feeling the high energy of "PAD MA” to compliment everything else in this weeks playlist.
Simon Hinter - “Wanna Make Love - Mixed”
I love a good DJ Kicks mix, which is where I fell for German producer Simon Hinter. While I thoroughly enjoyed the entire mix that Disclosure put together, “Wanna Make Love” easily stands out as a moment to shut the fuck up and dance. Do not try to shift your focus otherwise you might get swept away on the dance floor.
Alfie Templeman - “Wait, I Lied”
If these are the kinds of songs that Alfie Templeman is writing at 18, mannnn I’m like dying to know how his sound is gonna evolve in the next, like, 5 years. The progression from Don’t Go Wasting Time to Forever Isn’t Long Enough is somewhat subtle but you can tell that he’s feeling a lot more confident in his sound. Here’s hoping he continues on this trajectory he’s clearly on at the moment.
Jaded - “Welcome To The People”
Lovely London lads Jaded have also been doing their part holding it down in 2021. I think “Welcome To The People” is a nice change of pace for the trio. The beat is super addictive. It keeps you stimulated as if you’re slightly over caffeinated and leaves you wanting like a 10 minute edit of this or some other absurd length.
Darius - “Feels Right (feat. Duñe)”
Let the record reflect that the only show I went to in all of 2021 was to see Darius and Étienne de Crécy while I was in Paris for part of August and most of September. I just can’t bring myself to do shows in the US yet. I got hella trust issues with this country related to this pandem. Meanwhile, France’s vaccination efforts coupled with the countrywide implementation of the Pass Sanitaire put my mind at ease to dance the night away. And you better believe I barely moved the next day I went so hard at that show. While every track on Darius’ new EP, OASIS (Prelude), has its each little flavor to savor, “Feels Right” is my favorite mood enhancer of his and I had to make sure this one got to y’all. 🥰
Louis La Roche - “One Big Gay Disco”
I very much like Louis La Roche’s new album, We’re Not That Different. There are so many good details about this record that make me keep coming back to it. My first taste of the record was, “One Big Gay Disco”, which is how I would succinctly describe what I hope heaven is like if it exists. I did ⚡️The Kibbe Thing⚡️ and hunted down the origin of this sample. I’m not going to publicize the hateful homophobic person’s name who said some horrible shit in an interview that Louis chose to transform into something positive and fuckin fabulous. I’m not mad it wasn’t easy to find the clip. Maybe just take my word for it that it’s awful and as someone who has people who lost people in the Pulse shooting that this song advances the slay agenda and is defiantly gay as hell.
KUNZITE - “SUPREME BEAM”
I’m such a doofus. I went way too long not putting it together that KUNZITE was Ratatat adjacent. Never not embarrassing when something that later seems painfully obvious just flies over my head. I mean how long have I been at this shit, 12 years now? Anyway for the record KUNZITE is comprised of RATATAT's Mike Stroud and Agustin White from White Flight which is why it’s vibey af. I really love their latest album, VISUALS and I cannot recommend it enough.
Willow Kayne - “Opinion”
When last we met this little sweetie was just stepping out with her debut single, “Two Seater”. Since then she’s released tracks “I Don’t Wanna Know” and more recently, “Opinion”. Have a peep at the brand spankin’ new music video for IDWK which Willow shot during her recent stay in Los Angeles. If you need any concrete evidence that the 90s are absolutely back in style, just sit back and let Willow’s ‘fits wash over you in all of their Delias-era glory. For some reason I really want Willow and BENEE to be besties. I feel like they would get into the best kind of trouble together, you know?
Noah Davis- “How Much Cash”
I haven’t watched American Idol since season one so I hadn’t made the connection that Noah Davis has already had a little heat going for awhile. To me he was just some unassuming sweet thing that landed on my FYP and left me fucking SHOOK when “How Much Cash” hit my earholes. It not only makes me want to go to a gay bar full of hot lil go-go boys, but given that I’m in a space to call in the blessings I’ve been blocking, I always feel richer and mad sexy after playing this.
Magdalena Bay- “Secrets (Your Fire)”
Only been trying to make this band happen since *checks notes AKA the DW archive* 2019. Glad everyone has joined the party! Like sincerely. I really am. Gotta say tho, they really fucking nailed it with this record. Mercurial World is just… *chef’s kiss*. Also this 90s nostalgia aesthetic just makes me feel like I’m on Geocities talking about this. If you don’t know what Geocities is please don’t tell me and just Google it. I can already feel the “kids these days don’t know how good they have it for making websites” spiel and I’m not in the mood to embarrass myself. Just let me casually obsess over their music video for this song and their website in peace.
Griff - “One Night”
Fun true story: while working from my Airbnb in Paris I would leave MTV France on because I figured of all the TV shows that would teach me useful French vocabulary that Catfish would be perfect for someone as Very Online as yours truly. In France they were going HARD with plugging this song in the commercial breaks. Admittedly I haven’t given Griff a lot of attention in the past, but the clip from, “One Night” left me curious about the story behind the song. Apparently it’s about, “feeling like you’re always carrying this darkness or burden.” As Griff told NME, “I think in the daytime we can feel distracted because we’re around people and we’re busy, but that moment between going to bed and falling asleep, there’s just enough silence for those burdens to get louder. Essentially this song is trying to understand why I can’t shake it, and the chorus comes to this breaking point of desperately wanting at least ‘One Night’ alone.” Yeah girl, feel that. 😔
Carter Vail - “Trash Friends”
Carter Vail makes it very easy to love him, which is why I’m not surprised at his ever growing following on TikTok. He’s a solid songwriter, has a great sense of humor (see also: “Trash Friends”), and also happens to have a face that you don’t mind looking at for long periods of time. It did not surprise me one bit to learn that he’s based in Nashville now and played at Rockwood Music Hall at the end of November. Hell I might DM his ass and ask him if he’s going to Belmont, because that’s the vibe he’s throwing. He’s throwing “homey I could’ve gone to college with who’s having a fun time getting better at writing songs”. That said, it seems his sound has already evolved quite a bit since he started releasing tracks in 2018 and I definitely like the direction he’s chosen for his 2021 cuts.
Nasty Party- “People On The Street”
Are you ready to hit BINGO on your SKOA Bingo cards? This one is courtesy of the TikTok algorithm AND is an Australian baby band, bitches. LMAO. These guys have managed to capture the essence of 1980’s punk but made just enough tweaks to the sound that it could contend with today’s standards. In my ✨Kibbe Flies Aussie Bands To America And Makes Them All Famous Fantasy✨, these guys would be on a bill with Johnny Hunter and These New South Whales.
Jakuzi - “Açık Bir Yara”
My little Turkish darklings Jakuzi have reappeared to seduce us with a quickie two-song EP for 2021, of which the title track,“Açık Bir Yara” is my favorite. Singer Kutay Soyocak has also started dabbling in a new black metal project called Vox In Rama which is a genre I’m not often in the mood for but is very cool to see this side of Kutay’s vocal abilities.
![[PLAY THE PLAYLIST] Nothin But Fuckin Love Songs Vol. 2](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61cb91c18cbd5c31ee4ab0fd/1671489661258-WV3DFU9OTOUVRQNKFW1Z/nothin-but-fuckin-love-songs-v2.jpg)
[PLAY THE PLAYLIST] Nothin But Fuckin Love Songs Vol. 2
People get so fuckin weird about Valentine’s Day.
It is such a wild thing to observe.
Personally….I love Valentine’s Day. I’ve always liked that there’s a day where we go out of our way to share our love with each other and allegedly it’s not weird to be as extra as you wanna be.
I say allegedly because like… well what the fuck is this Galentines/Palentines day bullshit? Are we serious? You’re really that worried someone is gonna misinterpret your intentions? Or is this a solidarity thing for people who aren’t yet legally bound to someone? What is that?
Either way, you’re fuckin with the vibe when you throw around this unnecessary bullshit. Grow the fuck up. It’s Valentine’s Day and there is more than enough love to go around today, okay?
Also, I’ve been partner-less for most of them, too, so don’t start coming at me with some bullshit like, “Well over here it’s been Single’s Awareness Day basically forever, Kibbe”.
And trust me fam, I get it. It’s so easy to forget that we were taught out of loving each other freely and fearlessly. Remember when your age was still in single digits? That night before your school observed Valentines Day you got that box of corny ass mass produced ✨meaningful messages✨ and you went one by one through all of them assigning little love notes to everyone in class. Friends got the fun ones, crushes got the ones that seemed a bit more direct, and anyone else got whatever was left. Next day in class everyone distributed their Valentines and there would be this fun chatter about the messages or which cartoon franchise you went with for your Valentines. We never thought fuckin twice about giving everyone a Valentine back then. At least that’s how I remember that shit, along with handing out Care Bear ones at some point.
ANYWAY
We know I’m a song hoarder and that I like being able to identify a song for every occasion if possible, especially because a lot of times songs articulate a feeling or thought I’ve been sitting with better than I had been able to land on. With love songs though, it’s so interesting. Like I said, not a ton of relationships over my way, yet when prompted I can always send at least 20 in your direction at all times. I wouldn’t necessarily say love songs feel as carelessly mass produced as my Care Bear Valentines from 1st grade, but there are definitely more love songs than there are people at this point.
Either way I can tell that I’ve grown a lot as person since the last time that I compiled love songs for Valentine’s Day because as I was putting together this round of songs that I thought about how silly it is that I am able do this so easily. I started asking myself questions like: Am I really just cataloging vibes so I can provide more thoughtful recommendations than The Algorithm™ ever could? Am I trying to study love so I ✨do it right✨ if it ever shows up? Even scarier, am I studying these to see if I’ve been doing something wrong? Do I want someone to send these songs to me? Do I think all of these songs encompass just one person?
I think that last question is really fascinating given how weird people are about Valentine’s Day. We often think that one single person is going to arrive in our lives and that will mean that everything is better or easier because we have found someone we enjoy being with so much that we’d draw up some paperwork so we can collectively own assets or make important medical decisions for each other. But in the real world that’s not how it works. Most people don’t get married and evaporate from their former lives, never speaking to their friends or family ever again. If anything the result is two communities, not just two people, become one. And when shit hits the fan, I mean yeah you have someone RIGHT THERE at your side immediately to look out for you, but the way that person shows up for you is the result of the way their community shaped them, for better or for worse (see what I did there?).
To be clear, finding ✨your person✨ is WONDERFUL. I’m not tryna discount that at all. But it’s not some cure all that a lot of people seem to think it is. I don’t think you’re “fixed” or something because you find your person, mostly because I don’t think anyone is “broken” to begin with. If anything this person is just someone you agree to get really fucking vulnerable with, which ideally you’re already practicing varying levels of vulnerability with select members of your community prior to identifying this person. A person who is so special that you throw a very fancy party to celebrate. Even that, weddings would be fuckin trash without your friends and family there, so why do we choose to spend this particular day treating love like it’s something incredibly exclusive? I will spare you a wall of text about the capitalism bit here and just say IT’S SO LAME THAT THIS EXISTS AND I HATE IT VERY MUCH.
This all to say…. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Not Single’s Awareness Day. Not Palentine’s Day. Not Galentine’s Day.
Fuckin Valentine’s Day.
I love you. 💖
![[PLAY THE PLAYLIST] BEST FUCKING MORNING ☕️](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61cb91c18cbd5c31ee4ab0fd/1671489716744-8O7CT3IXTS432DLNW4P5/bestfuckingmorning.png)
[PLAY THE PLAYLIST] BEST FUCKING MORNING ☕️
Recently I’ve trying to be more thoughtful with how I start my day. With all of this time in quarantine I’ve taken the opportunity to observe how impactful tiny thoughtful adaptations can be. Not just on a daily basis either, as I’ve found that sometimes the change can be so swift it’s often within an hour or even a matter of minutes, depending on the situation.
We all know music is a major mood shifter. Unfortunately, sometimes it feels like because we’ve gotten so accustomed to the habit of recklessly consuming things to make us feel better that we do this with music a lot more than any of us would like to admit. I know I’ve certainly been guilty of that myself. Additionally, when you’re already not giving too much thought of what you’re consuming, it’s hard for me to believe that it means that all that unused thoughtful energy is shifting to what you’re putting out into the world and any subsequent side effects, either positive or negative.
I intend to take more ownership of how this space factors into this consumption habit equation for everyone, so of course I felt the need to make a fucking playlist about it. 🤪
I took some time thinking about not just what makes me feel good, but exactly what makes me feel my ⚡️fucking best⚡️. IMO, there’s truly nothing better in this life than the opportunity to identify how your talents/strengths can help people, throwing all of your energy into that thing, and then witnessing the magic that comes from those efforts. To be clear, I’m not just talking about ways that earn you money from doing this either. It can also be little things like knowing you’re a good personal cheerleader and being able to notice when someone could need some pom-poms waved in their direction and seeing their reaction. It’s ✨ literally the fucking best✨ ESPECIALLY when all parties involved decide that shit is going both wayyysss.
Community.
Connection.
Intention.
These are the things that BEST FUCKING MORNING☕️ is made of to the best of my ability. Sometimes you’ll get ✨a feeling✨ from the music, but as often as I could, I wanted the words ringing through your ears to make you feel fucking great, too. Additionally, I wholeheartedly believe that it’s equally important that the people making the good vibes you ingest should absolutely coming from good fucking people and I can say with a great level of confidence that these are all really good fucking people. I took a lot of care to make sure that even if one were to treat this playlist like a LoFi Chill Beats To Study To kinda deal where it’s mostly going to be background noise, that the few times that your brain decides to focus in on what’s actually happening that hopefully in that moment you feel empowered to remember that you always have the opportunity to choose happiness in spite of whatever bullshit gets thrown at you.
Let me be very clear that this is not me tryna shove some toxic positivity on your ass. That shit is annoying as fuck and not welcomed in this house. You always are entitled to however you feel, absolutely.
BUT
When you wake up feeling meh and decide you deserve to feel at minimum a little bit better.
Or you wake up feeling fucking great and want to hold onto that feeling as much as you can, possibly even going next level with that shit.
I promise you this shit will take you there, wherever that may be.
Although this collection of vibes was arranged in a way to be uplifting incrementally, feel free to let The Algorithm™ move you and shuffle this shit if you are so inclined. That said, I def invite you to see if you can notice a different if you listen both ways. Additionally, I intend to honor the inspiration behind this playlist and occasionally implement tweaks every now and then, hopefully to further enhance this vibe. Mostly likely additions only, no removals or substitutions.
As long as this playlist is in your life may you never forget that you deserve the fucking best. 💖
diSKOAver weekly: Week of July 8, 2020
Here are 16 different ways I love you extra this week. 💖
OH SHIT LOOK WHO’S LOOKIN’ SNAZZZAAYYYYYYY. Yeah last week during my week of media deprivation I decided to pretty up some things around this web log. You like? 🥰
Also I found
so
much
good
goddamn
music. 🙏🏻
We’re back to 16 tracks a week. That whole doubling up thing was really adorably ambitious of me, especially now that I want to post about all of the things again I don’t want to dread doing this playlist because tbh it’s one of my favorite things to do. It is a labor of love, emphasis on the labor, but you know, whatever.
With that, here are the 16 ways I love you the most this week:
Woodes - ”How Long I’d Wait”
Tumbled into Woodes while checking out last year’s Golden Vessel record (more on him in a few). There’s something so captivating about her that I haven’t been able to put my finger on just yet. She’s practically mystical. Is she secretly a nymph? I need answers. Also she’s got a new song dropping on Friday called “Euphoria” and of course I will make sure you hear it when I do.
Arlo Parks - “Eugene”
When I say that Arlo Parks had me SOBBING for days after I found her that is not even remotely an exaggeration. In addition her penning some of the most deeply personal experiences in a way that will knock the wind out of you, there is something so tenderly piercing about her voice that whatever her words don’t do explicitly her voice is like, “hold up I got this imma make you feel EVERYTHING ok ok”. She recently did a really striking cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” that’s worth checking out, but you definitely have to hear “Black Dog” so you can have a good cry, too.
Nelson Kempf - “Hourglass”
So this is one of 3 tracks that are currently out right now from Nelson Kempf’s upcoming debut album Family Dollar (out on July 24). Apparently Kempf used to be more of a folky kinda musician, but after a decade of hardships he went more experimental. The record touches of the overlooked emotional experience that surrounds poverty. You could say it’s kind of a dark record, but I liken it to how sometimes light finds a way to pierce through a really dark room. Yeah, I guess it’s like that.
Tourist x The Range - “Last”
This is a cool little collaboration that’s a reflection on grief. Apparently as they were writing this they each heard the lyric differently. Tourist could hear, “you know you’re lost”, while The Range was hearing, “you know you’re last”. As Tourist notes, “The duality of that truth resonated with me, as both meanings are applicable when someone leaves us. It has struck a more personal chord recently, as recently one of my dearest friends passed away very suddenly.”
Georgia - “Started Out”
Last year I dropped another track from Georgia in this very playlist series and at some point I somehow reminded myself to check back to see if there was an album , finally got around to listening to Seeking Thrills, and y’all…. what a fucking cool record. I feel like this is a real launching point for her, so you should probably get in on this now.
Teenage Bad Girl - “Keep Up With You”
I’m sorry to be doing this to you, but I am absolutely giving you a band that will probably never make another thing again. I just fucking love good French electro way too much to not pass this along. Teenage Bad Girl existed between 2007 and 2011. I’ve spent the most time with their last record, Back Wash. This track (much like the entire album) has split me between elated and enraged because it slaps so fucking hard but like…this is it. Anyway it’s fucking awesome and you deserve to have this in your arsenal, too.
Cora Novoa - “over & done”
While trying to figure out every last detail about Teenage Bad Girl I crossed paths with their labelmate Cora Novoa (both are on Citizen Records). This Barcelona based bad bitch kinda does it all tbh. In addition to obviously being a music composer and a DJ, she also is the founder and creative director of her own label called SEEKING THE VELVET, which is for electronic and experimental pop music. She’s also an Abelton Official Trainer, music curator, etc. etc. She does a lot. She’s creative as fuuuuck. And she makes really fucking cool techno.
Sam I - “wishin’ (feat. bipolar sunshine)”
Here is me nagging you again to go listen to Random Shit From The Internet Era. This record has something for everyone in it. I would not lie to you. Also like, going to take a moment to throw Sam I some more love because like, all the features on this record are great. Hadn’t heard bipolar sunshine before this. Really loving him.
The Kickdrums - “Sunshine Guy”
I’m always a happy kid when Fitts surprises us with new music. Also dude dropping a track with a lyric “all these nights are blurring together” in the middle of quarantine is so goddamn spot on.
Marlana - “The Right”
So I’m just getting caught up to Marlana but don’t stress that means there’s more than enough time for you, too! She’s got an EP dropping on July 24th called At Least I Tried (which is quite excellent I must say). That said, I would be very fucking rude to you if I did not make sure you heard “The Right” before I get you squared away on everything else going on with this EP.
Nick Leng - “LEMONS”
Thanks to The Algorithm™ last week I came to know Nick Leng, who put out a record called LEMONS a couple of months ago. Things I have learned since thoroughly enjoying the South African born now LA-based singer-songwriter: the album is the result of an emotional breakup, the loss of a friend, and his house burning down - basically all at the same time. 😑 LEMONS. You get it now? Not for nothing though, the record put such a pep in my step that it made me teach myself how to make some bomb ass lemonade within a few hours of digesting the record. There’s a metaphor there, somewhere. I’ll let you find out for yourself what I’m saying.
Golden Vessel - “Hesitate (feat. Emerson Leif)”
I am going to do my very best to not turn this web log into a Golden Vessel fan site, but goddamn it was a really fucking good day when I put on last year’s SLOWSHINE last week. Funny enough, this is not on that record. I just like taking advantage of a 2 for 1 special in showing you new stuff. That said, Emerson Leif’s vocal + the magical vibeyness that is Golden Vessel’s production = yes please.
otta - “Near Enough A Woman”
otta has an EP dropping on Friday! (7/10). This track is not on it! Why did I do that? I don’t know. I guess I wanted to start with the basics with her so you could build to bumping Songbook? And this is like, definitely the basics compared to what you’ll hear on Songbook, which swings in a much more experimental direction. She’s expanding her musical palette and honestly with a voice like hers, she can get away with it.
Diplo - “do si do (feat. Blanco Brown)”
Man I don’t know. Sometimes you just gotta go with the hype. This song is really fun even though my thoughts on Diplo are a mixed bag. I’m trying to occasionally participate in mainstream-ish moments. This was what my ears agreed to this week? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Tall Tall Trees - “Deep Feels”
I listened to A Wave Of Golden Things when it came out but hadn’t put it on in a minute. Lotta records are hitting different in quarantine and this one is no exception. I guess the minimal distractions made me notice the little details of this record that I likely missed on the pre-pandemic passthroughs on this album. There’s too many to share in this baby blurb, just trust me. Anyway “Deep Feels” specifically is just a quintessential summer feel good jam IMO.
Stilljill - “Some People”
LA indie psych-pop trio Stilljill recently dropped their debut EP, Waterslides, which celebrates the fluidity of femininity. As they told Ladygunn last week, “Womxn have historically been analogous to water – Sirens, Venus being born from seafoam, water and women as the birth and source of life. Womxn are often conditioned to be fluid or amenable when others won’t in ways that do not always serve us; i.e. compromising needs and desires, shifting ourselves or voices to suit spaces and male egos. Fluidity also means resilience, strength, and adaptability and we find power in that.” Take a second glance at the single artwork for their tracks, specifically the “river”. They are really thoughtful in every last detail of what they’re doing and I really appreciate that.
PS now would be a good time to remind you that you can sign up to get pinged every time I update this playlist, which means a post like this with my liner notes will be sitting in your inbox the literal second I smash that PUBLISH button and drag over the new tracks into the playlist. I am just saying. 😊
![[Artist Playlist] Slum Sociable - Dip Your Head In The Oven (Spotify)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61cb91c18cbd5c31ee4ab0fd/1671498497762-40BB5M7O1AF75MKHDGA9/image-asset.jpeg)
[Artist Playlist] Slum Sociable - Dip Your Head In The Oven (Spotify)
In my ongoing quest to cure my perpetual musical FOMO I have started following some artist playlists on Spotify of artists whose taste I trust to be good. I've decided as I go through their playlists and identify the active + solid ones that I'll share them through here because we know sharing is caring.
Since Slum Sociable or "Slum fam" as I refer to them on Twitter were essential to making sure I had a final last day of CMJ 2015 during the Australian BBQ (or "Aussie Heaven" as I called it) I decided to give their playlist titled 'Dip Your Head In The Oven' a whirl. There's quite a variety going on here, which can be appreciated in the order they've arranged as well as on shuffle if that's more your thing. I hope this is an indication of what they drew inspiration from for their new album (which is done as of April according to Facebook). BTW - I've checked this playlist out a few times and they seem to keep it updated fairly frequently, so it's one worth following and checking in on.
This is really hitting the spot for me today while I work. Finding some good gems as I go, too.
Enjoy!