Although about a week remains in the first six months of 2024, I’ve already found 80 minutes worth of new music that I like enough to finalize my 2024: The Mixtape, Vol. 1 Spotify mix. Here’s the track listing with brief notes on why I picked each of these songs:
1. Vampire Weekend – “Connect“
As I mentioned on X a couple of months ago, this song reminds me of Michel Legrand’s score for my February Drink & a Movie selection The Young Girls of Rochefort.
2. Future Islands – “Give Me the Ghost Back“
Baltimore 4 life!
3. Beyoncé – “TEXAS HOLD’EM”
Automatic addition to my 54 (it include two “jokers”) track poker mix, so how could I leave it off this one?
4. Lyrical Lemonade feat. Juice WRLD and Cordae – “Doomsday”
5. A.G. Cook – “Britpop”
I’m a child of the 90s, what can I say?
6. Norah Jones – “Staring at the Wall”
This songs sounds like something you might hear at the Roadhouse!
7. Elyanna – “Ganeni”
Something with a beat you can dance to.
8. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – “Yeah x10”
From the original score for Challengers, the clubhouse leader for my favorite sports film of Movie Year 2024.
9. Iron & Wine feat. Fiona Apple – “All in Good Time”
A song for the middle aged.
10. Myriam Gendron feat. Zoh Amba – “Berceuse”
Brechtian distancing works best when you want to be swept away!
11. Pissed Jeans – “Everywhere Is Bad”
12. Bladee feat. Yung Lean – “I DON’T LIKE PEOPLE”
Because it’s an election year.
13. Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
This one reminds me of the movie Aftersun.
14. Sloppy Jane feat. Phoebe Bridgers – “Claw Machine”
I have no idea what the eligibility requirements are for the Best Original Song Oscar, but if this one can win an award for I Saw the TV Glow, I’ll be rooting for it.
15. The Decemberists – “Don’t Go to the Woods”
16. Eiko Ishibashi – “Evil Does Not Exist”
Those of you who have seen Evil Does Not Exist: see what I did there?
17. Kelly Moran – “Butterfly Phase”
I think of this as the end to a song cycle which begins with track 13 and ends with this one–it’s something like the story of “Little Red Riding Hood.”
18. Cloud Nothings – “Final Summer”
Cloud Nothings might be my favorite band, because I’m in awe of the way they keep reinventing themselves without ever losing touch with who they are. . . .
19. Waxahathcee – “365”
. . . but this is my favorite song of the year so far.
20. Heems feat. Lapgan – “Bukayo Saka”
Name drops Slavoj Žižek and the Mahabarata and includes multiple food references. Yes please!
21. Shaboozey – “Highway”
22. Kacey Musgraves – “Cardinal”
I was worried that this mix didn’t have a proper ending, but I think these two songs together do just fine, yeah?
Links to previous mixes I’ve posted about can be found here.
The Prodigal Cinephile 