Weekly Mixtapes Based Off the Albums I Listened to in the Previous Week!
This week was quite the week when it came to listening to music. At around Wednesday I had already hit about 25 albums and thought to myself I should slow down because then that will mean I will have way more albums to talk about then necessary. Is that a bad thing? No, but do you want to have a handful of blurbs that just go “well here’s another, there, listen!’? I don’t think so.
This was also definitely a heavily ME week as I listened to a bunch of old favourites and decided to just listen to albums I love. Sometimes you get tired of trying to discover new things and just want to listen to familiar favourites that get you up and moving. Is there a problem with that? No, but get ready to just have a playlist filled with my own personal taste rather than a little variety.
Playlist:
- The Waitresses – Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?
This week felt so long that I completely forgot I even listened to this album this week. Being a fan of this style of New Wave type music, I wondered why I hadn’t listened to this album in years despite it having everything I love in music: Crunchy guitars, squealing sax and vocals that may or may not be out of tune. Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? Well if I listened to this album tomorrow then that would be a resounding yes on my part. - Elvis Costello – Imperial Bedroom
How can I call myself a fan of Elvis Costello when I barely know his discography outside of his three first albums? When people ask me to list my favourite bands and artists (which honestly doesn’t happen that often) I sometimes list Elvis Costello has being one of them. However, I had this moment, thinking about it, where I went… but his catalogue of music is so big and I barely know any of it. I’ve heard this album before but had zero memory of it. So here we are. One day I might go through his entire discography, but that day is not today. - Wall of Voodoo – Dark Continent
I genuinely believe Wall of Voodoo doesn’t get the attention they deserve. They have such a unique sound which is helped by the distinctive singing voice of Stan Ridgway, which I love to emulate any chance I get, plus their blend of New Wave, Punk and Spaghetti Western stylings to make their music. Dark Continent seems to be a hard album to find a physical copy of on vinyl, but I swear it will enter my collection one day. ONE DAY! - REM – Murmur
REM is an interesting band to me because I never quite know where I stand with them (and no that wasn’t a clever reference to their song Stand). I never quite know how I feel about them. At one moment I think they’re a brilliant band with great music and at another moment I feel absolutely nothing for their music. This album did not help as I found myself jumping back and forth between these emotions throughout, just leaving me in a confused mess of emotional turmoil. Will I ever find an answer? Probably not. My feelings for REM will forever remain ambivalent. - Soccer Mommy – Sometimes, Forever
I just discovered Soccer Mommy this year and found myself really enjoying her music. I think her name is what intrigued me at first because what kind of music would an artist named Soccer Mommy make? Let’s just say her name has no relevance to her style at all. I had listened to two of her three albums and went, well why don’t I just listen to the other one to complete her discography? I did. I liked. Now you like too. - Los Microwaves – Life After Breakfast
I never heard of this band before, but they popped up into my recommends list and I was incredibly intrigued. I’m happy I decided to take the risk of listening to something I had zero knowledge of because it was exactly the kind of music you would expect me to like. I even showed it to Cristina and she agreed immediately that it was. There’s just a particular style of music that is very Bosco and everyone who knows me seems to be able to identify that really easily. At one point they ask the question Is There Life After Breakfast? And I am happy that the album title answers it so succinctly. It kind of reminded me of the band Slow Children as I was listening to it, which, speaking of which… - Slow Children – Mad About Town
How could I not after the last album reminded me so heavily of them? Their first album is a favourite and I had almost listened to that when I realized they had a second album I had never heard before. GASP! OH MY! Funnily enough, both their albums seems to suffer from the case of ever changing song lists. The song listing of the album I found doesn’t match the original listing and it doesn’t seem to exist anywhere which makes me question what version of the album I listened to??? It’s not the first time I have experienced this with albums and it just makes me question why they can’t just let albums exist in their original formatting. Oh well. - The Residents – The Commercial Album
I guess that itch I had for The Residents last week was not sufficiently scratched because here I was again seeking out anti-music. Don’t let the album title fool you because this is not Commercial music in any way shape or form and something I loved about it was how a vast majority of the songs were basically all 1:07 long. One of the songs on here would even go on to influence one of my favourite songs by Cardiacs: RES, which basically did a sped up version of the riff from The Act of Being Polite. Is this foreshadowing for an album coming up later in the list? Maybe… - They Might Be Giants – The Spine
They Might Be Giants is another one of those bands that I’m doing a full discography listen. I hadn’t visited the discography in awhile and this was next in line. So I listened to it. I enjoyed it. I like when They Might Be Giants do more adult style songs especially since they have now become pretty synonymous with kid’s music. Spindly Spoondly Spine. - The Aquabats – Kooky Spooky… In Stereo
I unashamedly love The Aquabats. I saw them live in concert and it was an absolute blast, still remains a favourite concert going experience of mine. They’re a ton of fun and it’s one of those bands you just have to embrace the silliness. It’s somehow music for kids but for adults who are in on the joke, if that makes sense. Anyway, with October right around the corner, I wanted an early start to spooooooky season and music and this was a great place to start. - Devo – Oh No! It’s Devo!
This is my favourite band. This is my favourite album. I can’t count how many times I’ve listened to this album and how much I listen to this album in general. The fact this album hasn’t popped up onto these playlists yet is astounding, but that’s because I’m really putting in an effort to make sure these playlists aren’t just filled with my favourites and have a variety of music. I even listen to this album on shuffle so it’s like I haven’t officially listened to it. But at some point, every song on this album will have appeared on these playlists, I guarantee it. - Cardiacs – The Seaside
This is my third favourite band. This is my sixth favourite album. Remember a few blurbs ago when I mentioned how The residents influenced this band for one of their songs? That song is on this album. This is the one. Cardiacs are kind of like Oingo Boingo on crack but are so much more than that. Cardiacs are like if Frank Zappa was the lead man of Oingo Boingo, but they’re much more than that. Cardiacs are like if a bunch of clowns escaped the insane asylum and wrote music, but they’re much more than that. It’s kind of criminal how unheard of they are. - Sparks – Whomp That Sucker
This is my second favourite band. This is my 35th favourite album. Sparks have often been called your favourite band’s favourite band and I feel that couldn’t be more accurate, with their documentary The Sparks Brothers basically proving that to be true. I saw them in concert about two months ago and it was the single greatest concert experience i have ever had. Nothing will ever beat it. Ever. - Oingo Boingo – Nothing To Fear
This is my # favourite band. This is my 4th favourite album. A lot of people don’t seem to know that Danny Elfman had a band before he went on to make the music for every Tim Burton film. A sound you can already hear on these albums, but his blend of Punk, Ska and African percussion made for a unique sound. I even own the rare copy of this album on vinyl and is currently one of my most prized possessions (and only found it for 5 dollars!) Talk about sad on my part. - Dog Police – Dog Police
I unironically love novelty music and this is probably the height of novelty music of the 80s. The music on here is ridiculously silly and not to be taken seriously whatsoever, but goddammit it is so much fun. The amount of times my friends and I would quote the title song was off the charts and there’s no way that I would never respond with dog barks if someone yelled DOG POLICE! at me. ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! - Passengers – Original Soundtracks 1
I listened to this album because it was suggested to me by my friend, Camila. She started her recommendation off with asking me “Do you like U2?”. The answer is no, I don’t, as a matter of fact, I hate them with an undying passion. She followed that up with telling me she also hates U2 and hates Bono, but I should check this album out. I was skeptical because anything involving U2 and Bono can’t be something I’d enjoy. So I listened to it despite my reservations. Somehow Bono managed to make Bono tolerable for a short period of time. - P-Model – In A Model Room
This is my 25th favourite album. For the longest time the only way I could listen to it was on Youtube where it was constantly interrupted by ads. I’ve tried to find a physical copy of it on vinyl but that requires me importing it from Japan, which gets expensive. But recently, it popped up on Spotify, which got me so excited I had to listen to it non-stop. When you’ve been so deprived from listening to a favourite album for so long you basically explode when it’s finally easily accessible. - Men Without Hats – Pop Goes The World
I originally wanted to listen to their debut which is my 44th favourite album, but decided on this concept album they released that was a hit in Canada and Canada alone, at least the title track was. Straight from my hometown of Montreal there is a sense of pride I have when it comes to Men Without Hats (A little misplaced when Leonard Cohen is literally right there). What does it say about me that out of all the great talent to come out of Montreal, THIS is the group I latch onto? I don’t know. Who cares? - Plastics – Welcome Plastics
A Japanese band playing New Wave music in English, a language they can barely speak? What’s not to love! They were loved by Devo and David Byrne who tried to help them get some American distribution. Regardless, with their frenetic guitars, grooving bass and icy synths, it’s just a ton of fun. Hey, I want to be a plastic! - Crowded House – Woodface
The playlist needed more variety and so I listened to this to change it up a bit so it wasn’t all New Wave synth heavy absurdities. I listened to it just for you! (and me because I love this album!) - Sisters of Mercy – Floodland
I once read a funny thing that said that every time a goth dies their voice is added to the choir singing the opening of This Corrosion. I like to believe that is true. - Life Without Buildings – Any Other City
During the pandemic I joined some monthly album club that sent me three records every month. I received a ton of new music I had never heard of before and also immediately forgot about after listening to it once. While going through my record collection recently in preparation for an improv show I’m producing, it made me want to relisten to all these albums. This was the first I revisited because it was the one that left the biggest impression on me. The sound reminded me heavily of The Slits and The raincoats (whose debut albums sit at 16 and 17 on my favourite albums). It was great to find another band that had that sound and it will always please me. I really am a simple man with simple needs sometimes. - Midnight Garden – Blue Tomorrows
This was the second album I revisited from those monthly album club albums I received. It was really the album cover that wanted me to revisit it because I remembered nothing from this album. It was kind of nice. I find the name of the band and album to be aptly named because the music here felt like melancholic synth music you would hear at midnight while sitting in your garden. Somehow perfectly creating that aesthetic. - Husbands – After The Gold Rush Party
This was the third album I revisited. - Air – Moon Safari
I needed a break and wanted something chill nd cool. So who better than Air for that exact type of atmosphere. Moon Safari is such a wonderfully chill album and as I sat at my workstation just losing my mind, this album helped to ground me and relax me and get me through the rest of the work I had to complete. Any album that has that effect on me, is a good one in my books. - OMNI – Multi-Task
This is the first album I received from the monthly album club and it was a good choice on their part because it immediately made me trust their choices of what they would send me. Some months were not as good as others, but this single initial moment kept me going with the club until I had to cancel my subscription due to financial reasons. With every month I was hoping to get that feeling I got with this first gift, and sometimes i did and sometimes i didn’t, but the chase for that high kept me going. - Joni Mitchell – Hejira
I don’t want to say too much about this one because I listened to it as part of my 1001 albums series, which means a post about it will be coming soon. So I’ll save my thoughts on it for that. I’d also say enjoy the song on the playlist, but you can’t because Joni Mitchell removed all her music from Spotify so…. figure it out for yourself.
-Bosco
Bosco's Modern Life 