By Spencer Davis. Been taking a bit of a break lately, but don’t worry—S&N isn’t going anywhere! And what better way to come back after a recharge than with a brand new S&N mix? Well, I say “brand new,” but as you’ll see with this batch of tunes, newness can be relative. Because while these songs all come from 2017 releases, you’ll notice an obvious theme: they make what’s new sound old again. Tapping into a vibe that’s distinctly 80s, these artists skirt that creative line between looking back and moving forward. And they prove it’s not so much a line as a spectrum. Continue reading →

By Spencer. It’s been a while since we’ve done a new Mixologist, but with fall weather finally settling in, now seems like the perfect time for a batch of new tracks from Hiss Golden Messenger, Billie Marten, Amanda Shires, Big Thief, Okkervil River, Hamilton Leithauser, and other recent S&N favorites. These songs capture the vibrancy of the moment, drifting along the line between consciousness and trance. And while this is noticeably one of our mellower mixes, there’s an urgency to these melodies that keep it anything but sleepy. Continue reading →

By Spencer. Last week, we gave you our picks for some of music’s best early summer releases. And staying with the spirit of the season, they were heavy on pop, hip-hop, upbeat rock—you know, fun stuff. This week, we’re back with a monster-sized mix for you, and we’re keeping with that vibe. So enjoy this sampling of synthpop from the likes of Niki & The Dove, Christine And The Queens, Ladyhawke, and Blood Orange; upbeat blues from Margaret Glaspy and Julie Rhodes; breezy acoustic music from Roo Panes, Whitney, Sarah Jarosz, and The Lumineers; and of course, a few random curveballs. You know you want it. Continue reading →

By Spencer. There’s a somewhat pedestrian album by British one-hit-wonders Keane called Hopes And Fears. And while compiling the tracks for this latest edition of The Mixologist, it occurred to me that Keane got their album title completely backwards. As these eleven songs exploring all the unexpected little complications of love attest, fears often come ahead of hopes. Sure, there are magic hours and maybe even thoughts of diamonds right from the start. But as Miya Folick says, “nothing ever ends the way you thought it would when you started.” And there are all those annoying little questions that start to intrude. Will this end in heartbreak? Is she still afraid of the ghosts of her past? Is he only telling me what I want to hear? Will I end up just another cautionary tale? Is it just dumb to put yourself out there like this? How much is too much? Continue reading →

By Spencer. I don’t profess to be an expert on French music by any means. But with the events of Friday night, I imagine a lot of us who have visited or lived in Paris can’t help but feel the need for a moment of reflection. The motto of our predecessor site, After The Radio, was “music softens walls”—which is something I’d like to believe now more than ever. And though it seems naive to think that music could ever truly “heal” in the sense that the people of Paris need in these particular days, maybe at least it can soften the pain, if not the walls that lead to tragedies like this. So if you’re in need of a little softening, I hope you’ll take solace in this playlist, featuring landmark French artists like Edith Piaf, Django Reinhardt, Françoise Hardy, Claude Debussy, Daft Punk, Phoenix, and of course the father-and-daughter pair of Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg—along with a few tributes to the City of Lights from closer to home. And of course we had to include a little parting shot from a certain band whose music will now forever be an act of defiance to those who would try to drag us down into the darkness with them. Liberté, égalité, fraternité, solidarité…. Continue reading →

By Spencer. With the daylight fading and the leaves turning, it seems like a perfect time to revive The Mixologist. From the usual suspects like Josh Ritter and Glen Hansard to new S&N favorites like Junius Meyvant and Phil Cook, this is a soundtrack for those countryside drives to see the fall foliage and those nights around the bonfire. Download, listen, and let it move you forward. Continue reading →

By Spencer. When I dared last week to make a statement about what the definitive soundtrack to the 80s should be, I knew I’d be wandering into controversial territory. As Antony pointed out, I set the rules for my list—artists who in my opinion transcended the 80s were immediately disqualified—in a way that shut off all debate. And while dodging debate is never my goal, it’s true that I intentionally focused on a narrow subset of quintessentially 80s music: pop music full of synths and saxophones and sounds we haven’t really heard from the music of any other decade. But I was also quite clear that I was in no way attempting to speak to what the “best” songs of the 80s were.

Meanwhile, Biff pointed out from the flip side of the argument that there were a lot of artists on the forefront of the alternative wave—bands like The Cure and The Smiths and The Pixies—as well as a lot of early hip-hop that I excluded from my list. As he noted, that music defined the 80s for a smaller but hugely important contingent of listeners—making my list somewhat less than “definitive.” Well, today, I’m more than happy to answer their charge with a playlist focusing on the other 80s. Continue reading →

By Spencer. Look, at this point in our internet-fueled lives, we all know that a top 100 list is more useful for provoking arguments than for actually ranking anything. So it’s with great hesitancy that I take the bait here, but a few weeks ago, I came across this list of the top 80s songs from NME, and I just have to protest. New Order’s “Blue Monday” at number one? A top twenty featuring The Cure, The Smiths, Joy Division, The Stone Roses, The Pixies, and The Jesus And Mary Chain? I’m not debating the merit of any of these artists. But these are only the best 80s songs when viewed through the lens of the 90s. They’re listed for their influence on future artists, not for their quintessence to their own era. I lived through the 80s, and I can tell you firsthand that these are not the songs I remember when I think of those days. In focusing on artistic quality, NME fundamentally failed to grasp the essence of 80s music. That’s why I’m here to help. Continue reading →

By Spencer. Maybe it seems strange, after a long hiatus, to say hello to this site again with a mix about goodbyes. But goodbyes aren’t such awful things. They can be the first step in moving on. They can be the first step in coming home. They can take you to beautiful new places or help you leave behind your troubles for a while. They can remind you how much you miss someone. They can remind you never to leave them again. You can say goodbye to people and to places. And sometimes, in the never-ending effort to find yourself, you have to say goodbye to your preconceptions. These are eleven songs about goodbyes: mostly happy ones, maybe a couple of sad ones, but all of them with a purpose. Continue reading →

By Spencer. If you missed last week’s post on whether rock is really dead, then you also missed our surprise, monster-sized, 50-song mix spanning the entire history of rock music. From what many would call the very first rock song (“Rock Around The Clock”) through all the greats—Zep, the Stones, Clapton, Sabbath, the Boss, Aerosmith, Queen, AC/DC, Jon Bon, GNR, Nirvana, Oasis, the White Stripes, and of course, Kiss—this one’s got it all. So whether you like the old stuff or the new stuff, punk or hair metal, grunge or Brit rock, Cobain or Grohl, S&N Mix 7 has something for you. Take a tour of rock history in just under four hours. Continue reading →

By Spencer. A lot of the mixes we post on The Mixologist aim for some kind of emotional and sonic coherence — a common atmosphere, if you will. This is not one of them. See, one of the powerful things about music is the way it can swing wildly from pole to pole, and in that moment of transition, slap you in the face with a whole new sound or a jarring new feeling. These songs go from hate to apology, from manic to depressive and back again, and some of the fun is being lulled into one mood, only to be hit with its opposite. True masters like St. Vincent and Elbow can even do this within the same track. So embrace the change and listen. Continue reading →