[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. 💖

[SONG OF THE DAY] Duck Sauce - "Smiley Face"

image courtesy of Duck Sauce

I know I’m a little late to properly celebrating this wondrous news but one of my favorite side projects to ever grace the planet, Duck Sauce has resurfaced with a new track and announced a few performances which leads me to believe that there HAS to be an album.

RIGHT!? No one would be that cruel!!

At any rate, “Smiley Face”, is a signature vivacious track from the dynamic duo and features a sample from the 1980 classic “Make Someone Feel Happy Today” from Two Tons O' Fun (who would later go by the name The Weather Girls. Yes, THE WEATHER GIRLS. As in, “It’s Raining Men”. “Hit The Road Jack”, etc. etc.) As previously mentioned, the group has unveiled that they will be performing both weekends at Coachella in addition to a Duck Sauce Block Party in San Francisco on May 9th featuring sets from Chromeo, Yung Bae, The Magician, Nancy Whang, Biscits, and DJ Dials. Not gonna lie, I’m definitely going to be wrapping up this post super quick so I can go look at flights to SF in May.

[Listen] A-Trak Remixes Phoenix's "Trying To Be Cool"

The Phoenix remixes keep on coming. After the band released the stems for each song from their recent album Bankrupt!, other artists and producers have been tinkering and reworking to their heart's content. A-Trak is the latest to issue his take, this time on the track "Trying To Be Cool." He layers bright synths beneath Thomas Mars' vocals, only to amp it up with a rising crescendo and a burst of club-ready percussion. Check it out below.

[Listen] Duck Sauce Dish Out Bouncy New Single "It's You"

Hot damn, Duck Sauce get another gold star. A-Trak and Armand Van Helden return with a brand new single called "It's You," their first bit of fresh material since 2011's "Big Bad Wolf." Debuting on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio One show today, the song is three minutes of bouncy, head-boppin' club beats layered beneath the titular repeating lyric sample. Why can't these guys just put out a full-length album?!

[Watch] A-Trak feat. Tommy Trash - "Tuna Melt" (Video)

A-Trak must be a big fan of OK Go's ridiculously fun and original music videos. With the help of kinetic artist Kinetic King, the DJ sets up an elaborate series of dominoes to match the grimy basslines and synths of his track "Tuna Melt." Ryan Staake directs. Check it out below along with a behind-the-scenes video.

[Listen] Justice - "New Lands" (A-Trak Remix)

Check out A-Trak's brand new remix of Justice's Audio, Video, Disco banger "New Lands," which has the Fool's Gold head honcho dropping layers of heavy, pounding production overtop of the original track. Not to mention, the buildup and drop in this remix are far and away much better than the original. Give it a listen below.

Audio, Video, Disco is out now via Ed Banger/Elektra/Because.

(via Stereogum).

[Listen] A-Trak x Dillon Francis - "Money Makin'"

We have a full version of the track "Money Makin'" from Dillon Francis and A-Trak after being teased with a snippet last week. The track is set for release on Fool's Gold and is full of feel good vibes to get you in the mood for the weekend. I'm aware it's only Tuesday but with this weather in the UK it's hard to not wish the working week away. Cut me some slack and "put the cash in my hand" and hit play below to enjoy.

[Listen] A-Trak - "Piss Test" Feat. Danny Brown x Juicy J

A-Trak's new single features Danny Brown and Juicy J goes by the name of, "Piss Test", tastefully done gentleman, is now available for fans to get their hands on.  Both Brown an J drop verses over the A-Trak beat which is set to be included on a forthcoming Fool’s Gold Records compilation titled Loosies. If anyone can shed some light on that title too, it'd be appreciated!? Anyway, stop reading and start listening to the track below via Hypetrak.