Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me once again to wrap up a year in music,
and for the record, what a year it was, is DT
Carell, host of Space Castle. DT, welcome back,
my friend. Dude, it is always a pleasure. I look
forward to this every year now. Please invite
me back every single year because it's like my
favorite thing to do at the end of every year.
It's awesome. I think it's a tradition at this
point, right? I'm good with that, man. This is
my Thanksgiving. This is my Christmas. Well,
there you go. I'm glad this is, I mean, we're
setting the bar low for that. I hope the rest
of the holidays are good for you. But 2024 was
a very eclectic and busy year in music overall.
So what were you looking for in the songs you
brought to the table this evening? Oh, man. So
I'm a huge pop fan. A lot of people don't know
that about me. People who know me best know that
about me. But this is just a phenomenal year
for pop music. Like so many great artists broke
out this year. A few of them made my list. And
it was also a great year for... post -hardcore
out of nowhere, which was amazing. Sky Punk and
punk bands came out of nowhere and had a revival.
The usual stable of legendary hip -hop artists
put out some amazing music this year. This year,
I just wanted to try and capture all of that
and capture my favorites from every genre that
just had a phenomenal 2024 and hopefully maybe
introduce some people into some new stuff that
they maybe haven't dived into up to this point.
Yeah, my list is kind of ridiculously insane.
It's a mix of artists that are household names
and other artists that people might have never
heard of before. And I think that's going to
be interesting to see. Well, I'll just say this
from the bat. This is not going to be your typical
2024 playlist, at least from my picks. I have
a feeling that what the mainstream. publications
are going to be publishing for their songs at
2024 and the my weekly mixtape space castle 2024
playlist are going to be two different animals
tonight i'm just going to go ahead and guess
that based off last year and playlist wars the
year before i'm expecting this one to go off
the rails quick Yeah, 100%. I can't wait. Well,
let's get down to business. As I mentioned at
the top of the show, DT and I will be curating
the ultimate 2024 mixtape, and we'll use the
old cassette deck approach. DT, as my special
guest, will begin side A with his first song
choice, and then I'll add a song that I feel
best follows up his choice. We'll then flip -flop
choosing songs until we've mapped out 10 songs
for side A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial
flip and we'll map outside, be only this time
I'll kick things off with DT choosing second.
Our overall goal for this episode is to craft
the best 2024 mixtape possible through only 20
songs. At the end of the show, you can take our
conversation to the next level by visiting the
episode page at myweeklymixtape .com to give
our final mixtape a listen. via the embedded
playlist. And if you like what you're hearing
on this show, you can help me out by either telling
a friend, leaving the show a five -star review
wherever you're tuning in, or becoming a Patreon
mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape.
There you can find ad -free episodes of the show,
gain early access to upcoming episodes, chime
in on future topics, become a guest curator,
and so much more. And a few of the Patreon mixtapers
chimed in with songs they would use to kick things
off tonight, and I want to give a shout out to
a few of those. Brandon from Virginia chimed
in with Bicycle Stranges' The Fretless Guitar
Jams, Volume 1. Sean Goff chimed in with Bring
Me the Horizons, Utopia. Yeah. Chad LaMassa chimed
in with Cursive's Impostoring, saying that a
band this deep in their career rarely releases
a song that instantly becomes a third favorite
song of their entire catalog. Mike Daly chimed
in with Slash's Crossroads from his incredible
Orgy of the Damned LP that featured Gary Clark
Jr., saying his spin on this song is fantastic.
And Chris Pizica chimed in with a pick that...
Really does hit home for me because, you know,
age and all. And that is Frank Turner's Never
Mind the Back Problems. Awesome pick. Oh, it's
a great tune. Once again, if you'd like to chime
in for future My Weekly Mixtape episodes, come
join the fellow mixtapers at patreon .com forward
slash My Weekly Mixtape. And DT, with that said,
I'm officially pressing the record button on
our mixtape and the floor is yours. What song
are you kicking off our ultimate 2024 playlist
with? It's gotta be Good Luck, Babe by Chapel
Roan. Who had a bigger 2024 than Chapel Roan?
I've been a fan for quite a while now. I was
a follower on her TikTok and watched all her
videos on YouTube. And she was just quietly this
sort of kick -ass, awesome pop star slash drag
queen who was just doing her thing and just doing
amazing things. 2024 came along and she just
exploded. Jumping onto the scene and touring
with Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter and
doing all these awesome things. And she's just
taking the world by storm. And her album that
released in 2023, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest
Princess, was fantastic. And if I could, I would
pick one of the tracks from that. But we're doing
2024, and it's got to be the single she released
this year, which she also performed at the VMAs.
And it was just an incredible performance. It's
Good Luck Babe by Chapel Roan. It's just amazing.
She is quickly becoming a mainstay in not only
pop culture, but pop music too. I think she's
phenomenal. Couldn't agree more. I've heard a
lot of it this year from my girls. The song reached
number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, Canadian
Hot 100, and Australia ARIA charts, number two
on the UK Singles chart, and number five on the
Global 200. It also reached the coveted number
one spot in Ireland and was a top 10 hit in seven
other countries. This song is breezy, synthy.
And I even want to say it has a cross -pollination
of like 80s new wave with modern indie pop. 100%,
yeah. This is considered by a lot of people to
be her quote -unquote breakout song, but I don't
know if it was as inescapable as Hot To Go because
maybe it's just the fact that my kids did the
H -O -T -T -O -G -O over and over again. Yeah.
For the better part of the year. Yeah, that was
definitely her breakout track. But I think she's
already growing and evolving as an artist. And
I think Good Luck, Babe is a huge evolution just
from the rise and fall of a Midwest presence.
I just can't wait to see what she does in the
future because this song blew me away in comparison
to music from her I already previously loved.
Well, I think to follow that up, I am actually
going to go with another breakout star in 2024
because. I think a lot of people are looking
forward to see what Chapel Rome brings to 2025.
And this is an artist that I really am looking
forward to, to see what he brings to 2025 and
beyond. And I'm going to stay in that pop range
and I'm going to cheat a little bit. Who's going
to stop you, right? Right. I mean, I make the
rules up as I go along anyway, but this song
was released on his 2023 album. I tried everything
in therapy part one. However, In 2024, he released
I've Tried Everything in Therapy Part 1 .5. So
there's my loophole to pull a song from this
album. I'm going with Teddy Swims. Now, obviously,
when I say his name, a lot of people are going
to gravitate to his second single and Billboard
number one smash hit, Lose Control, which did
come out in 2023, as well as The Door, which
reached number 24 on the Billboard US Hot 100.
But I'm actually going to go with an album track
that to this day, I am shocked was not released
as a single because I think it's the strongest
song on the album. And it's everything I love
about Teddy Swims in a song. And it's the track.
Goodbye's been good to you. This is definitely
one of the how the hell is this an album only
track moments of 2024 for me. The song oozes
with swagger. It's funky. It's swampy. And his
voice is gravel sits over the song with a Joe
Cocker S confidence that you don't hear in pop
music nowadays. And early in 2025, I've tried
everything, but therapy part two is coming our
way. And I can already tell you. There's probably
a good chance a year from now, you and I are
going to be talking about another song from that
one, because I think Teddy Swims is just going
to be one of those people that like Chapel Roan
is going to continue to explode. I completely
agree. The production value on that track is
incredible. It is so rich and so warm. I just
want to envelop myself in it. It's just so cozy.
And at the same time, exciting and hip and cool.
And like you said, he's just got such a swagger
to him. And it's just a fun track. I love the
choice. And even though we're neck and neck as
far as breakup and bad relationship songs all
of a sudden, right out of the gate, the one you
picked is so warm and so cozy and just so simultaneously
introspective, but also uplifting at the same
time. It's a wonderful track. I love it. I think
I've played that track more than maybe any other
track this year. It was sitting second in my
playlist with the first track being something
I am probably going to talk about a little later
in the evening. But this one, every time that
song opens and he starts with the vocals and
the hand claps are going behind them, like you
are just like the groove hits you immediately
and you're all the way in. But I'll be curious.
We've got pop and we've got this swampy pop.
Where do we go from here? Well, there's this
guy who was born and raised in Detroit and he's
sort of this underground musician. I don't know
if you've heard of him. His name is Jack White.
He wrote this song way back in the 2000s called
Seven Nation Army and it was a minor hit, you
know, whatever. Anyway, he did a bunch of stuff.
He's done a bunch of albums since. He comes back
in 2024 and he... just all of a sudden releases
this album online for free and encourages people
to pirate it and burn it to CDs and sort of distribute
it and do whatever they want with it. And then
all of a sudden he starts doing secret shows
across the country. We're usually announcing
them like the day before and tickets are selling
out like crazy. The man is creating an absolute
stir, but he put this album out entirely for
free. It's called No Name because he just listed
it out as like track one, track two, track three,
threw it out there as MP3s. It is a full return
to not only his roots as a musician in the White
Stripes, but even going back further than that
to his days in like the Upholsterers. This album
is just no nonsense, dirty, grungy, garage rock,
where it just sounds like he just recorded every
instrument himself in his basement. And it is
wonderful. And he put out this track called Bombing
Out. And it's like the third track on the album.
And I just love this track. It feels like you're
listening to it from 50 yards away because it's
so distorted and so removed. And I just, I love
the feel because I love the White Stripes. I
love the Rock Contours, but I really love the
Upholsterers, which was a band he was in like
way back in the 90s before anybody knew who he
was. And the track is just so much fun. It was
hard to pick a track off the album because everything
is just 100 % why I've loved Jack White for 20
plus years now. And it's just crunchy. And it's
just him going off and having a blast and just
writing whatever the F he wants to write. And
I'm along for the ride because I love Jack White,
but I haven't loved his last two solo albums
as much as I wanted to. And this one just makes
up for it like a thousand times over. So it's
Jack White bombing out off of No Name. Love it.
As far as I'm concerned, this immediately jumped
to Jack's strongest solo outing to date, I think,
over everything he's done. And it might be and
I'm going to catch some flack for this. It might
be neck and neck with even some of the White
Stripes albums. This album is raw garage blues
punk experimental that we all came to love a
quarter of a century ago from Jack. And I feel
like this is his return to. flexing his musical
muscles because yeah i don't know if i was such
a big fan of 2022's entering heaven alive it
was a little too experimental for me he was like
rapping and it just didn't really work like it
didn't feel right lazaretto was a little bit
more like mainstream jack white but still just
didn't quite feel right either and this is just
him stripped down and i think that's where he
belongs is just clean like no layers just him
raw doing whatever he wants to do And along with
the MP3s that you talked about, I got to give
him some props with the most creative release
strategy of the year, because at several third
man record stores around the country and around
the world, I think one in London and two in the
US, he actually just started putting unmarked
vinyl copies of the album in with other sales
and just giving it away in the store before the
digital release in July and the physical release
in August. So creative testing new ways to get
the music out there in a world where people kind
of they have expectations now with the way they
get their music because of streaming. And I feel
like this is Jack's way of both flipping his
nose at that as well as doing something that
might pave the way for new albums in the future.
Yeah, absolutely. It's a different way of engaging
with the audience and getting them invested and
getting them excited about something. Instead
of just waiting for it to drop at midnight on
Spotify, which in and of itself is fully cool
and exciting and whatnot. But like you said,
an entirely different strategy of releasing an
album and just doing it randomly. Like, here's
a brand new Jack White album. It's out there.
Rip it. Share it with all your friends. Do whatever
you want with it. That's incredible and selfless
and genius. And along with exciting release strategies,
I'm going to tap into that for my next pick.
Because I feel like Pearl Jam knocked it out
of the park this year with Dark Matter. I feel
like the way Jack returned to form on No Name,
Pearl Jam did on Dark Matter. And their release
strategy was to put the album out in theaters
and play the album twice through. Once in a completely
darkened theater where you're sitting with a
bunch of peers listening to this album in complete
darkness. Dark Matter. And then after that, playing
the album a second time with a visual element
added on screen. So I feel like that was a very
creative way to build up hype around the album.
But at the end of the day, Wreckage from that
album is the best Pearl Jam song that the band
has released maybe since Better Man or Given
a Fly, for me at least, in my humble opinion.
Yeah, like the last 20 years at least. It is
a wonderful track. It's great. There's something
that's timeless about it. And Eddie Vedder has
said that the song has both political and relationship
undertones. And with Eddie Vedder, that's two
things he sings about quite often. So you could
kind of take where you want to sit with the lyrics
and take it wherever you want to go. And I hear
both of those at play. But to me, Dark Matter
is so aligned with Pearl Jam's earlier catalog,
a lot more than Gigaton, which came out in 2020.
This album as a whole is easily in my top 10
for 2024. But when I listen to it from a song
by song basis, it doesn't get any stronger than
records for me. Yeah, it's a beautiful track.
And Eddie Vedder, as he gets older, has this
sort of inherent sadness in his voice now, which
just lends itself to the track, lends itself
to the album as well. And I've always been a
huge fan of Eddie Vedder. Everything from his
incredible vocals and lyrics to climbing up.
30 -foot scaffoldings and jumping off and just
being an absolute wild man. But as he's growing
older and settling down, his lyrics have reached
a whole different level of introspectiveness.
And like I said, his voice has just got this
natural sadness to it now, which just tugs at
your heartstrings, just adds this whole other
level to what he's saying in his songs. Wonderful
track. I love the pick. Awesome choice. All right.
We've got two pop songs followed by two rock
songs. Where do we go from here for track five?
We're going to go back to pop and we're going
to keep it a little bit sad. Which is weird because
the artist I'm picking next is Sabrina Carpenter
and everybody's in love with her and everybody's
over the moon with her. Another massive breakout
artist in 2024. Everybody's been all about Espresso
and all the other hit singles off of her short
and sweet album. But I think that Lie to Girls
is quietly the best song on the album and one
of my favorite releases of 2024. Honestly, the
song is introspective. It's... It's melancholy.
Much of the song just uses like distortion and
ambient studio sounds and plucking guitars and
all kinds of like feedback and synths to just
help paint this tapestry of a song that's about
heartache. And it's about a relationship that's
like dysfunctional at best and probably abusive
at worst. And she does it in such a way that
it's still poppy and it's still like a bop to
listen to. But you're listening to lyrics and
it's like... Sabrina, you all right? You've been
through some stuff. It's a really bare bones,
honest song, which she threw in there with the
likes of Espresso and all these songs about just
being a girl out in the world and having fun
and playing all these boys for fools and whatnot.
And then she turns around and the song is about
how you don't have to lie to girls because if
they like you, they'll just lie to themselves
and they'll just bury themselves in pretending
it's a good relationship, despite the fact that
it's one that might potentially be full of regret
and Fear and sadness and maybe even a little
bit of violence. I don't know. But it is a wonderful,
shocking, beautiful song. And it had to go on
the list. Not only because Sabrina Carper is
just one of those huge breakout stars of 2024,
but because this album has been such a massive
hit. And I think everybody is overlooking this
track, which I think is the best one on that
album. Well, having two kids that were obsessed.
with Girl Meets World during its 2014 to 2017
run. I've been familiar with Sabrina's music
for years, and it certainly matured over the
time, because in the beginning, it was very bubblegummy
when she was putting out songs that came out
during that Girl Meets World run. But the music
has matured over the time, and let's be honest.
Jack Antonoff, which wrote and produced a song
with Sabrina Carpenter and Amy Allen, has his
finger on the pulse of what's going to hit stratospheric
heights musically. And he's proven that time
and time again with Taylor Swift. And I think
he's doing so once again here with Sabrina Carpenter.
And while this isn't a single as of this recording
that we're doing tonight. I'd honestly be surprised
if it doesn't get released during this album
cycle because it's certainly being performed
in her live shows. So it's already getting a
ton of exposure. And I think because of that,
they might be earmarking it for like an early
25 release. So you might be ahead of the curve
with this one, picking it for a 2024 playlist
where next year you might be like, damn it. Now
I can't use that because it was one of the biggest
bops of 25. Don't I always have my finger on
the pulse? Aren't I always ahead of the curve?
I liked JPEG Mafia before he was cool. Come on.
There you go. Well, what I'm going to do is follow
up this song with an artist that I have my finger
on the pulse of. And it's somebody that I think
is starting to explode. Hasn't gotten to the
Sabrina Carpenter, Chapel Roan level yet. But
she's also coming from the rock perspective.
And I think it's harder to get to that level.
When you're coming from the rock world, because
for every pop artist like a Shania Twain or a
Madonna in the 90s, Alanis Morissette took a
lot to cut through the cracks in the beginning.
And then it exploded and you got the Veruca Saltz
and other rock artists, female rock artists of
the 90s. In 2020, J .J. Wilde released an album.
Ruthless that won Rock Album of the Year at the
2021 Juno Awards. And the reason I brought up
Alanis Morissette before was J .J. Wilde was
the first woman to win that award going back
to Alanis' 1996 win. Wow. So needless to say,
the expectations were high for this year's album
of hers, Vices. And I think she did a similar
to the rollouts we talked about with Jack White
and Pearl Jam, a unique way to release the album.
She first started with a single, then did an
EP in the summer, which was four or five of the
tracks, and then released the full album in the
fall. The song I'm going to go with is the lead
single, Arizona. It is swampy and breezy, and
her vocals soar over this chorus musically. I
think it fits with the Jack Antonoff style production
of lie to girls, but it definitely adds a little
bit more of the rock vibe. Her voice definitely
is a little bit more rock esque in comparison
to Sabrina Carpenter. But even though it might
be a deep cut here in the U S I really feel like
she's on the brink of breaking in 2025. And I
hope that next year. When people are talking
about vices all year long, hopefully we can point
back and be like, we were talking about her for
2024. Like, come on, get with, get with it here.
Cause I love this song and it's been on my playlist
all year long. It's just such a vibe, such a
vibe. It's a hundred percent of vibe. I think
she's getting an incredible voice. JJ wild. I
think you're completely right about being a breakout
star and she's going to be in 2025. She's going
to be huge. So everybody get ready for it. But
that song, Arizona, it's just got such a wonderful
texture to it. I grew up in Arizona. I'm born
and raised in Phoenix. And the story she tells
of going out to the Southwest and just trying
to lose yourself and just basically escape things.
She captures that vibe of the Southwest perfectly
about those long stretches of highway and the
wilderness that most people don't know about
in Arizona. Only 30 % of the state is actually
desert. The rest is all like... conifer forest
and it snows and it's beautiful and it's wonderful.
And Arizona is a place where you can go and lose
yourself and rediscover yourself at the same
time. And I think when you listen to this song
with your eyes closed, it makes me feel like
I'm back home, honestly. She's just got this
incredible way of telling a story with her music
and her vocals and she's a dynamo. She's going
to be huge. I love the pick. Awesome, awesome
pick. Well, what are we going to follow that
up with for track seven? So here's a band that's
been around for 30 years now that should be famous,
like J .J. Wilde is about to be. And they're
famous in their own right, but I've always felt
like they should have been one of the biggest
bands in the world, and they just inexplicably
haven't been. It's Hot Water Music. Yes! And
I love Hot Water Music so much. I was first introduced
to them as a kid going out to local shows where
all the musicians I knew had Hot Water Music
tattoos. They say that Sparks is your favorite
musician's favorite musician. That's what Hot
Water Music was to me. All my favorite musicians'
favorite band was Hot Water Music. And like I
said, they've been around for 30 years now. This
is their 30th anniversary. And they just put
out their 10th studio album, Vows. And the track
that I'm going to pick and throw on this list
is called Burn Forever. I think it's a standout
track on the album. It's an evolution of their
music, but also has the same sort of like leitmotifs
that aren't predictable as far as Hot Water Music,
but are familiar of their discography. It's a
great track. One thing that's different about
Hot Water Music with his album is just the fact
that Chuck Reagan's gravely voice, you can tell
he's getting older and he's probably like blowing
out his vocal cords a little bit. So he's been
strained and it gets more strained as the years
go by. So he and Chris Waller have been splitting
the vocals and Waller takes the lead on this.
And I don't think the music like suffers anything
or loses anything with that splitting of the
lead vocals. I think Chris Waller is a fantastic
guitar player and a singer. And I think he just
knocks it out of the park. The band describes
this song as being dark, but positive and being
introspective and understanding why you're feeling
what it is you're feeling and staying motivated,
working towards that goal, getting through all
the BS that you're dealing with and just trying
to reach that light at the end of the tunnel,
which is largely what their music has always
been about for the last 30 years. They've always
been incredibly inspirational to me. They still
are. I think Burn Forever is just a wonderful
track on a wonderful 10th album on the 30th anniversary
of this incredible band that more people need
to know about and have as one of their favorite
bands. Easily scooped me on the band and the
album. There had to be something. So this actually
makes my life easier. I mean, this album had
guest spots from City in Color, The Interrupters,
Thrice, Calling Hours. I'm going to say this,
though. I personally think Chuck Reagan's vocals
are just as perfect as they were on Caution 22
years ago because the gravelly nature of it just
sits with the introspective part of the music.
And it gives you that. I don't want to compare
it to country music because that's wrong, even
though Chuck does dabble in some country -esque
stuff. Like, the end of the line for Johnny Cash,
where his voice was just, like, it just sits
in the music so well. Or even Tom Waits, even.
Yeah, I mean, Hot Water Music are one of those
bands where album after album, I scratch my head
in disbelief as to why they're not one of the
biggest punk bands on the planet. In the last
12 years, they've released four albums that I
friggin' love. 2020 -12's Exister, 2017's Light
It Up. 2022's Feel the Void, and now 2024's Vows,
I'd be hard -pressed to find one song that I
don't thoroughly love on any of these albums.
However, I had three songs sitting in my bank.
And just to show where we differ a little bit,
I had After the Impossible, Remnants, and Much
Love because of the Interrupters collaboration.
I couldn't not include that. But you could pick
any song off this album. And I'm all in. So Burn
Forever is an absolute soaring monster. And I
love where you went with it. Thanks, man. Oh,
all right. I'm going to go somewhere next. I'm
going to go with you. And God, again, with these
releases that are shocking people and doing something
a little different and kind of out of the blue.
September 5th, 2004, this band did a just out
of nowhere live stream after a strange countdown
clock on social media led to nothing but the
clock hitting zero and then starting to count
back up again from zero. We're going to go with
Linkin Park and I'm going to go with. The first
song that they debuted with Emily Armstrong on
vocals. And that is Emily Armstrong of the amazing
Dead Sarah, who you and I have talked about on
this show and on Playlist Wars. And I think the
emptiness machine was the perfect way to introduce
her. I agree. When I think of Linkin Park's last
studio album prior to this, One More Light, there
was definitely. more of a pop influence. And
while that is still a part of the sound on from
zero, I think Emily has brought back some heft
to the band sound that maybe hearkens back to
the hybrid theory, meteora era. And for me personally,
I'm all in. However, I completely respect that.
There are going to be some fans of dead Sarah
that might be concerned about this because of
their band status, but in Lincoln park synergy,
I think back to when Chester was balancing his
role in Lincoln Park as well as Stone Temple
Pilots. So personally, as a fan of Dead Sarah
and Lincoln Park, I'm going into this era of
the band with some optimism of great music from
hopefully both bands. I don't expect her to replace
Chester. She never will replace Chester. I think
bringing a female element to this band is an
interesting approach. So I'm going to be curious
to see how it unfolds, both in terms of the album's
chart impact as we move into 2025, as well as
their ability to continue to sell out concerts
with this lineup. So far, they're selling out
in minutes all over the world. So they're doing
something right. And given what I've seen done
in Alice in Chains with William Duvall in the
impossible position of being the quote unquote
new lane staley i don't envy emily at all right
now and i'm sure she's got to get past that whole
it's the new chester role but i mean when an
artist dies like an allison chains like bon scott
and acdc and then you have brian johnson coming
in and replay you need a voice that's strong
but also fits and i think emily does that with
lincoln park and i really feel like the emptiness
machine was a great way to introduce her and
show love and respect to the band sound over
the years so i hope that this lineup works because
i love lincoln park i love dead sarah and i'm
hoping that more people now go who is this oh
she's been in a band and dead sarah's music gets
more attention from this massive massive spotlight
on her Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Dead, Sarah. I
have been for a number of years. And yeah, I'm
really happy for Emily. And I completely agree
with you that there's no replacing Chester Bennington.
He was such a unique person and such a unique
voice in the genre of, I guess you can call it
alternative. I don't want to call it rap rock.
I feel like that's reductive of what they did
as a band. But if you're going to try and, in
simplest terms, replace Chester Bennington, I
can't think of a better person who is a fit for
their style of music than Emily Armstrong. That
woman's just got a voice and lungs on her. And
when I first heard the track, I was skeptical
like everybody else. But knowing Emily Armstrong's
style of vocals and knowing Dead Sarah as well
as I do, it was like, okay, this is actually
going to be probably something really special.
And sure enough, like you said, it pays homage
and it pays respect. And it's not like they're
trying to replace Chester Bennington. And I think
there's just enough of Emily Armstrong's own
flair and style in there where... It's a familiar
continuation of what happened and the aftermath
of the tragedy of what happened with Chester
Bennington. But it also feels different and fresh
in a way that I wasn't expecting to, which I
actually really like. This is a track that I
had my time and place with Linkin Park way back
in the day, and I actually haven't really touched
them since Chester Bennington died. So coming
back to this, it felt familiar, but also new
and exciting at the same time. I've actually
had this track in my rotation now, and I actually
really love it. I think Emily Armstrong was an
inspired choice. I think the way she plays off
of Mike Shinoda's vocals is very reminiscent
without being disrespectful of the dynamic that
Shinoda and Bennington had together. I think
it was a brilliant choice. I am excited to see
what the band does going forward. And I think
this has to be on the best of 2024 songs just
because of the impact it had and how meaningful
it is to everybody involved. So I love the pick.
I love the song. Awesome choice. All right. We
each have one song left for side A, track nine.
Where do we go from Linkin Park? I'm just going
to go total left field. I'm just going to go
weird. I'm sorry. I'm going to go fully weird.
I already mentioned the man once before. I mean,
dude, he put some stuff out this year that was
actually really fun. I thought about it, but
I mentioned JPEG Mafia once before already this
episode. He put out another album called I Lay
Down My Life. And every time that man releases
an album, I stop what I'm doing. I put it down
and I put my headphones on and I just go to the
places he wants to take me because he is still
continues to be one of the most interesting and
exciting producers and rappers in hip hop today.
And this album is no different from the rest
of his discography. It's just incredible. The
track I'm picking is Don't Rely on Other Men.
And it's an awesome track because he's just got
this way of sampling weird and bizarre stuff.
He'll do like Japanese Famicom commercials from
the 80s and turn it into like this incredible
song. And the motif of this track is a line spoken
by Logan Roy in succession as played by the legendary
Brian Cox. And it's just him repeating this line
over and over again. And that becomes the impetus
for this song that just takes you to all these
wild places. And it kicks in about two thirds
of the way with some incredible guitar riffs
from Alex Goldblatt. And it just makes the track.
Like every time Peggy releases something new,
it's wild and crazy and weird and exciting. And
I want to share it with everybody who will listen
to me and take the chance on listening to this
weird experimental hip hop. Because Peggy, like
every time he releases something, it's like the
best stuff of that year. It's crazy. Like the
man is just unstoppable. Oh, yeah. This album
as a whole. reached number 102 on the U .S. Billboard
Hot 100. For an independent artist? For an experimental
artist, yeah. Yeah, and it reached number 15
on the U .S. independent album charts. Is this
track hip -hop? Is it rap rock? Is it new metal?
Is it experimental? There's so many elements
that you could argue for this song. Last year...
I'm going to do a little spoiler here. You had
Perfect, which featured Danny Brown on your list.
And that had this 70s meets modern hip hop backdrop.
And now you've got Don't Rely on Other Men that,
like you said, includes that line from Succession
along with a door slamming that he loops as the
bass beat in this song. It's wildly unique. And
maybe I'm old, but as far as I'm concerned. In
my mid forties, it's way ahead of its time because
I don't hear a ton of music that fits into this
box, but I feel like if there was more of it,
this would become. what mainstream hip hop is.
When I compare it to some of the mumble rap out
there that I'm not the biggest fan of, this to
me has such artistic integrity and such authority
to the delivery in it that I would love to see
more artists going down this road. Yeah. Authority
is a really good way of putting it. He just does
whatever the heck he wants to do, and he does
it with such panache and confidence that he just
takes you along for the ride. Most of the stuff
he does on paper should not work, but he is such
a creative and confident producer that it's just
fire every single time. All right. To close out
Side A, I'm going to go with my favorite musical
story of 2024. The song, because of this story,
has become one of my favorites and one of my
family's favorites. This summer, before I went
through a medical emergency, I got to take my
family to see Some 41, The Interrupters, and
opening act Joey Valance and Bray. And Joey Valance
and Bray is what I'm going to close the side
with. These guys are a 90s hip -hop throwback
incorporating elements of the Beastie Boys, Cypress
Hill, House of Pain, and so many other artists
of that boom -bap nature. But there's a punk
spirit along with the delivery. But the reason...
I'm choosing this group is because of this following
story. My daughter, my wife, my oldest daughter,
my wife said, we're going to go grab some French
fries and a drink because we're there in ponchos
because it's about 45 degrees and it's drizzling
just enough where it's kind of uncomfortable
for the kids. Like I told them wear hats in and
I gave everybody beanies and they all looked
at me like I was, oh, come on, dad. But as soon
as we got in, they were like, crap, we're cold.
Could we buy hoodies? So that backfired on me
immediately. But anyway, we're up there watching
the show and my daughter goes, I'm going to go
grab something. I'll be right back. And her and
my wife leave. And for some reason, at the point
when they left, the entire rest of the crowd
just happened to show up. So my daughter's calling
me. Saying, do me a favor. Put your hand up in
the air so I could find you. So I raise my hand
in the air. And Joey Valance and Bray start the
song, The Baddest. Hands up. Hands up. Hands
up. Hands up. Okay. Let's go. I'm the baddest
bitch in this club. So as she's saying to raise
my hand. 2 ,000 people have their hands up in
the air. Oh, it's comedic timing at its finest.
It was just glorious. So she starts texting me
at that point because the song's playing. She's
like, put your hands down so I can find you.
So they're rapping the verse and she's like,
okay, put your hands up in the air again so I
can find you. And sure as shit, I put my hands
up in the air. It gets right back to the chorus.
So this happens. And by the time they get to
us, it's towards the end of the song. Now this
whole time, I've got them a little nervous because
they're trying to make their way through the
crowd. It's an outdoor show and I've got my 11
-year -old next to me, but I've got my arm around
her, but I'm not looking at her. And they get
there and it's the last chorus. Hands up. Hands
up. So I look down at my 11 -year -old. Hands
up. Hands up. Okay, let's go. I'm the baddest
bitch in this club. And I'm like, what? So to
close outside, eh? Every time this song comes
on, she goes, mom, am I allowed to sing it this
time? I got to go with the baddest from Joey
Valance and Bray, my favorite concert moment
of the year. It's a memory I'm going to live
with for decades. I'm always going to remember
my youngest at 11 years old yelling, I'm the
baddest bitch in this club. That's so awesome.
I love the pic. Yeah, they're such a fun group.
And it's almost like self -aware parody at times.
It's just so much fun. And they know how absurd
and silly they are. But at the same time, it's
like a loving throwback to, like you said, the
days of 90s hip hop. It just works. It is such
a great pick. It's such a great track. I would
be fine if you wanted to end the entire playlist
side B with this track, because it's just such
a great stamp on what was this year of music.
Just such a great pick. So much fun. That's a
track I'll throw on when it's time to clean the
house, because I just need to pick me up. just
so much damn fun and like the video the video
is hysterical too like it's just it's awesome
all their videos have the throwback look to them
I mean all the way back from punk tactics when
they ended up on Ellen like they were viral because
of their TikTok nature as well and I think we're
going to talk about that more tonight but artists
like Chapel Roan and Joey Valance and Bray are
making names for themselves through TikTok and
these guys are doing it in a throwback way That
to the audience, they're actually going after,
which is the interrupters crowd and some 41s
crowd, which is a mixture of people our age and
younger. It's new, even though it's a throwback
to us. Yeah. So that mixtapers concludes side
A of our ultimate 2024 mixtape, which consists
of Chaperone's Good Luck, Babe. Teddy Swim's
Goodbye's Been Good to You. Jack White's Bombing
Out. Pearl Jam's Wreckage. Sabrina Carpenter's
Lie to Girls, JJ Wilde's Arizona, Hot Water Music's
Burn Forever, Linkin Park's The Emptiness Machine,
JPEG Mafia featuring Freaky and Alex Goldblatt's
Don't Rely on Other Men, and Joey Valance and
Bray's The Baddest. Head over to myweeklymixtape
.com to hear all the songs we've discussed in
this mix through the playlist embedded on the
episode page. And now I get to kick off. Side
B, and I'm going to start with a song that musically
is a summer pop punk jam. And it kind of was
because the single was released in late August,
but the full album dropped in early November.
So my only criticism of this song is the fact
that this group waited till late August because
this song is, for lack of a better word, a breezy
and poppy pop punk tune. that I think would have
benefited being released in May or June to give
the people the chance to rock this all summer
long. And I'm going with state champs, silver
clouds from their 2024 self -titled album. I
can promise you this song will be on many 2025
summer playlists without a shadow of a doubt.
The lyrics are a little dark, but it's yin and
yang against this pop. punk anthem that really
harkens back to the early 2000s pop punk sound
there was a resurgence of pop punk in 2024 and
i feel like what is old is new again the cycle
has been completed because state champs when
i listened to this song this song could have
been released in 2002 and it could have been
a banger and it was released in 2024 and it is
a banger so silver clouds I love the pick, man.
This band takes me back to my Warped Tour days
for sure. They're very much in line with bands
like Sum 41 and bands I grew up listening to
in Arizona, like 4Banger, were very nasally,
high -pitched vocals and very sort of FU, middle
fingers, despite the fact that they're all jumping
around in unison and playing guitars and crap.
I love the pick, man. I love pop punk. I always
have. I love the resurgence that we're seeing
of it in 2024. It just tickles me and warms my
heart. They're a fun band, man. They kick ass,
and I love the pick. And yeah, more pop punk
coming back, please. We saw a resurgence of Blink
-182 this year, too. It's coming back in a big
way, in a whole new wave, and it excites me.
I like it a lot because that's what I grew up
with. I'm a kid of the 80s and 90s, but I spent
the majority of my teen years in the 2000s. So
this is home to me. So I love the pic. It's awesome.
So then I guess my question is, are we staying
in this pop punk realm for track two? Uh, so
like, I've got to like kind of keep it kind of
poppy, I guess, sort of maybe punky. Let's say
punk at least. Because the pick that I have next
is, it's a track called Say What, or Whatever
You Say Man. And it's by a band called Spiritual
Cramp based out of San Francisco. And it's featuring
White Reaper, who you and I both love. We both
love White Reaper. So these two bands, for whatever
reason, they got together and they decided to
do like a dual single release in 2024, where
one song is Spiritual Cramp featuring White Reaper.
And the other one on the flip side is White Reaper
featuring Spiritual Cramp. So Spiritual Cramp
has quickly become one of my favorite bands in
the last few years. And I always describe this
being like if Mark Mothersbaugh created a hipster
punk band. Again. This song in particular, whatever
you say, man, it makes you want to throw on a
leather jacket and walk through the roughest
neighborhood in your city. It's just one of those...
I'm a bad mofo type songs with just a steady
beat and guitars and this delightful, wonderful
pretentiousness to it. And both the tracks are
killer. And I love the fact that these two bands
that I really love got together and became friends
and did this double -sided single together. And
I was actually able to see Spiritual Cramp open
for The Hives in Santa Ana, California back in
August. And man, their records are fantastic,
but their live show is just something else. straight
out of the 90s punk scene. It was just so much
fun to see them play. And of course, White Reaper
is legendary status for you and me. We both love
that band. So these two really creative, really
unique, really high energy bands getting together
and just putting out these two kick -ass tracks.
Honestly, I could switch one for the other on
this list, but I went with Whatever You Say Man
just because it's just got that badass, take
no nonsense beat to it. And the chemistry and
the alchemy of these two bands coming together
just works in a way that... surprised me despite
the fact that i love both these bands so yeah
spiritual cramp featuring white reaper it's a
single release called whatever you say man spoiler
alert i didn't waste any time last year on episode
50 making sure that white reaper got into the
2023 playlist but i won't say what song go back
and listen to episode 50 if you want to check
out some awesome 2023 stuff and judge us on how
those 2023 songs held up in 2024. But alas, I'm
so glad to see a year later, we're still talking
about what I consider still underrated. White
Reaper, as much as you and I love them, and I
know a lot of people do. I know our friends at
The Itch love them. I know a lot of different
podcasters are all over them. But I feel like
they're still under the radar a little bit. And
I feel like next year with the Warped Tour returning,
I just have a feeling if they happen to be on
that bill, they're going to explode like no other
band. There's something about them. And Spiritual
Cramp doing this release with them, I feel like
it served both bands well because like this unique
way of releasing albums and releasing singles
like you and I have been talking about throughout
tonight. each camp introduced their music to
the other band's fan base. And I think it benefited
both bands in the process because I was familiar
with spiritual cramp before this song, but this
song made me go back and dive into their music
more. And I'm so glad I did. And I have to thank
white Reaper for that. And I'm hoping the same
happened for spiritual cramp fans that now became
white Reaper fans. Yeah. It's almost like that
hip hop style of collaboration where both artists
or whatever artists feature on a track and a
hip hop track, both get that sort of boost. And
I love that communal feel of collaborating on
music and releasing it together. It's awesome.
And something tells me because of the success
of tracks like this, we might see more of that
in 2025. Yeah. But moving on from this, well,
I mentioned Warped Tour. So I'm going to go with
a band that when I think of Warped Tour, their
name comes to mind. And this year, the band released
their quote unquote, like, you know, Dr. Evil,
Magma. I'm going to go with Final Album, Heaven
and Hell. And I use quote marks around Final
because, quite frankly, I don't believe the word
Final Tour. I don't believe Final Album. I just
don't believe it anymore. Kiss has made me skeptical.
I've seen so many final Kiss farewell tours at
this point. I swear at this point, I feel like
when bands say it's their final album, it's a
life encore. They like walk off stage and they're
like, that's it. We're retiring. And everybody
in the world yells for years, like, no, come
back. And then they all come back out on stage.
Like, we're just kidding. Anyway, Sum 41. Yeah,
oh man. Again, with the pop punk resurgence,
like hell yeah, dude. It's still happening. I
mean, look, Landmines was released at the end
of 2023. Like so far at the end of 2023, it was
released after you and I recorded the 2023 episode.
So it immediately went to, remember I said on
side A, the first song on my 2024 playlist was
Landmines leading into, I know it makes no sense,
but that's what I do musically. Teddy Swim's
Goodbye Has Been Good To You. This song reached
number two on the US Rock Airplay Chart and topped
both the US Alternative Airplay Chart and the
Canada Rock Chart. The last time Sum 41 topped
the Alternative Airplay Chart was Fat Lip in
2001. 22 years, five months, and three weeks
in between number ones on that chart. The longest
gap. In that chart's 35 -year history, topping
the killers who waited between When You Were
Young in October of 2006 and Caution in April
of 2020. Landmines also reached number 30 on
New Zealand's Hot Singles chart and number 48
on France's Airplay chart. This is quintessential
Sum 41 punk rock. It's got that infectious sing
-along chorus, gives you all those warm and fuzzy
nostalgic early 2000s pop punk vibes. And it's
only one piece of this album's puzzle as Heaven
and Hell bridges the gap between the band's pop
punk side and their heavier side that they've
always incorporated in their sounds. Tracks like
Rise Up show that these guys could play metal
if they want to play metal. But this album kind
of bridges the gap between the two. Landmines
sounds like Derek is looking back with a little
bit of understanding and a little bit of hindsight
in this song. And to me, as somebody who has
spent 2024 looking back on a lot with hindsight,
this song just hits with me. Even though it's
pop punk, it still hits me in the feel. So Landmines.
Yeah, Sum 41 has a storied history. Especially
the lead singer, he went through some hard times
for quite a while there. And this isn't just
a resurgence of the band and the genre. This
is also a triumphant return for the band themselves
as individuals. And this album's got that spirit
to it. And again, like I said, I grew up sneaking
into Warped Tour and meeting all the bands. Never
met Sum 41, met a bunch of other bands, but they're
all the fun bands that I really followed and
really looked up to. And I had some friends back
in the day in a band called Authority Zero in
Arizona, and they toured with Sum 41 extensively.
And they had nothing but nice things to say about
all those guys. And they had some absolutely
epic prank wars, too, when they were on tour
together. So Sum 41's always been a band that's
been near and dear to my heart. And I love the
fact that they're like... the forerunners along
with like Bleak 182 is this resurgence of pop
punk in 2024. I love the song and I love the
way you said that they've been sort of mixing
up genres and they've been really sort of stretching
their musical muscles too and playing a bunch
of different styles and not necessarily like
keeping themselves to just that sort of pop punk
feel. They're wildly talented musicians. I think
a lot of people kind of box them into the pop
punk sort of genre back in the day. And I don't
know if they even necessarily wanted it to be
that. I know they were having a lot of fun doing
it back in the day, but... They're wildly talented.
And the fact that they're able to come back and
have this triumphant return and kind of shock
some people at the same time, I really, really
enjoy. So awesome pick. Thinking on it now, I
don't think you could have a best of 2024 list
without some 41s return on here. It's wonderful.
And hopefully in 2025, we say, see, I told you
so. They already have their reunion album out.
I would love to see them if they want to stick
around long enough to show up on Warped Tour,
because I'm thinking about going to the Long
Beach, California location. And I'd love to see
them there with a number of other bands I love
back in the day that I saw in a Warped Tour many,
many times, many years in a row. So that'd be
cool if they showed up. But like you said, they're
always kind of shaky about whether or not they're
going to do something else or they're going to
stay broken up. And I understand their reasons
why. But like I said, I've been a lifelong KISS
fan. And I've been to so many final KISS reunion
tours and farewell tours. And musicians get that
itch. They miss the performing. They miss the
writing. They miss their friends that they...
used to spend every waking minute with on the
road. And I get why a lot of these bands will
come back, even if it's for a short run, just
to come back and have fun and do it for a little
while. And then if they're able to, and they
have the luxury of doing so, take another break
and chill and then come back with something weird
and cool and obscure a few years down the road.
It's great. All right. Well, we are moving on
to track four. What do you got next? So I'm going
to go with another sort of hybrid band, which
I think kind of sort of ties in with the whole
Sum 41 vibe in a very weird, loose way. Once
I say the band and the track, it's not going
to make any sense, but it made sense to me in
my head just now. The track I've chosen is the
Stargate by Blood Incantation off their 2024
album, Absolute Elsewhere. And I bring them up.
immediately after Sum 41, because this is a band
that's a death metal band, but they're equal
parts death metal and prog rock, which should
not make sense on paper, but they're such wildly
talented musicians. And when you tie in the death
metal sort of, sort of aesthetic and what they're
all about and with like the weird sort of stonerness
of prog rock, it makes sense. So they're a weird
band, but they're awesome. And they just, they
have these songs throughout this entire album,
absolutely elsewhere. Well, they'll go, they'll
go from the, drop D tuning, the heavy growling,
the double bass pedals. And they'll go into these
wild stretches of prog rock, which are like not
dissimilar from like King Crimson, for example.
And they just do this back and forth. And it's
almost seamless to where you just, you stop realizing
that you've stopped listening to a death metal
song halfway through. And now you're listening
to a prog rock song. And all of a sudden it just
shifts right back into death metal. It's just,
it's wild. And it's really cool. And what's also
awesome is the fact that they're from Colorado.
So they're from my neck of the woods, which is
cool. And this album is quietly on a ton of best
albums of 2024 lists across the country, across
the internet even. And they're just this sort
of under the radar band that not a lot of people
know about unless they're big fans of the genre.
And it's cool that they're just very quietly
sort of leading the charge of death metal in
America. And I've got this friend who is a huge,
massive death metal and metal fan in general.
She knows more about the genre and the musicians
than I'll ever know. And she refers to them as
pretty good for an American death metal band,
which doesn't sound like the highest praise ever,
but it actually is. So go and listen to the album,
but in particular, listen to The Stargate, which
I think is a very good sort of summary of what
they're doing with the album or what they do
as musicians in general. You get a really healthy
mix of their death metal side, but also the prog
rock that they kind of bend into and out of as
they're... sort of weaving these long eight minute
long tapestries of songs. So yeah, Blood Incantations,
The Stargate off of the album Absolute Elsewhere.
Which is named after a prog rock band, Absolute
Elsewhere. So there's a little prog stuff. I'm
sure Sean Faust, we have his ears propped up
as he's listening to this episode right now.
I mean, yes, this is death metal. Make no mistake.
It is heavy as freaking hell, but it's also.
Proggy and trippy and dare I use the word jammy.
This song takes death metal and fuses it with
this progressive jam band trippiness. I mean,
at eight minutes and 20 seconds long, I'm pretty
much going to assume this is going to be our
longest song of the evening. But I think it's
unique and refreshing if either one of those
genres are your go to. And with that, I will
say that one thing's for certain, my weekly mixtape
will be the only Songs of 2024 playlist that
will include a spectrum of JPEG Mafia to Sabrina
Carpenter to Teddy Swims to Blood Incantation.
But while I don't have anything that leans towards
the prog side of the spectrum, I do have a song
that'll work on the heavy side of the spectrum
in my list. It's not death metal, it's more grind
metal, but I feel like... It's the heaviest thing
I've got to come out of that. And I'm going to
go there for similar to the Joey Valance embrace
story, something a little personal with this
song. And I'm going to go with lamb of God featuring
Mastodon single floods. Hell yes. I love it.
This was released on the heels of the group's
co -headlining ashes of Leviathan arena tour,
which celebrated their respective albums, ashes
of the wake and Leviathan. I had to miss this
tour this summer because at the time that the
tour was rolling through the area, I was in a
hospital recovering from open heart surgery.
I've talked about this on a couple episodes of
my weekly mixtape over the fall, and I've mentioned
it on social media. But I know people pick and
choose what episodes of the show they listen
to based on the styles of music they like. And
I know a lot of people will listen to this one
because it kind of covers all styles of music.
Long story short, I was home recovering from
this life -changing major event in my life. And
my wife's cousin, Sue, who I will forever be
grateful for, had Mark Morton of Lamb of God
create a cameo and send it to me. No way. As
I was recovering from open heart surgery. While
he was on tour? While he was on this tour. Cool.
He did it from up in Maine. And if it's okay,
I'm going to just share a short clip. I'm not
going to share the whole thing because some of
it involves personal stuff that I'd rather not
air. But this one section right here, I listened
to so many times during my heart surgery recovery.
And I just want to play it because it just means
so, so much to me. So what I would leave you
with, Brian, is that I think you probably know
this. already, but I will remind you that music
heals. It really does. It's like a spiritual
thing. And I think you're probably very in tune
with that because of just how big a part music
plays in your life. So don't forget that music
is healing and lean into that because you need
some healing right now. And I'm glad you're on
the mend. godspeed you did the right thing so
you can be present for your daughters and for
your family and for your wife and for your wife's
cousin sue so godspeed to you and um lean into
the music man and get well soon get better soon
get uh i think you are better just get uh get
back to doing your thing as quick as possible
i mean that is everything i love about music
and it's coming from Mark Morton of Lamb of God.
So Mark, thank you so much for that cameo. Sue,
thank you so much for sending that to me. You
have no idea how much that brightened my summer
as I was recovering from this. And I should also
take this moment to thank my family and other
podcasters like UDT and Jason from It's Not That
Bad and The Itch and Sean Faust, all the friends
that rallied around me, Gomez at Sleevy G. Thank
you. I know this is kind of heartfelt in a Lamb
of God segment, but thank you, thank you, thank
you. Lamb of God is for the children. They're
wonderful, man. They're metal, but they're accessible.
They're great. And that's one of the coolest
things I've ever heard. Not just the clip, but
just the story of how your family really kind
of came together and rallied around you. Yeah.
I mean, I, I've been a part of the, I I've moved
on to YouTube. Um, I'm not necessarily a podcaster
anymore, but you and I became really good friends
as a result of both being podcasters. Yes. And
it was my absolute honor to help in any way I
could while you were in that situation. And I
hope that I helped in some small way. I don't
know. Obviously it wasn't there in the whole,
uh, you know, I was gonna say a hotel room. Yeah.
I was, and obviously it wasn't there on your
side of the country in the, in the hospital room
to, you know, help and whatnot. But I'm, I, I
personally, I am very thankful for your family.
your kids that they sort of jumped up and answered
the call and helped maintain the show because
you mean a lot to me and you mean a lot to a
lot of people. And I think the show means a lot
to a lot of people too. And the fact that this
community rallied around the show, which means
so much to a lot of people, myself included,
it's just a beautiful thing. And it happened
under not the greatest of circumstances, but
it's sometimes those circumstances that show
us how much we mean to the people around us.
And it's just a really sweet story. So thank
you to your kids. Thank you to your wife. Thank
you to your wife's cousin for that incredible
clip. I can't believe he sat down and recorded
that while he was on tour too. That is just one
of the coolest things I've ever heard. So yeah,
I'll never, that'll never leave my phone. I mean,
no. And to be honest, you know, I will say I
look back at this year with a lot of gratefulness
and it's a tough word to use when you say you
had open heart surgery, but many doctors told
me, had I not. I would not have made it through
the summer. So it was a preventative surgery.
But at the end of the day, I am here talking
to you right now and able to continue this show
based on the love and help that everyone provided.
Honestly, I could have very easily just said
taking two months off of the show because of
what's happening and everybody would have understood.
I know that everybody would have understood.
As I'm laying in the hospital, my oldest said
to me, what are you going to do? You're just
sitting here. You're laying here. You know, that's
where your mind is going. Let me just sit here
and do it for you. You just talk to me and, and
we'll, you've got all these. I had recorded a
bunch of episodes because I had planned to take
the summer off to spend more time with the family,
not to have open heart surgery. So like the stars
aligned in a very weird way. And there were some
people that still don't even know I had it. So
yeah, somehow I've been able to go. This is episode
98, 98 straight weeks without missing an episode.
So, I mean, if there's anything I could, there's
nobody that'll question my dedication to this
show, I guess. Hell no. But anyway, enough about
me. Let's get back to the songs of 2024. I mean,
following up Blood Incantation and Lamb of God,
where do we go from here? All right. Well, I
mean, the last track was Floods of Triton. And
I mean. Speaking of floods washing away everything
and waves of destruction, don't ever piss off
Kendrick Lamar. Holy crap. Not Like Us may go
down as not only the top hip hop single of 2024,
it also may just go down as one of the most iconic
tracks of 2024, period. Regardless of your take
of what went on between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
This track is absolute hip hop genius in its
design and execution. And this is just one of
the quietly meanest mofos in hip hop at his most
diabolical. This is just a killer track. It's
one of the most iconic tracks, iconic disc tracks
of all time, depending on your take on disc tracks.
But it's also just like peak rap and hip hop
from one of its most like modern and legendary
individuals working today. It's a longer track
and it's just relentless and it's just diabolical
and mean jabs at Drake, which I'm not going to
say if I agree or not. I've got my take on what
happened between the two of them, as most people
do, because it was very, very public and it's
become very sort of iconic even in the realm
of pop culture for the year of 2024. But it's
also just a really, really freaking good and
well -engineered and well -produced hip hop track.
Like Kendrick Lamar being pissed off at somebody
and coming at him with one of the best songs,
one of the best hip hop songs of this year and
maybe the last decade. Like there's just no coming
back from that. Like Drake, just go home, go
to bed, call it a night, relax, wake up the next
day and see what you can do. Yeah, no, Not Like
Us had to be on this. It was just an iconic move,
an iconic track from an iconic rapper, and just
one of the most out of left field and wild happenings
in pop culture this year at the same time. Reached
number one on the U .S. Billboard Hot 100, U
.S. Hot R &B and Hip -Hop Songs, U .S. Pop Airplay,
and U .S. Rhythmic Charts. It also topped the
Billboard Global 200, the Australia Hip -Hop
R &B Charts, and the U .K. Hip -Hop R &B Charts,
as well as topping charts in several other countries.
Worldwide smash. Here in the U .S., it spent
21 weeks. Atop the hot rap songs chart, which
broke the record by Lil Nas X's Old Town Road
featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. And you know how long
that song was on the radio because everybody
got sick of it by the time that Old Town Road
ended its run. People did not get sick of Not
Like Us this year. And to me, this song instantly
reached the Mount Rushmore of top hip hop diss
tracks, including. cannabis is second round knockout
ice cubes no vaseline ether by nos and tupac
with the outlaws hit him up i mean not like us
has to be included at this point it was that
brutal of a takedown and then the video just
did it all over again like it was so rough like
could you imagine starting up some beef with
kendrick And he comes back like a week later
and he writes this track that sets the entire
world on fire. It gets the entire world on his
side. Can you imagine pissing this guy off and
he comes back and he's got the entire planet
coming after you? Like, my God, insane. Just
insane. But again, an incredible rap track too.
Like he just was not messing around. No, if Kendrick
Lamar ever cut me off, I wouldn't even honk at
him. I would just say thank you. I would ask
him if he would like to take my car. Just do
you want my car? Just don't write any songs about
my weekly mixtape. I don't think I can handle
the heat, man. My heart's not strong enough for
that, I don't think. But following that up, I
think the only logical place to go is when one
of the greatest comes out with a new album. And
we got to talk about the death of Slim Shady,
Coup de Grace, Eminem. And I am going to go with
Houdini. It reached number two on the U .S. Billboard
Hot 100. But it topped the Billboard Global 200,
the Canada Hot 100, the Australia ARIA charts,
the U .K. Singles chart, as well as a dozen other
countries. For some reason, was not a number
one hit here in the U .S. Probably because they're
not like us, but it did win Best Hip Hop Video
and Best Visual Effects at the 2024 MTV Video
Music Awards. I didn't even know MTV still played
music videos, but that goes from there. Maybe
a YouTube channel? Did they play them there?
I don't know. The song interpolates prior hits
from Eminem, Without Me, My Name Is, and Just
Lose It, along with Steve Miller Band's massive
1982 hit, Abracadabra. which Steve Miller himself
praised, saying that Eminem is, and I got to
read this quote here, one of those timeless originators
building something new on a long legacy of original
artists, which is huge praise, especially that
he sampled and interpolated Steve Miller's song.
Some artists might get offended by it. I think
this was nothing but love here. This song takes
shots at everything and everyone, including...
DT, both you and I as listeners, I mean, Eminem
goes after his own kids in this song. Some people
praised it and some people loathed it. But the
thing is, Eminem is 52 years old as of 2024,
and he still manages to stir the pot lyrically
and musically. And he gets conversation started
as if he's finished or washed or whatever you
want to call it. This whole time that people
are arguing, these songs are rocketing up the
charts. And there aren't many artists that are
able to create such a longevity on the charts
while always bringing controversy along with
the ride. And one that I want to compare it to,
and yes, people might go, what? But Madonna.
Because Madonna was always bringing controversy
along with her hits. Think back to Like a Virgin.
Then fast forward to Like a Prayer. Then fast
forward to Justify My Love and the Erotica video.
She knew how to bring controversy with her songs
to always bring her to the front of the news
and the front of the charts. And Eminem has done
that in the world of hip hop. 52 years old, dropping
a song like this, whether you love it or not,
the chart speak for itself. Yeah, it's Eminem,
man. Anytime the man speaks, the world listens.
Like he's an icon. He's one of the greatest rappers
to have ever. wrapped he's the one of the greatest
in the game and he probably always will be that
man's gonna be 65 70 and still dropping hot like
fire tracks like and still bring a controversy
and finding ways to like freak out the kids and
the old people like it's incredible It's really
funny to me. Well, first of all, I love that
pic. Like I said, it's Eminem. It's iconic. He
dropped something new in 2024. It automatically
belongs in the top 2024 songs. Like it just does
automatically. But it's funny that you picked
Houdini off that album because I had something
in my bank and now I'm just going to drop it.
I think I know what this is. I'm not going to
say anything. It's Dua Lipa. It's Dua Lipa. It's
Houdini off of Radical Optimism. Because first
of all, it's got the same track name as the Eminem
song. But the song is also an interpolation of
another 80s hit, which is such a weird coincidence.
Like you said, Eminem, he interpolated Abracadabra
by Steve Miller Band. And this track, Houdini
by Dua Lipa off of her 2024 release Radical Optimism,
is an interpolation of the synth track from Talk
Talk's It's My Life. Yes. Which is, it's genius
the way it's implemented. But Dua just, I think
she was probably on my 2023 list too last year.
She was. Spoiler alert. I won't say what song
though. Let people go back to episode 50 and
find out for themselves. Yeah, but she just continues
to dominate pop music and dance halls and my
playlists. She's just, I mean, Houdini is just
this killer dance track and just a single off
of a killer dance album. And like I said, it's
got that clever sampling of the synth from Talk
Talk's It's My Life, which is an iconic song
in its own right. And like you said, when you
were discussing Eminem's Houdini, people take
issue with... pop artists or hip hop artists
interpolating or sampling classic songs like
this. And I don't know why, because they've been
doing it since the beginning of time. And Dua
Lipa has taken her lumps for doing so. And she's
really learned from it. And so have her co -writers
and her producers. And we need to stop picking
on her in particular for this for some reason.
I don't know why people insist on jumping on
her for doing this, because it is a super smart
and super clever use of Talk Talk's It's My Life.
And it's just a great bop. It's a great song.
And if you're going to crank out dance anthems,
what better genre or decade to pull from to craft
these songs in the 80s? It's just a great track.
It's a wonderful, sweet, endearing, confident,
snarky, just bitchy album at times. And I fucking
love it. Excuse my language. I went through this
entire episode until now, until saying the F
word. So I'm proud of myself. But yeah, my pick
is Houdini from Dua Lipa off of Radical Optimism.
I am so happy you picked that Eminem track, not
only because it's a great track, but because
it allowed me to do that. Well, do you want a
funny story? On my 2024 playlist, Houdini and
Houdini were back to back. Really? It was Eminem
followed by Dua Lipa. And this might be a total
dad joke and people might unsubscribe as I say
it, but I feel like the two of them should have
put the songs together and did an Abra Calabra
remix of the two songs. I love it. It reached
number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number
five on the Canada Hot 100, number three on the
Global 200, number seven on the Australia ARIA
charts, number two on the UK singles chart, and
was a top 10 hit in Ireland, Germany, Switzerland,
and France, among others. And like Teddy Swim's
Goodbye Has Been Good To You, the single was
released late in 2023 after you and I recorded.
The song's a 2023 episode, but it really took
hold in 2024 and it became one of the summer
jams of 2024. I feel like the song almost had
a resurgence when the warmer weather hit. And
I'll just say it. It's my favorite Dua Lipa song
ever. I love this song so much. I'm so glad you
picked it because I didn't quite know where I
was going to close with. And I was hoping that
this song got talked about and you chose her
last year. So thank you for granting that. Anytime,
man. And to close it up, at least in terms to
the songs I'm picking for this evening, because
this is my last song choice. I'm going to go
with another pop song, but it's not the pop song
you're thinking. It's not a pop like Dua Lipa.
It doesn't have pop elements like Eminem. And
it's definitely going to be a break screeching
halt. coming out of these two dancier tracks.
But when I've waited since 1993's The River of
Dreams to get a brand new Billy Joel pop song,
and you get it with Turn the Lights Back On,
there is no way it's not going to be my last
pick of the evening. Is the song a romantic ballad?
Is it a metaphor for how long Billy Joel fans
have been waiting to get new music from him?
That's up to you to decide. For me, it could
be either or. The song reached number 62 on the
Billboard US Hot 100, the first time he'd made
that chart since his cover of To Make You Feel
My Love back in 1997. It also hit number four
on the UK singles chart and number seven on the
Japan Hot Overseas chart and hit number one in
Israel. Considering Billy Joel's age and the
fact that the US Billboard Hot 100 is predominantly
dominated by newer artists. I'm not entirely
shocked that this wasn't a top 40 hit, but I
also kind of am because this song is ridiculously
powerful. And as someone who is been a Billy
Joel fan for my entire life, anyone who listened
to episode 15, the ultimate Billy Joel playlist
with longtime Billy Joel band member, Liberty
DeVito knows my fandom. There was no way like
last year closing the way you and I brought the
Beatles and the Rolling Stones into the mix.
Yeah. I honestly thought this song would have
had a bigger chart impact, but regardless of
where it sat in the charts, I think Billy Joel
fans were more than happy enough to make up for
it with the love it brought them for him to finally,
quote unquote, turn the lights back on with some
new music. I hope it's not the last ever Billy
Joel pop song, but if it is. It's very, very
powerful. Yeah. I love the track and I love Billy
Joel. I always have too. And the whole, you know,
I'm late, but I'm here right now is just so fitting.
Like you said, is it a love ballad about, you
know, not showing up when you need to, but eventually
showing up and being the man that somebody needs
you to be? Or is it about making his fan base
wait for so long for new music? It could be both.
And it probably is both. And I mean, this wasn't
like a bombastic release, like, you know, the
resurgence of the Rolling Stones with a new album
and their tour where they wanted to be the center
of attention. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm missing
the mark. But the release of this track and his
new music felt more personal. It felt like it
was more for the fans than him trying to topple
the world all over again and go on tour and play
arenas and stuff like that, which I think is
really sweet and nice. But it's a wonderful track.
I really love it. It's beautiful. That man's
voice is timeless. He said he's getting up there
in age and he still sounds wonderful. And he
can still hit those notes. And there's just a
timeless quality about both him and his music.
And he's never been somebody who's been like,
oh, he sounds like he's from the 80s or he sounds
like he's from the 70s. He just sounds like he's
from every time. There's just a wild timelessness
and universal appeal of his music where it's
just Billy Joel. You know what I mean? It's not
like 90s Billy Joel. There's no 70s Billy Joel.
It's just Billy Joel. And that's something I've
always loved and appreciated about all of his
music. So, and I love that you kind of brought
it full circle from last year where we kind of
closed out with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
and now it's Billy Joel. And it's wonderful to
see these older artists that I loved as a kid
that my parents loved when they were kids come
back, not miss a beat, still crank out incredible,
moving, beautiful music like no time has passed.
It's great. Well, we have had a roller coaster
of a 2024 playlist, DT, and you get to take us
home with the final song of the night. Everything
from Chapel Roan to Blood Incantation and back
again. How do we close out the ultimate 2024
playlist? I mean, at this point, you could choose
any artist, any genre, smooth jazz. I don't care
what it is. I have a feeling it's going to work.
We're all just going to take a moment to reflect.
I'm going to go weird again, and I don't have
any way of really tying into Billy Joel. Yeah,
that was a tough one. I'm sorry about that. No,
not at all. Just aside from the fact that I feel
like this next artist is going to be one of those
people that's going to be timeless, because he
has such a knack for reinventing himself and
his style over the years. And every time he does
it, it just feels natural and awesome and just
great. And it's Childish Gambino, Donald Glover,
because he had an incredible 2024. It's Lithonia
off of Bando Stone in the New World. Like I said,
this man has just reinvented himself and his
career so many times over. He went from being
an internet video sketch comedy actor to a sitcom
actor to a stand -up comedian to a rapper to
an alternative and experimental rapper to an
R &B singer. And now with this track, Luthonia,
he's dabbling in rock and roll. And it's like,
I never knew I needed an alternative hard rock
Childish Gambino song until I heard it. And it's
like, why hasn't he done a whole album of this?
It's incredible. And on top of this, the music
that he wrote, this song included, which was
the single off the album, is also doubling as
the score for a film he directed this year. The
man just does it all. It's insane. But Lithonia
is this really cool, heavy rock song coming from
a well -known and established rapper and R &B
artist. And it's pretty dark and affecting, but
Glover himself says that it's... actually positive
and insists that it's uplifting. But when you
listen to the song, it's very sort of melancholy,
but it's also got a hopefulness to it, which
I really like. But the man is just exercising
his range with all these different vocal styles
in this track by itself, along with some heavy
guitar and synth, and it just kicks ass. And
like I said, I would take an entire album of
just Childish Gambino doing alternative rock
because it just somehow makes sense. He's become
a massive icon. And I don't think you can do
a 2024 list of best songs or iconic songs without
including him in some fashion. And honestly,
what better way to end a 2024 playlist with something
that's on the surface appears deeply pessimistic,
but it's actually really hopeful and has a whole
lot of really optimistic undertones and messages
for the future. That sounded really pretentious,
but I'm sticking with it. No, not at all, man.
I'm going to challenge one thing, though. You
said that it's weird coming out of Billy Joel,
and I actually think I found a connection here
because Lithonia reached number 69 on the Billboard
US Hot 100, number 85 on the Canada Hot 100,
number 88 on the UK Singles Chart, and number
14 on the New Zealand Hot Singles Chart. Yes,
it's got a rock -leaning vibe to it. So you could
conceivably say it's a quote unquote rock song,
but that's not where I'm going coming out of
Billy Joel. But I'm going to come from a standpoint
that we closed out a 2024 playlist with two underrated
tracks that probably should have gotten more
love on the charts than they did. Instead of
closing with the songs that did blow up the tracks
like the Kendrick and the Chapel Roan. We went
with some underrated songs that maybe people
missed this year and kind of gives people something
to reflect on and marinate on when they listen
to this playlist all the way through. So I'll
be very curious to see where the mixtapers stand
with these song choices tonight. Yeah, man, absolutely.
I'm looking forward to discussion. Aside from
being on these episodes and just hanging out
with you and talking music, one of my favorite
things is seeing the discussion that comes about
from these episodes we do, which is super cool.
The community you have built around this podcast
is phenomenal. It's wonderful, dude. I am so
grateful for each and every person that chooses
to be a part of it because I just love talking
music. And I love the fact that there's other
people out there like me that just want to talk
about music and celebrate the songs that we love.
And that's the thing. It comes through in every
episode you do. And that's why people gravitate
towards you, including all the big stars you've
had on this show. Like, holy crap, man. I still
feel like small potatoes compared to some of
the people that have been on the show just this
year. It's been insane. But you have this genuineness
about you that comes through in every episode
you do and this genuine love for music and wanting
to share music and appreciate music. And it draws
people in. And I'm one of those people, obviously.
It's an honor to be here and to do another one
of these last of the year sort of... recap episodes
and talk about the best music of the year and
it's just my genuine honor to just hang out with
you for an hour and change and just talk bs and
talk about music oh dude the feeling's absolutely
mutual thank you so much for those kind words
it got me all like choked up here especially
given the year i've had here but before we get
to that let me clear my throat here and uh someone
who's ever chopping onions get the hell out of
the room because that mixtapers concludes side
b of the ultimate 2024 mixtape which consists
of state champs silver clouds spiritual cramp
featuring white reaper whatever you say Amen,
Some 41's Landmines, Blood Incantations, The
Stargate, Tablet One, Lamb of God featuring Mastodon's
Floods of Triton, Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us,
Eminem's Houdini, Dua Lipa's Houdini, Billy Joel's
Turn the Lights Back On, and Childish Gambino's
Lithonia. Head over to myweeklymixtape .com to
hear all the songs we've discussed in this mix
through the playlist embedded on the episode
page. Now, DT, we've talked about all of our
top songs for 2024, but there's one question
that remains. What's your 2024 album of the year
and why? Oh, geez. Oh, can I have more than one?
Because I feel like the reason I picked all these
tracks are because they're all off of my favorite
albums of the year. To pick just one? I mean,
I want to say Jack White's No Name just because
of the weird and strange circumstances with which
he released it. And the fact that he's one of
my favorite musicians of all time. And he kind
of, like I said, did this really weird but beautiful
and awesome and kick -ass return to form. But
I also love the fact that Vows from Hot Water
Music is their 10th album. It's their 30th anniversary
as a band. And you can tell that all the songs
on that album were so incredibly meaningful to
them. And also JPEG Mafia putting out I Lay Down
My Life because it's so fucking weird and wonderful.
And the man just does not stop. But oh, man,
I'm just going to rip the bandit off and say
that it's probably Jack White's no name just
because it was such a wonderful surprise in kind
of a period of the year where I needed kind of
a nice surprise. I obviously did go through a
heart surgery or anything quite as crazy or harrowing.
But, you know, it's 2024, I think, for a lot
of people has been a weird year. And Jack White
just being like, here's my gift to the world.
I just got in my garage and hang out with a bunch
of friends and wrote some stupid music that turned
out really, really great. And you can all have
it for free was just such a really cool punk
rock Jack White thing to do. So I'm going to
give it to that just for those reasons. All right.
And I'm going to agree with you on Hot Water
Music's vows. It's definitely. in my top two
of the year, but believe it or not, my number
one album of the year has not been talked about
tonight. Oh, quite frankly, because I couldn't
find a fucking place to include a fish song in
this weird mix. Pardon my language. I actually,
I actually was thinking about coming. out of
blood incantations the stargate with fish's oblivion
from their 2024 album evolved but that is a funk
dance fish jam band tune but i was thinking of
the jam band connection but as soon as i thought
about the stargate tablet one I immediately heard
Floods of Triton following it up. So I never
found the place to include Phish. But as an album,
Phish made such a statement with Evolve. It's
my favorite album from there since Farmhouse.
And I know I just pissed off a lot of Phish fans
because Farmhouse isn't always their favorite
album. Oh, they're always looking for reasons
to be pissed anyway. I know, but it's the album
that my wife and I bonded over when we first
met. So to me, it always holds a special place
in my heart. And this year with everything. I
was going through, we listened to this album
a lot and we bonded over this album. So yes,
it didn't make my top 20 songs, but that's not
for a lack of love. Fishes Evolve gets my album
of the year. Along that same vein, I'm going
to throw out Chromacopia by Tyler, the creator.
That was one that I considered, but the album
is such an experience in and of itself that it
was hard to pick out one track to isolate and
talk about. Because that's not an album I'm ever
going to be able to pick songs out of and just
put them in a playlist. It's going to be a playlist
unto itself. It's such a personal album for him
and such an introspective album. And he's telling
such a story with it that it almost becomes sort
of a concept album. And obviously the way he's
been marketing it is the same way too. But to
try and pick out one singular song out of that
album was just impossible. But Chromacopia by
Tyler, the Creator is easily one of the best
albums of the year too. Well, 2024 obviously
has been an amazing year in music, and it's also
been an amazing year over at Space Castle. Why
don't you remind everybody what's been going
on over by you and where they can find your YouTube
show? Obviously on YouTube, I shouldn't do that.
No worries, man. Yeah, youtube .com forward slash
at Space Castle show. Shout out to YouTube for
making those URLs as confusing as possible. You
can find me pretty easily on most of the social
media platforms, or you can just check out SpaceCastle
.net, which has links to all that stuff. So I
am doing all kinds of zany nerd essay videos
with crazy backstories and side stories where
it's me floating through space, exploring all
things nerdy in the universe. And I'm also playing
video games. Uh, I'm also like going back and
doing retrospective videos about like my childhood
and like growing up and how pop culture kind
of shaped my growing up and stuff. So it's a
lot of fun. And if anybody wants to come and
hang out with me and check out a video, I'd love
to have you. And I want to thank you for the
sticker that you have on the space castle set
of my weekly mixtape, dude. Oh, you know, I stuck
that on the, on the window of the bridge of the
space castle there. No worries, man. Yeah. This
makes my weekly mixtape intergalactic in nature.
So for that, I thank you, dude. I'm spreading
the good word throughout the universe. Absolutely.
But more importantly, thank you so much for joining
me on our 2024 recap. I'm already looking forward
to what we're going to bring to the 2025 discussion
12 months from now. Yeah, man, me too. I can't
wait. Like I said, I look forward to this every
year now. Thank you for making me be the annual
recap guy. This is a blast. Well, I also like
to thank all the mixtapers for tuning in. As
always, remember, you can find My Weekly Mixtape
on almost all the social media haunts at My Weekly
Mixtape. You can also head to MyWeeklyMixtape
.com to check out the full catalog of My Weekly
Mixtape episodes. And if you like what you're
hearing on the show, you can help me out by either
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become a guest curator, and so much more. That's
all for this week. Thanks again for listening,
and until next time, enjoy the tunes.