BiH 50

Here is a cool story. A long time ago I encouraged everyone to go and check out this amazing remix of Call Me Maybe by Saint Pepsi. That was maybe the first Saint Pepsi track I had heard (but maybe not; I don't remember).  But I became a fan, for sure. Then I heard this guy Skylar Spence a few weeks ago, and played the song included here (called Affairs) over and over and over and I was totally in love. Because I never read blogs anymore I don't really keep up with music news. But I had to check them out, and it turns out Skylar Spence is the new name for Saint Pepsi, only now the guy sings as well (and it's great).  Given how much new music I hear all the time it fascinates me that even though it's the same guy, it is very different music, and that I just loved the new stuff as soon as I heard it, that is cool. And he has incredible pop sensibilities. And to top it off, NM and I are going to see him play at the Treasure Island music festival this year (we got tickets before I knew the music, to boot). That festival reads like a laundry list of BiH favorites: The National, CHURCHES, Jose Gonzales, Run the Jewels, Panda Bear... plus a bunch of new favorites like Skylar Spence and Viet Cong. Cool story.



Still can't get enough of the new Tame Impala and just had to include my favorite song here.  Tough to beat this BiH opening here as well; this Transviolet track is amazing. Kids these days, they can write some great tunes (but hey, so can the Chills still, so...old guys still got it too. And NM and I just saw Echo & The Bunnymen a few weeks ago and they sounded as fresh as ever, even while playing 3 Doors covers. I also recently saw another band included here: Doomsquad. They opened for (and played on stage with) Fucked Up, who just played in Santa Cruz to a small audience and they killed it. Doomsday is a tremendous live band (and are comprised of all siblings. That would not work in my family.)



But speaking earlier of great pop sensibilities, the Tamaryn track on here also approaches the sublime. Come to think of it, this mix was hard to make because there is so much great material included on it. Once you raise the bar, you can't just lower it. It only goes in one direction.



To raising the bar. Speaking of, props to my friend Nic Courdy for the rad cover image.



BiH 50 feat. Tame Impala, Bec Sandridge, Joan Shelly, Doomsquad, Tamaryn, Transviolet, Beat Connection, Skylar Spence, Bob Moses, The Chills, Best Coast