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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! 💖

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[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. 💖

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#NewMusicFriday Guide - 04/29/2016

You Wont - Revolutionaries

My two new favorite goofballs put out an album today! You Won't isn't officially #SKOAfam yet, but don't worry, it will happen soon enough. Maybe at one of their two shows in NYC next week? Talk about being #blessed! Anyway, this record could not have come out at a better time. The winter is finally leaving us, it's getting warm out, and you'll find yourself reaching for this record when the sun is sittin' pretty on your face. It's got the right amount of twang that will make you shake your groove thang just like this: 

Aesop Rock - The Impossible Kid

I have been thoroughly looking forward to this album since the second I heard "Rings" a few months back. The payoff for patiently waiting was certainly worth it, especially with last week's album stream, which was the most excellent of previews/"spoilers". ICYMI, it's a shot by shot recreation of The Shining and you absolutely have to see it for yourself if you haven't already because it's amazing. 

I will be counting down the minutes till I get to hear this live at Irving Plaza on June 13th, that's for sure. Nice work, Aesop! 

Brian Eno - The Ship

Our electro-lord has released more music today. Do I really need to tell you about this? You should know about this already. I am just making sure because our, um, Views are a little obstructed right now on the internet...if you know what I mean. 

I really liked Ghost Culture's self-titled album from last year so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had a couple of new tracks out today. These just further confirm that I need to own the self-titled on vinyl. I thought micropennies were enough love for this record, but his craftsmanship on both releases shines through enough that this is worth the shelf space for me. 

Calvin Harris - "This Is What You Came For" 

The jury is still out for me as to whether or not this is going to be *The Song Of The Summer*. This is subtly very awesome. It's really quite lovely. Rihanna's vocal is great. There is a reason why Calvin has a messload of sales plaques on his walls and it shows in the production value for this track. People will certainly listen to this a lot this summer.

All that said, it just... ehhhhhhh. I don't think lightning is going to strike twice for him + Rihanna. I will probably listen to this to get ready to go out, but not trip over myself to make sure I dance to it. 

Zedd (feat. Kesha) - "True Colors"

Okay we need to have a discussion about this. I have seen too many people say that they're disappointed by this track considering this is Kesha's big return post- Dr. Luke drama. 

Seriously? Shame on you. That just further shows how real the struggle is going to continue to be for Kesha because she was launched into stardom courtesy of some party anthems. You really think she was going to step out with a banger the second she was able to legally open her mouth?

Sit. Down. 

Please take a moment to reflect on what she is saying and be grateful that she was able to create her way through a lot of pain. Also, let us be thankful that Zedd knew better than to try to make this about him by going big on the production. Sure, her return is more understated than was anticipated, but she even says so herself: "I've escaped my captor and I have no master." 

Kesha, I'm glad you're back, bb. 

Man Power - Planet Cock EP

You should know by now that in addition to trying to not be completely crushed under the weight of what goes through my inbox that I also just like skimming AllMusic to see what might look interesting. The pairing of an artist called Man Power with an EP called Planet Cock... I am clearly a grown up who did not laugh to myself at all...heh. That's a lie, obviously. 

Clearly I had to give this a spin just for the sake of my sanity and it's actually pretty great. I've since had a look around at his catalog and intend to check out more of it in the weeks to come. I will probably start with his 2014 EP, Flacid Trax.... 

Sorry, it's Friday. I can't be an adult today to save my life. lmao 

Magic Sword - The Legend EP

Holy shit I forgot this was even happening and now it's happened and I'm just a wreck. Apparently there was a little bit of darkness in me because The Seeker and The Keeper aka Magic Sword just SLAYED ME with this EP. Wow. Wow. Wow. I really have zero chill about this right now, jfc. This is the first of a series of EPs that also will have a correlating comic to continue to tell the Magic Sword saga. You can find the first one for their debut album, Volume I over on their website. 

Holy good #Sheezus in heaven the guitar solos on "The Curse" quite literally have me unable to do anything other than shout, "GOOD LORD!" at the moment. WOW.

These guys were still one of the most fun interviews I ever did for #SKOARadio (not to mention the most hysterical meetup arrangements for an interview). I should probably not leave that committed to audio indefinitely. 

Matt Lange - Patchwork

#SKOAfam Matt Lange has followed up last year's Emphemera LP with another gorgeous heady string of dark dancey tunes. It would appear the mau5trap has continued to be good for Lange from the sounds of this EP. This is *ABSOLUTELY* a record you listen to first with your good headphones because the homey has very meticulously pieced this all together, so this is me looking out for your your first play through to be the best it can be. 

(This is terribly awkward that I'm realizing that I just featured two artists back to back with interviews that I aired on #SKOARADIO but never transcribed and shared through. I guess I know what I'm doing over the weekend....)

Holy Ghost! - Crime Cuts

Holy! Ghost!! is! back! I almost forgot this EP was coming out today but Twitter fam is always lookin' out for my ears, which I guess means they're looking out for yours, too. Anyway, YAY Brooklyn bands! This EP is solid. I really wish that Panorama weren't their only upcoming show in NYC at present. That is kind of like saying you can only have hot dogs inside Yankees Stadium in the summer or something imo. I'm sure more dates will be announced soon. Fingers crossed anyway. 

Panty Raid - After Glow

lol I know why this record is called After Glow. It's because the album is pure sex and by the end of it you will be feeling the afterglow of what it did to you. I guess you could say the overall theme that Panty Raid is going for is being executed well. 

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#skoaradio 11/07/2015 liner notes

Really feeling this week's mixtape you guys.

Can't stop. Won't stop. Can't stop working. But it's chill though, the atmosphere I've been launched into has me surrounded by people who are music junkies just like me! In fact, I found Michl courtesy of one of my dope new friends at the office I'm in right now. (Thanks dude!) Sprout and I also hit up Honne on Tuesday this week where we hung out in the dungeon of a basement at Mercury Lounge and chatted with with James and Andy before they got the entire place pregnant. It's good to be busy. Then we had Flagship at Rough Trade on Friday night. Those guys were super great too. Can't wait to interview them and officially usher them into the skoa fam. But yeah, there's a lot going on but the majority of it is awesome. I guess you could say I'm #stressedbutalsoblessed. I hope you enjoyed this week's show. I'd love to hear from you if I just introduced you to your new favorite song (I know I'm kind of obsessing over SOULS right now).

Until next week!

<3

kibbe!

 

And here's the headlines I rushed through that you can read more about (and you should so you're smarter than everyone else):

As always, feel free to snag the Spotify playlist below so you can listen to the sweet jams I picked out for you on the go!

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[Watch] Dillon Francis - "Bruk Bruk (I Need Yo Lovin')" (Lyric Video)

Oh man, the lyrics to Dillon Francis' latest single, "Bruk Bruk (I Need Yo Lovin')"  were so complex that I was hoping he'd post them on the internetz and that he has in another hilarious lyric video (below). Just like his "I Can't Take It" lyric video we have more googly-eyed creatures singing to us, although this time it's more fire-related things and less junk food to play into his forthcoming EP, This Mixtape Is Fire, which drops on August 14th. There's many a collabo on this fiery mixtape, including (but not limited to): Calvin Harris, Chromeo, and Skrillex.

If pre-ordering is the name of your game, you can do so over on iTunes. 

(btw it's the internet and sometimes you can't detect sarcasm so I would like to take this moment to make sure you all know I was joking about not knowing all of the lyrics to this) 

Speaking of "I Can't Take It", Francis also recently unveiled the length docu-style video the song which he calls "Exit Through The Donut Hole" which is as delightfully entertaining and trollsome as it is weird, which is very on-brand for him. Definitely worth checking out if you have 15 minutes to spare for the lulz. 

My favorite follow on Snapchat is also hitting the road with Zedd, Madeon and the gang on Zedd's upcoming True Colors Tour so be sure to grab tickets while you can for that. 

THIS MIXTAPE IS FIRE TRACKLIST:

  1. Dillon Francis – “Bruk Bruk (I Need Your Lovin)”
  2. Dillon Francis and Calvin Harris – “What's Your Name”
  3. Dillon Francis and Skrillex – “Bun Up the Dance”
  4. Dillon Francis and Bro Safari – “Pull It”
  5. Dillon Francis feat. James Hersey – “Coming Over”
  6. Dillon Francis feat Chromeo – “Lies”
  7. Dillon Francis – “I Can't Take It (Party Favor Remix)”
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[Contest] Win A Calvin Harris Vinyl + CD Prize Pack!

This week Calvin Harris finally dropped his highly anticipated 3rd album, 18 Months and we could not be more excited for you all to hear it! And this time we actually mean ALL OF YOU! That's right, for the first time since what seems like forever we are able to offer a giveaway to our SKOA family in the US, Canada, UK, etc.

Who of you out there in the far corners of the internet want one copy of 18 Months on both CD and vinyl? Keep reading!

To enter, leave us a comment on this post with what you hope to be doing 18 months from now. Please limit one entry per person. Entries must be received before Monday, November 5th at 5pm EDT. One reader will be selected at random and notified.

18 Months includes a bunch of great tracks like "Sweet Nothing", which you can check out the video for below:

 If you can't wait to win a copy of 18 Months you can snag it on iTunes.

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[Listen] Rihanna x Calvin Harris - "We Found Love"

Rihanna returns with a brand new single "We Found Love" and brings our favorite Scottish DJ Calvin Harris along for the ride. I don't know how I truly feel about pop stars combining with Dance DJ's, I feel after Beyonce x Diplo's collab and the 8 million David Guetta collaborations the pop scene is gonna make us extremely sick of the dance scene. So can everybody stop trying to do what Kylie Minogue has already mastered now? kthxbai.

Anyways, the new single is set to appear on RiRi's yet to be titled sixth album dropping this November. Take a listen to the new tune below.

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