Mixtape Monday is a selection of three tracks following a common theme. Feel free to add your own selections to the theme/mood in the comments. Can be new or old music. Enjoy!
This week's set goes out to the city of Philadelphia where I lived for 3 years in the early 2000s. They just earned a trip to the Super Bowl and I think they can pull off the upset win. I was a bartender in Philly when they went in 2006 and the city really comes alive around successful sports seasons. A part of my heart will always be in Philly so these sounds are for all the fresh people sin the 215th and beyond.
The Roots - "How I Got Over"
The Roots are probably the biggest band to come out of Philly in the new millennium, eventhough their ascent started in the mid 90s. They have been able to balance a house band residency on The Jimmy Fallon Show while producing consistently solid albums of new material. Black Thought is a highly regarded as an emcee but he really got his Philly soul on for this track.
Saturn Never Sleeps - "The Machines Are The Stars"
SNS is an experimental electronic sound project anchored by King Britt and Rucyl Mills of the classic 90s hip hop groups Digable Planets and The Goats, respectively. They collaborate with a variety of others and do a variety of different sound installations at museums and other cultural hotspots in urban areas. This track is typical of their dreamy, downtempo vibes.
Hall and Oates - I Can't Go For That
I got the chance to see Hall and Oates live in a small venue when I lived in Philly, and they were as great as I could have hoped for. They were a huge part of my musical youth and this song was one of my favorites. Then When de La Soul sampled it for "Say No Go" it made me love it even more. Representing the other end of the Philly soul spectrum that's as wide as it is bright.