Ninety-nine red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it’s red alert
There’s something here from somewhere else
Nena -99 Luftballoons (Nena, 1983)
Day 13 of quarantine, but it feels like 6 months. Yay.
It’s been stressful kids. We’ve been without a car for two weeks (car accident the day I went to Vegas), and since no one is doing home visits trying to handle everything over the phone or online has not been pleasant.
My school is closed for the rest of the academic year. While those kids drove me insane, this is NOT how I wanted to end the year. It sucks that I’m not going to get to see them in person one last time, and I’m still trying to process things. Online training this week to move to online learning, so we’ll see how that works. Also, my math class was moved online and I might cry before the final.
Okay, so let’s cover the mix this month. It’s long guys, 52 songs and 3 hours. Thanks quarantine!
NEW STUFF: Dirty Projectors “Overlord” has SWEET vocal harmonies and sounds so fucking good in the headphones. Waxahatchee AGAIN slays with “Witches“, and her new album has finally been dropped. Little Dragon “Where you Belong” makes me long for summer. Bright Eyes is back with “Persona non Grata” (with melancholy in 3/4 time). Day Wave “Potions” has lovely new-wave vibes. Lastly, J. Balvin’s Colores album is sooooo good!
DEATH/ANNIVERSARIES: I had to put some John Coltrane Quartet after learning that Alfred McCoy Tyner passed at the beginning of the month. It was the 35th anniversary of Tears for Fears “Songs From the Big Chair” album. We said goodbye to a staple of my childhood, Kenny Rogers. We also said goodbye to saxophonist Manu Dibango, drummer Bill Rieflin, singer Joe Diffie, and said Happy Birthday to Sir Elton John.
OLD FAVORITES: There was a lot of Spanish on my mix this month. Linda Rondstadt, Celia Cruz, and Lila Downs are all on here. I threw some Ben Folds on here after finishing his biography “A Dream About Lightning Bugs“. I paired Jimmy Eat World “Goodbye Sky Harbor” and Dean Martin “You’re Nobody til Somebody Loves You” to rep my Vegas trip. And to commemorate the quarantine, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police.
Ok kids. Keep practicing social distancing to flatten the curve, and take care of each other out there. Until next time!
Mixtape-Postcards 