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Best Fuckin Morning, Play The Playlist, SKOASelfCare, SKOA fam, mixtapes, Mental Health, Baby Bands kibbe Best Fuckin Morning, Play The Playlist, SKOASelfCare, SKOA fam, mixtapes, Mental Health, Baby Bands kibbe

[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. 💖

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Video, SONG OF THE DAY, Baby Bands kibbe Video, SONG OF THE DAY, Baby Bands kibbe

[SONG OF THE DAY] Monarchy - "Back To The Start"

We’re just a few days out from the third studio album from my beloved Monarchy. After gifting us, “Deep Cut”, just before Christmas, the dapper dancetastic duo are back with a new track (and if we’re being honest possibly my personal anthem of 2019), “Back To The Start” and accompanying video, which you can find below. The video features an “alien” who descends in the duo’s lush world and proceeds to learn and adapt to the ways of Earth.

A lot has happened to the duo since releasing their 2015 studio album, Abnocto, namely there was a brief period where the band nearly called it quits a mere months after the album’s release. I may be reading in between the lines here a bit, but considering this batch of material for Mid:Night follows that ordeal with a fair amount of time in between, “Back To The Start” feels like it speaks to some of that experience.

Now that I’m caught up on emails and settled from the holidays I guess it would be a good time to hit these fellas up and get them on record about my hunches, huh?

(ps Friday hurrrrrrrrryyyyyy plz!)

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[SONG OF THE DAY] Monarchy - "Deep Cut"

Photo courtesy of Monarchy’s Instagram

CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY FAM!

Here I oh so innocently thought that longtime SKOA fam Monarchy were gonna do their usual ultra secretive thing and not release another single until the top of the new year, but my most favorite fellows decided to spread a little holiday magic in the form of their new single, “Deep Cut”. In addition to the single we also have an official release date for their third studio album, Mid:Night. 2019 will not be wasting time being the best fucking year in a long time as Mid:Night will be dropping on January 18th. Following up title track, “MidNight” which was released way way back in March, “Deep Cut” further leans into the ultra-seductive aesthetic update that these new tracks are exuding. Not to mention the newly unveiled tracklist alludes to a more mature set of material.

For those of you across the pond, you’ll have whole days to learn all of Mid: Night before they kick off their 6-day UK tour (see below). The rest of us will have to wait and see just how many extra blessings both 2019 and Monarchy will bring to us.

Tracklist of Mid: Night :

1.Back to the Start 
2. Deep Cut 
3. Get Into the Night 
4. Deadset Lust 
5. MidNight 
6. Hula Hoop 8000 
7. Racie's Cousin 
8. Cumming Eat

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Baby Bands, Night Out kibbe Baby Bands, Night Out kibbe

[Night Out] Monarchy, Her @ Highline Ballroom (11/06/2016)

Monarchy @ Highline Ballroom 11/06/2016

🎶 Finally it has happened to me right in front of my face. 🎶

I 

SAW

MONARCHY

LIVEEEE!

Yes I know they played at Highline Ballroom in 2012 let's not get into the reason why I was not in attendance for that or this update will get weird really quickly. 

ANYWAY. This has been a long time coming for me. I remember back in July 2010 getting my watermarked copy of Around The Sun. I've been enamored ever since, anxiously awaiting the day that I would finally get to experience such amazingness live. 

You'd think with that kind of buildup that I was setting myself up for failure, but y'all know I don't invest an insane amount of energy into bands that don't deserve it. Every second was electrifying. I couldn't keep my eyes off of them because I was so excited this was finally happening. I probably shouldn't have spent so much time snapping photos, but this is an unfortunate side effe of trying to pass along to the internet why a band is worthy of more than just a few stray micropennies. 

I hope Monarchy can come back to the states more often. It sounds like their little tour over ehre went well. After that experience I'm now going to daydream of what their performance would be like in Beacon Theatre, which has officially become my benchmark of when I'll stop incessantly trying to "make Monarchy happen" in the US. You have been warned. #sorrynotsorry 

Oh oh! A pleasant surprise was French duo Her opening for Monarchy that night. Their single, "5 Minutes" was delivered to me by The Algorithm™️ (Discover Weekly) a few months ago and I quite enjoyed their set. Part of me would love to see them collaborate with Mayer Hawthorne or someone of that funkability. I think they definitely have something to offer audiences in the US. 

Gotta say, I'm kind of glad I'm just getting to writing about this show because the past month has been kind of rough from a personal standpoint and reliving this night is taking me from ❤️ back to 💖, which is how I'd best describe how my heart feels after seeing a band I love live. 

What was the last show you saw that really moved you? 

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#skoaradio 10/24/2015 liner notes

artist rendition of my convo with Alex from Kingswood after I shut the mic off post-interview.lol

Hey fam!

Things refuse to slow down in SKOA HQ, but I'm not complaining! I wrapped up CMJ with a day in Aussie Heaven where we interviewed KINGSWOOD prior to watching them totally kill it. I can't believe how much fun I had. Kinda wish it had never ended tbh. Oh well. Time to prep for Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, which is coming up super fast. I've got a couple of new tracks on this week's show. As always would love to hear your thoughts so @ me bb if you liked what you heard!

See you next week!

<3

kibbe!

THINGS I TALKED ABOUT ON THE SHOW THIS WEEK INCLUDE:

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SKOA Radio, upcoming releases, Tour kibbe SKOA Radio, upcoming releases, Tour kibbe

#SKOARADIO 07/18/2015

me going through all the new music this week

Oof. Really stoked for this show and because I submitted it late it was a little borked airing. You didn't even get to hear the last two segments. :( All good though! There's always next week (not to mention the podcast that will be attached to this show shortly). But yeah, trying to get back to digging out those little diamonds in the rough that I enjoy supporting. Plus HELLO NEW KENNA!! *praise hands emoji* A lot to be excited about. Expect more posts in between this show and the next with more info on the bands we're featuring.

As always feel free to let me know what you thought of this week's show either by dropping a comment here or hitting me up on Twitter.

Until next week!

<3

@kibbe!

 

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THE MUSIC BIZ STUFF I TALKED ABOUT:

What Really Happened With Taylor Swift and Apple Music

Soundscan's 2015 Half-Year Report

Concerts and Festivals Create Passion Fans (Who Spend) Says Study

NOW ONTO THE MUSIC!

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contest kibbe contest kibbe

[Contest] Win A Pair Of Tickets To See Monarchy in Los Angeles or San Francisco!

The SKOA family has been long time supporters of electro-duo Monarchy pretty much since the site began. From the moment we heard their 2010 self-titled debut we knew we had found something remarkable and have been obsessing over every last scintillating synthy screech ever since. We're happy to report that to celebrate the recent release of their latest EP, Almost Human, the duo have set their sights on the states to grace us with their presence and we want to make sure you have absolutely no excuse to not check them out! (Unless you're in NYC like Kibbe and Sprout are, but we digress.)

ANYWAY

If you live in the Los Angeles or San Francisco area and love Monarchy, keep reading! 
We have two pairs of tickets to give away to see Monarchy LIVE in Los Angeles or San Francisco! To enter for a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post with your favorite Monarchy song! Have your entry in no later than Thursday, September 18th, 2014 at 2pm PDT.
Winners will be able to choose from one of three two (the one on 9/21 is free!) shows: 

9/18/14 - Echoplex - Los Angeles, CA
9/19/14 - Popscene Club at Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CA 
9/21/14 - Folsom Street - San Francisco, CA 

While you anxiously await to see if you've won tickets to either of the shows, you can make sure you have all the lyrics to their Almost Human EP memorized by having a listen below.
Good luck! 
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Reviews Reviews

[Watch] Monarchy - "You Don't Want To Dance With Me" Feat. Britt Love (Official Video)

Last week we got to hear a new cut from Monarchy for their track "You Don't Want To Dance With Me" which featured the delightful vocal work of Britt Love. As we also mentioned, we were expecting a video from the duo and Britt for the infectiously poppy tune rather soon. Today that video is delivered to you in jilted fashion at the top of the page. The visual sees the synth-pop duo and Britt Love rotating around constantly throughout whilst they go about swapping vocal duties. Add to this the creepy split screen moments and blue lighting and you're left with little bit of a spacey starlight feeling vid.

"You Don't Want to Dance With Me" is due via 100% Records on the 24th of October. There's also a pretty damn good remix of the track from Bondax which you can wrap your ears around over here.

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