February Jams for Settling In

February is always a jam-packed month for me. I turned 30 this year! As did a handful of my friends (was May 1987 a specifically sexy time, guys?). It was also a solid month for movies. I got to see Black Panther (!!!!) and Coco (WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG??) so they each got spots on the track list. Speaking of which...

Track List

I waited WAY TOO LONG to see Coco

1. "Morning in America" / Jon Bellion
2. "What's My Age Again" / Blink-182
3. "Relax" / Frankie Goes to Hollywood
4. "Un Poco Loco" / Anthony Gonzalez (Coco soundtrack)
5. "We Are the Kids" / WALK THE MOON
6. "This World Will Remember Us" / Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan (Bonnie and Clyde OBCR)
7. "Clap Your Hands" / LeoSoul
8. "Redemption Interlude" / Zacari (Black Panther soundtrack)
9. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Part 1)" / The Flaming Lips
10. "A Whole New World" / Lea Salonga, Brad Kane (Aladdin movie soundtrack)
11. "Secret for the Mad" / dodie
12. Remember Me (Lullaby) / Gael Garcia Bernal, Gabriella Flores (Coco Soundtrack)

Morning in America 

Lauryn played this for me a while ago when I visited her on campus as WESCONN. I haven't gotten it out of my head since then, and I usually listen to it a few times in a row when it comes up. I also like that the title reflects my return home.

What's My Age Again

This is a birthday requirement. When I turned 23 it was pretty much all I listened to...for obvious reasons. They're obvious, right? Right. Anyhow. I listen to Blink pretty much every year on my birthday just for nostalgia reasons, but this particular track is a standard. 

Relax

My initial flight home from Iceland was cancelled. Twenty minutes AFTER it was supposed to take off. Everything turned out fine--clearly, since I'm writing this from my home--but it was a little stressful while it was unfolding. Thankfully, my layover in London was supposed to be about 11 hours or so, and it was an overnight layover without much chance of exploring the city. When I got rescheduled for a morning flight out of Keflavik, it pretty much just ate up that layover instead of delaying my return home by very much.
Early on in this experience, I recognized that there wasn't anything I could do besides relax and enjoy my extra night in Iceland (comped by the airline), and ended up having a pretty nice time reading in a tiny hotel room near the airport. I thought about this song a lot while I was going through that situation. I recommend it.

Un Poco Loco

First of all. See Coco. Buy Coco. Roll in Coco merch. This movie was so good--the animation was out of this world, and I think I might have shed a tear or two near the end (read: spent the last twenty minutes giving myself a headache from trying not to audibly SOB in an auditorium full of children).
This song, however, is a really light and triumphant moment for the main character, Miguel, and I really love it. (see his adorable skeleton face above). Yes--of course there are issues with a largely white production team making a movie about Mexican culture. And yes, John Lasseter "stepping down" was suspiciously timed to take some of the wind out of Coco's sails. But he's gone (for good???) and Coco is still amazing so support that shit.

should have been a lithograph

We Are the Kids

This song is on a lot of the Stranger Things playlists and I love it. It gets me pumped in the same way that Bowie does.

This World Will Remember Us

 "Bonnie and Clyde" has its issues, but I really enjoy the soundtrack. Jeremy Jordan's voice helps. This is another song that sort of inspires me, even though I am not inspired to take criminal action.

Clap Your Hands

Go ahead. Listen to this without smiling. This song is what happens when Spotify Discover Weekly does its job better than expected. 

Redemption Interlude

I LOVE BLACK PANTHER. I am not a huge Kendrick fan, but I really like this interlude.

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Part 1)

Story time! All three of my sisters and I went to the same elementary school. All four of us went through the same program in fifth grade where the whole grade goes to something called "Nature's Classroom". It's life changing for a lot of kids because it's often the first time you're away from home that long and/or without your parents unless
1. you went to summer camp
2. your parent decides to chaperone.

Art by Michelle Romo

During the week, you pick all different activities to sign up for, and then there are some events that everyone attends, like the Underground Railroad reenactment and the end of Classroom dance (I wore my best Red Jeans.) Every night, the counselors play music, and there is usually a 'good night' song that gets repeated to mark bed time. I don't know how they pick the song, but since the program is run by a bunch of 20-somethings with dreadlocks and acoustic guitars, I'm going to assume it's just whatever their favorite song is at the moment. Anyhow. For my class, the 'good night' song was "Moonshadow". For my youngest sisters, it was "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots". When they came home singing this song about a girl warrior, taking vitamins and fending off evil AI, it was the perfect blend of irreverent and adorable, especially when sung by a ten year old. For a while in college, my ring tone was my baby sisters singing Yoshimi for me. My roommates apparently thought it sounded creepy and ghostly, but I DID NOT CARE. My flip phone was pimped out with a seasonal image on the front screen, some decorative (read: important for the structural integrity) duct tape, and my sisters singing any time someone called.

I got the Flaming Lips album for Christmas that year, and ever since then this song and, in fact, the whole album, has been a classic among my sisters and I. It popped up on a "daily mix" and I added it to the playlist IMMEDIATELY.

A Whole New World

Another quick story: a cassette exists of me and Ali singing this song. Well, we start singing the song. Then I tell her she can't be the princess, and she starts crying and disappears off the tape. I keep singing. I think about that a lot. 

Secret for the Mad

I'm not *saying* this song cures my anxiety, but I'm also not saying it doesn't. That's pretty much how this song was pitched to me by Lauryn, and it's how I'm going to pitch it to everyone else.

Remember Me (Lullaby)

Are you JOKING of COURSE this won best original song. I'm not crying, you're crying.