By: Alex Bloom, Edna Batengas, and Natasha Tar
“Tema” – Sarkodie
Edna Batengas: Wow, I didn’t know that Sarkodie was still making music. Glad to see that he wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. I love him in “Tonga”
Alex Bloom: I’m not against this. The beat gets repetitive, but I like his flow.
Natasha Tar: Ehh . . . I don’t think this is my thing.
“Best Friends” – Little Dragon
EB: Aw, this song is pretty cute. Definitely enjoying the chilled beats and smooth vocals, I’m even sensing some ‘80s vibes. Positive Vibes all the way.
AB: Always a Little Dragon Fan. Nothing can compare to her verse on Gorillaz’s “Empire Ants,” but I like this a lot.
NT: Love the Spongebob vibe at the beginning. I agree with Edna that this is a chill song.
“This Wild Darkness” – Moby
EB: I really do like the chorus of the song, but I’m not really vibing with this Moby guy. He doesn’t even sound like he’s singing, he sounds like he’s out in the cold talking on a payphone to his ex-girlfriend.
AB: Didn’t know Moby was still making music, I thought he was too busy making quirky cameos on sitcoms, but I don’t hate this. Making a Gorillaz reference again, but the subtle vocals kind of remind me of “Fire Coming out of the Monkey’s Head.”
NT: I’m not sure how I feel about this one. The chorus is cool, but his voice kinda creeps me out.
“Daydream” – j-hope
EB: Ooooohhhh is this K-POP? Whatever it is, it sounds hella sexy.
AB: I have no idea what he’s saying most of the time, so the lyrics could be the best ever — or super problematic — but it’s an enjoyable party song.
NT: I was listening to BTS this morning, so it’s exciting to see j-hope on this playlist! That said, I listened to half of Hope World, and I’d probably give it a solid 7/10.
“Everyday” – Logic and Marshmello
EB: I’ve never really been a Logic fan, nothing personal just not a fan of his style. To be honest, I only listened to this whole song because of Marshmello.
AB: I was impressed by the depth of Logic’s “1-800-273-8255,” for its nuanced address of an important topic, but since then I have been pretty disappointed by him.
NT: “I work hard every motherfucking day,” huh? Same.
“Last Girl” – Soccer Mommy
EB: Sounds so indie and alternative. I’m totally digging this one.
AB: Sounds kinda indie and alternative . . . not my cup of tea.
NT: This is scraping the bottom of the tank of indie music. Kinda reminds me of the worst songs on Alvvay’s new album.
“Glass Houses” – Jack Watts
EB: I feel pretty neutral about this song. There’s nothing special about it, but it’s not a bad song either.
AB: Starts off a little slower than it should, but I really like the ethereal quality of the vocals.
NT: I could see this being on some kind of sleepytime playlist, but other than that, it’s pretty meh.
“Like Boys” – Hyphen Hyphen
EB: MY 2018 ANTHEM! Enough said.
AB: I’m curious to hear the story behind why a band named itself after punctuation. In the right mood I could enjoy this, but in other moods it could be extremely annoying.
NT: This song is fun, but I probably wouldn’t listen to it outside this playlist.
“Dreaming of you” – L’impératrice
EB: It’s a NO from me.
AB: I like the funk undercurrents. There are a few places where the production falls through for me, but the lyrics are, well . . . music to my ears.
NT: This isn’t bad at all. I mean, it gets a bit repetitive, but for easy listening it works.
“Quartier des Lunes” – Eddy de preto
EB: I’ve always appreciated French music. Très bien.
AB: I always like listening to French music too, even though it often means reminding myself that my French isn’t as good as it should be for the amount of time I’ve spent studying it. As a song, though, this track has a certain power to it that I appreciate.
NT: I agree with Alex. Can we just agree that everything sounds better in French?
Söz – Aydın Kurtoğlu
EB: Correct me if I’m wrong but, this is in Turkish. The Turkish know how to get lit.
AB: So I discovered there is an acoustic version of this song — which is WAY better — so my question is why does this version exist?
NT: You’re right @Edna! It’s Turkish. This is a SUPER standard beat, though. If the song was in English, it’d sound like a million other songs.
“Whiskey” – Young Rising Sons
EB: This song makes me feel like drinking a ton of “Whiskey.”
AB: This may be controversial, but this reminds me of Imagine Dragons a little bit . . . a little bit. I too, could do with a whiskey.
NT: Wow, I feel like I’ve heard this song about 1,000 times in Courtney’s car *pointed look*.
