Been posting a few of my favorite current tracks for a little while now, and I have to say, it's nice to have some consistency during these crazy weeks. I know they're small little posts, but we're accumulating a nice little playlist here, and I'm excited to see where it goes.
In this week's edition of Tuesday Tunes, sip on this track by Superparka, titled, "Skip." Hopefully it gets you moving in the right direction.
This one might be lost on a few of you, but hear me out. Reggaeton pretty much owns the airwaves over here in Spain, but the country is rooted in flamenco tradition. The two types of music rarely gel (think country meets trap back in the U.S.), but Raya Real has taken on the task of releasing hilarious (and pretty darn good) flamenco covers of popular reggaeton songs. The album is worth a limit, but here's a little snippet for your Tuesday tune.
Happy Chew-Lie-Thief-Oath, friends! U.S. Independence Day and a great day to celebrate a new tune. Keep it real, gente.
Holy World Cup season, June is absolutely flying! Apologies for missing last week's tunes, but waves with friends just got in the way. Worry not, we're back this week with another jam I hope you enjoy as much as I have over the past few days. Here's Coastal and Jackie Mendoza with "La Luz." Enjoy, gente.
The more new music that comes out, the more I realize how lucky we were to have Outkast for as long as we did (feel free to come back, guys). Here's a nice look back at Aquemini and one of my all-time favorites, "Slump." Adelante, gente.
We're kicking into June with a catchy beat and quirky, simple lyrics. Make the workday sweeter, and be good, gente.
While Madrid is a tour stop for just about every major international act, lately I've been feeling a significant lack of live hip-hop. Maybe that's because the scene is newer here and the options were so strong back in Seattle, but nevertheless, I was feeling the gap.
But a few weeks ago during the annual San Isidro street parties here in the city, I caught a multi-national group of rappers and singers that really just brought it all back. Combining instrumentals with a choir-blessed vocalist and smooth-delivering Brotha CJ, the act was exactly what I'd been looking for. Better yet, the group is based here in Madrid, meaning that I can scratch that hip-hop itch more often.
Here's a track off Brotha CJ's newest album titled, "Everybody Eats,'" reminding you all that we need to celebrate all that hard work once in a while.
TGI Tuesday, am I right? I've been sitting on this song for a whole week and now I can FINALLY spread the love. Drop in, tune out. Enjoy, gente.
Happy Wednesday, the perfect day for a Tuesday Tune! In between celebrating Madrid's San Isidro holidays and scrambling to get my final Masters project finished up, I slipped up this week. My apologies. Luckily, I'd like to make it up to you with this lively track from Otis Junior and Mr. Dundiff. Be good, gente.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to join an international team on a ski mission to Aneto, the highest peak in the Spanish Pyrenees. Basing out of the refugio at La Renclusa, we ran into just about every kind of weather you can imagine, and even scored some pow turns on the last day of April.
The real highlight was spending time in a foreign mountain range with new friends. It's amazing how many different ways the mountains can humble you, and our Aneto adventure was no exception. Excited to share more about the trip in the fall volume of The Ski Journal, my first longform piece with the legends out of Bellingham.
To give you a slice of what we were working with, here is a drone shot from the snowfield approaching our summit snapped by French photo extraordinaire, Guillame Arrieta. Not pictured, the wind whipping us from all sides and the clouds that would turn our ski down into a total whiteout. Ah, I shall get my redemption.
Not an underground hit, and thankfully so, this week's jam is a wakeup call. Childish Gambino dropped "This is America," a scathing social critique of gun violence and racial prejudice, and it's a music video that I just can't shake. Watch it, and then watch it again—three times.
It's been strange being in Europe during the last handful of major shootings in the U.S. People over here have written off moving to the U.S., many telling me that they, "Don't want to be shot." Is that the legacy we're passing the next generation?
Was able to check off an all-timer from my concert hit list last week here in Madrid, checking out Arcade Fire at the Wizink Center. Man, what a show. It's been a while since I've been fully enveloped by a performance, but those guys (and gals!) brought it. Just wanted to pass some of the vibes your way on this beautiful Tuesday. Here's one from the new album, enjoy, gente.
Everything Now, a song by Arcade Fire on Spotify
This year has been a little light on mountain time for me, but in no way, shape, or form have I forgotten about my alpine roots. Last week, I spent a chunk of time hanging out with skiing's enigma, Henrik Harlaut in his Andorran stomping grounds. It was a unique look inside the secret world of freeskiing's most dominant force, one that I'm stoked to be reporting for POWDER's next volume. That's all I've got for now, but stay tuned for a profile coming out sometime this fall.
I'd been sleeping on Joey Bada$$ for a while, I guess I just figured a rapper with a name like that was probably just polluting the rap game with more trap garbage. Well, I was very, very wrong. Finally spent some time with Sir Joey last week, and damn, this guy just jumped to the top of my list. Doesn't hurt that he laces intelligent lyrics over old school instrumentals. "LAND OF THE FREE" is this week's offering, be sure to listen into that chorus. We have work to do, gente!
LAND OF THE FREE, a song by Joey Bada$$ on Spotify
A big congratulations to Kendrick Lamar for becoming the first non-classical or jazz artist to win a Pulitzer Prize for music for his 2017 album, "Damn.". Poetry comes in many forms, and Sir Kendrick speaks almost all of them. Take a taste of the final track on that album—it's a true story.
DUCKWORTH., a song by Kendrick Lamar on Spotify
Syria on my mind today. Fetsum's "Letters from Damascus," seems an appropriate tune for this Tuesday. Enjoy, gente.
Well, look at that! Tuesday, with tunes. Now will someone please rap over this beat already? Steel drum, orchestra, and classic bass line, yup. Disfruta, gente.
Roger was even cool enough to snap a very rare journalism action shot. Score! Photo: Roger Neve
Though my life and work often seems to revolve around ridge lines and coastlines, I actually grew up between touchlines. Soccer has always been a massive influence on my life, so when I recently got the chance to work with Eight by Eight, a soccer magazine out of New York City, on a story about Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea, I was blown away.
Tied into the media day for the Spanish National Soccer Team ahead of this year's World Cup, myself and photographer Roger Neve got the chance at an exclusive interview and photoshoot with the team's starting keeper. Of course, it didn't go nearly as planned and instead of our allotted hour time slot, we got 30 minutes, but such is life when putting these things together. I also did the entire thing in Spanish, which was a nice little wrinkle, but one I'm pumped to improve upon moving forward.
In the meantime we got to check out the training facility, meet other players like Diego Costa and Koke, and spend way too much time adjusting flashes and looking over interview questions. Excited to bring this one to life ahead of the World Cup, stay tuned!
Oops! Semana Santa, the week holiday associated with the Easter season over here in Spain, snuck up on me and I let this one fall through the cracks. Please accept my apology in the form of Sylvan Esso's "Die Young," a twisted ode to young love everywhere. Enjoy, gente.
Churning out the playlist busters on a weekly basis, here's another tune that's been invading the earspace this week. Nick Leng brings us, "Drivers."
