🎧 Downbeat.fm Vol. 2 Track 10
What's your passion?
Last month I saw my first three live shows since the world shut down in March of 2020. This month, I tacked four more onto the list, seeing Modest Mouse, Phoebe Bridgers, Soccer Mommy, and Julien Baker. I’ve talked about how much I love going to see live shows. If money were no option, I’d open up a venue in Austin. It’s a crazy dream that I considered for about 30 seconds last year until I thought through the logistics of running a bar, club, employees, and on and on.
Music is a passion of mine. It’s why I do this newsletter and playlist. It’s why I go to so many concerts. It’s why I still think it would be so cool it would be to own a music club, even with it being a logistical nightmare.
But I have other passions, too—namely, technology and building things. I recently left my job of six years to take on a new opportunity that will allow me to grow in that passion. I’m incredibly excited about it and what it will bring for me in the future.
I still think about that music club. I don’t think I’ll ever do it - it’s beyond bonkers. I had a name picked out and even thought through all of the branding. I may still want to do something with music, but this newsletter and playlist are scratching that itch for now.
October’s Playlist
This month’s playlist features songs from The Pauses, Stars, Good Sleepy, The Hotelier, Grumpster, IDLES, and much more.
Listen to this month’s playlist on
Featured Songs
The Best for the Most for the Least by The Pauses (Apple Music / Spotify)
This song has a lot going on, a good driving beat, a cool intro with a glitch, and great vocals.
Fate Is… by Wednesday (Apple Music / Spotify)
Sludge guitars paired up with a pseudo-pop vocal make a great pairing.
Jeremy by Muncie Girls (Apple Music / Spotify)
Oh, another pop-punk song with a woman on vocals. Can I get any more predictable?
Other Listening and Quick Links
I’m a massive fan of The Muppets. Love ‘em. Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem covered the classic rock song, Mr. Blue Sky, by Electric Light Orchestra, and oh man, is it fun.
Here are some clips of producer Butch Vig breaking down some iconic Nirvana songs from the now 30-year-old album Nevermind. There’s a link to the full documentary in the post.
Sticking with Nirvana for a moment, here’s Dave Grohl playing drums along to a recording of Smells Like Teen Spirit at an event for his new book.
And since we’re talking Dave Grohl and The Muppets, here’s a drum battle between Dave and Animal.
Spin recently put out a list of The 50 Best Rock Bands Right Now. It’s a pretty solid list with quite a few bands that have made appearances on a Downbeat.fm playlist.
Kelly Clarkson is not my type of music, but she is covering Beck’s song Dreams from his 2017 album Colors. Here is Beck’s original for comparison. Kelly has a whole playlist of covers that she’s performed on her show, including songs from Radiohead, Blondie, Sting, Leon Bridges, and Lit (yes, that Lit).
I love The National. They are a top-five band for me. Their debut self-titled album came out 20 years ago this month. Stereogum posted a great write-up about it and the band.
Take this list with an incredibly small grain of salt, but here is a list of the 100 Greatest Nu Metal Songs of all time. Having Papa Roach at number two should disqualify this list, but there are still some bangers here. Shut up; there is some good nu-metal out there.
Hit Parade put out a great two-part podcast about the pop-punk and emo boom of the ’90s and ’00s. These episodes were a great trip down memory lane.
Tik Tok kids have found an almost 20-year-old Mountain Goats song (No Children) and turned it into a viral sensation. It’s an incredibly dark song and was featured on a playlist sometime earlier this year. Here’s a great Spotify playlist if you want an intro into the band.
The theme for the James Bond movie Spectre was awful - even though it won an Oscar. Here’s a video explaining why the Radiohead song submitted but not used is possibly the best Bond theme written. You can compare the song they did use to the Radiohead song and judge for yourself.
