November's music is slow to exit the gates. The month is an interior extension of gaudy, outspoken October and features a number of high holy days (All Saints Day: November 1st, All Souls Day: November 2nd, Diwali or Festival of Lights: November 12th) as well as secular holidays in the American tradition (Veterans' Day: November 11, Thanksgiving: November 23). The phantasmagoria is what I have chosen to focus on in the latter half of the playlist and this theme is especially poignant in places like Mexico, a destination from which I blog, for the California boyz and I are having a reunion in Mexico City.
View from Hotel Barcelo'
El Torre Latinoamericana
Tommy's Top Twenty-Five Tracks: November 2023
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/75bFp3eRrFpcjz4lisLbkH?si=7ac5a9bc836f47aa
Song | Artist | Album | Genre | Release | Label | Country |
Young Adult Friction | The Pains of Being Pure at Heart | The Pains of Being Pure at Heart | Noise Pop | Feb 3, 2009 | Fortuna POP! | New York City, NY, US 🇺🇲 |
90s Prom | Paradise Blossom | Sunset Getaway | Dream Pop | Aug 26, 2022 | BirthDIY | Fresno, CA, US 🇺🇲 |
Mexico | Husbands | After The Gold Rush Party | Electro Pop/ Garage Pop | Jan 14, 2020 | Husbands | Oklahoma City, OK, US 🇺🇲 |
Piscis | Policias y Ladrones | Nubes | Surf Rock | Jul 8, 2021 | Arts and Crafts Mexico | Tijuana, MX-BCN 🇲🇽 |
Getting It on | SALES | SALES-EP | Lounge/ Electro Pop | Sep 22, 2014 | SALES | Orlando, FL, US 🇺🇲 |
Trans- Atlanticism | Death Cab for Cutie | Trans- Atlanticism | Indie Rock | Jan 1, 2003 | Barsuk Records | Seattle, WA, US 🇺🇲 |
Feel It | Viji | Cali | Indie Pop | Mar 11, 2022 | Dirty Hit | London, GB-SCT 🇺🇲🇬🇧🇦🇹 |
River | Joni Mitchell, Canadian Chamber Choir, Karla Ferguson | Seasons of Life and Landscape | Folk, Baroque Rock, Orchestra | Oct 25, 2019 | Canadian Chamber Choir | CA 🇨🇦 |
California | The Lagoons | California | Indie Rock, Jazz, Electronic | Aug 2, 2016 | The Lagoons | Los Angeles, CA, US 🇺🇲 |
Don’t Turn It Off | 40 Thieves | Don’t Turn It Off (Single) | Psychedelic disco | Apr 11, 2008 | Permanent Vacation | San Francisco, CA, US 🇺🇲 |
Are You Ok? | Wasuremono | Are You Ok? | Oddball Pop | June 14, 2019 | William Benjamin Southward | Bradford On Avon, GB-ENG 🏴🇬🇧 |
Minimum Wage | Blondes | Minimum Wage | Indie Pop/Surf Rock | May 5, 2021 | C3 Records | Nottingham, GB-ENG 🏴🇬🇧 |
Liked to Party | Husbands | Full-On Monet | Electro Pop/ Garage Pop | Jan 18, 2022 | Cowboy 2.0 | Oklahoma City, OK, US 🇺🇲 |
Last Year | Sea Lemon | Close-Up | Dream Pop | May 19, 2022 | Spirit Goth Records | Seattle, WA, US 🇺🇲 |
Afterworld | Phantom Youth | Stay and Run | Dream Pop | Nov 17, 2022 | Spirit Goth Records | Munich, DE-BY & Tennessee, US 🇩🇪🇺🇲 |
Happy | EGOISM | On Our Minds-EP | Dream Pop | Nov 6, 2020 | EGOISM | Sydney, AU-VIC 🇦🇺 |
Have It All | Castlebeat | Half Life | Dream Pop, Chillwave
| Jul 27, 2022 | Spirit Goth Records | Brooklyn, NY, US 🇺🇲 |
Street Fight | Blondes | Street Fight | Indie pop/rock | Aug 26, 2021 | C3 Records | Nottingham, GB-ENG 🏴🇬🇧 |
Dead Hearts | Stars | The Five Ghosts | Chamber Pop, Oddball Pop | Jun 6, 2010 | Get Paid Inc / Last Gang Records Inc | North Hatley, CA-QUE 🇨🇦 |
Worthing Beach | Will Cookson | Ghosts of the Morning Sun | Folk, Chamber Pop | Jan 1, 2016 | Audio Network ltd | Bristol, GB-ENG 🏴🇬🇧 |
Ghosts | Bruce Springsteen | Letter to You | Rock, Classic Rock | Oct 23, 2020 | Bruce Springsteen | New Jersey, US 🇺🇲 |
Lose | Lachlan Denton | Lose | Chamber Pop, Indie Folk | Jan 18, 2023 | Lachlan Denton | Melbourne, AU-NSW 🇦🇺 |
I Would Hate You If I Could | Turnover | Peripheral Vision | Indie Rock/Indie Pop | Sep 4, 2015 | Run for Cover Records | Virginia Beach, VA, US 🇺🇲 |
Somebody Else | Pynch | Somebody Else | Chillburn/Dream Pop | Jul 6, 2020 | Pynch | London, GB-ENG 🏴🇬🇧 |
Jackets | Swiss Portrait | Jackets | Dream Pop | Sep 6, 2020 | Willow | Edinburgh, GB-SCT 🏴🇬🇧 |
Oh Well | RICEWINE | Single Release | Dream Pop | Dec 15, 2021 | RICEWINE | Melbourne, AU-VIC 🇦🇺 🇹🇭 |
Purple indicates tracks that have a lounge, downtempo, or danceable beat.
There is much I love about this playlist and my mood is only enhanced by being in Mexico City, a destination of one hundred and fifty museums. My friend, Phillip, has rented an apartment for two months in leafy Condesa. So I had to include the eponymous track, "Mexico", by one of my new fave garage pop bands, Husbands. Following that is track 5, "Piscis," by up-and-coming Tijuana pop band, Policias y Ladrones. With "Piscis," all members of P&L collaborated to write:
Tu y yo tenemos un problema serio
Tu y yo tenemos que salir de aquí
Si tu caiste en la trampa dime que sentiste de
Las cosas que no se terminan de terminar
This is translated into English as:
You and I have a serious problem
You and I have to get out of here
If you fell into the trap tell me what you felt
The things that never end
Fights between partners play a recurring theme in November. Spit & vinegar mixes with honey & chocolate when listening to the tracks by Turnover, "I Would Hate You if I Could," and both tracks by Blondes, a new fave pop group of mine from Nottingham, England. The one true rager of a rock song is "Ghosts" by The Boss, an homage to his friends and fallen band members throughout the years.
Bruce writes:
I shoulder your Les Paul and finger the fretboard
I make my vows to those who've come before
I turn up the volume, let the spirits be my guide
Meet you brother and sister on the other side
If "Ghosts" is about the pain of memory of others, the aching and orchestral "Worthing Beach" by Will Cookson is about the pain of places that plague our memories. November is a time of celebration and paying homage to our ancestors, for we know, as Game of Thrones reminds us, that "Winter is Coming."
El Palacio de Bellas Artes
Anyone remember the 80s cartoon ThunderCats?
Diego Rivera, Carnaval de la vida mexicana, 1936
Another Tourist in Artsy Mexico City
In December, we will be doing something special to widen the circle of musical guidance.
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