New year, clean slate, and a mixtape that refuses to play it safe. We kick things off with ASAP Rocky’s Helicopter, a three‑minute charge from Don’t Be Dumb that sets a confident tone for a tightly curated run through surprise genres, sharp writing, and risky ideas. From there, we veer into Band of Heathens shifting into country textures, then drop into Iron and Wine’s porch‑warm melancholy and Anna of the North’s neon‑lit take on love bombing—two songs that hold the tension between wanting connection and protecting your heart.

We swing the mood with Gorillaz and Sparks on The Happy Dictator, a sing‑along satire that skewers savior posturing across politics and boardrooms. Then Baz Luhrmann’s team reassembles Elvis “DNA” into Wearing That Nightlife Look, all horns, gospel lift, and prime‑era presence. For a different kind of high, Illenium teams with Ryan Tedder on With Your Love, an EDM‑pop crossover built on sturdy songwriting and cathartic drops. We keep it playful with Chinese American Bear’s No No Yeah Yeah, a bilingual indie pop hook that’s all sunshine and earworm, before turning the amps back up with Silversun Pickups and their familiar, satisfying alt‑rock grit on The Wreckage.

Juliana Hatfield offers a gentle anthem for choosing yourself with Harmonizing With Myself—finding rhythm in solitude and reframing pain—then we take a bold detour into French rap with Ninho and Freeze Corleone, where flow and cadence carry the emotion beyond language. Finally, Logic bends format with The Ballad of Rooster Jenkins, a long‑form narrative that spends seven minutes building a world before the beat lands, proving story can still command attention in a skip‑happy era.

Tap play, follow our Song of the Day for daily gems, and share this mix with a friend who needs a fresh soundtrack. 

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sam-2026-january-new-music/pl.u-e2kEmIWl941Y

1. Helicopter - A$AP Rocky

2. High on our Supply - The Band of Heathens

3. In Your Ocean - Iron & Wine

4. Waiting for Love - Anna of the North

5. The Happy Dictator - Gorillaz featuring Sparks

6. Wearin That Night Life Look - Elvis Presley & Jamieson Shaw

7. With Your Love - Illenium & Ryan Tedder

8. No No Yeah Yeah - Chinese American Bear

9. The Wreckage - Silversun Pickups

10. Harmonizing with Myself - Juliana Hatfield

11. Dictionnaires - Ninho & Freeze Corleone

12. The Ballad of Rooster Jenkins - Logic

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This week's Mixtape Rewind takes you back to where Matt and Sam reviewed memorable first tracks from albums.  The first track can make you stay, skip, or fall in love. We dove into 12 album openers that don’t just start a record — they define it — and traced how a great intro sets the promise for everything that follows. From the sunlit optimism of the Beach Boys’ Wouldn’t It Be Nice to the neon stride of Taylor Swift’s Welcome to New York, we explore how artists use track one to signal a theme, a shift, or a dare.

We share the moments that hooked us: Alanis Morissette cutting straight to the bone on All I Really Want, Pearl Jam’s Once roaring to life as a debut mission statement, and Chance the Rapper turning gospel joy into a full-album thesis on All We Got. We also talk about pivots and reinvention — Springsteen’s The E Street Shuffle breaking from his Dylan-leaning debut, and Swift’s leap from Nashville to skyscraper synth-pop — and why that boldness belongs right up front. Along the way, we celebrate high-voltage openers like Sleigh Bells’ Tell ’Em, the literate punch of Titus Andronicus’ A More Perfect Union, the tender sting of Dashboard Confessional’s Hands Down, the bittersweet charm of The Shins’ Kissing the Lipless, and Andrew Bird’s Fiery Crash turning an airline safety demo into a meditation on mortality.

This is a love letter to sequencing, storytelling, and the lost art of letting an album guide your night. 

Matt and Samer go through twelve songs that served as the opening tracks for some amazing albums.

You can find the mix here on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04FSmhh5ejKJ5oDdPr1WED?si=060ea013ab8c4c76

1. A More Perfect Union - Titus Andronicus

2. Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne

3. Tell 'Em - Sleigh Bells

4. Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys

5. All We Got - Chance the Rapper

6. All I Really Want - Alanis Morrissette

7. Kissing the Lipless - The Shins

8. The E Street Shuffle - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

9. Hands Down - Dashboard Confessional

10. Once - Pearl Jam

11. Fiery Crash - Andrew Bird

12. Welcome to New York - Taylor Swift

13. Let Go - Frou Frou

14. Back on the Block - Quincy Jones

15. Marching Bands of Manhattan - Death Cab for Cutie

16. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2

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What if the sixth album is where artists finally step into their truest selves? We kick off season six by chasing that idea across genres and decades, building a mix from Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, Kendrick Lamar, Prince, Beyoncé, The Beatles, Jay-Z, John Mayer, The National, Michael Jackson, Foo Fighters, and A Tribe Called Quest. The pattern that emerges is hard to ignore: at album six, craft meets courage, and the results can be seismic.

We start with contrasts—Radiohead’s brooding There, There and the stark intimacy of Springsteen’s Nebraska—spotlighting how restraint can be as bold as maximalism. Kendrick’s TV Off punches at the attention economy while delivering meme-worthy flair; Prince’s Purple Rain towers as a career-defining epic that still feels alive. We trace personal and cultural stakes in Beyoncé’s Formation, then pivot to The Beatles’ Michelle to show how Rubber Soul reshaped their sound with subtle, melodic confidence.

The timeline gets playful when Jay-Z’s ’03 Bonnie & Clyde foreshadows what Lemonade would later complicate. We celebrate narrative craft in John Mayer’s Walt Grace, sit with The National’s vulnerable “45%er” admission, and marvel at Thriller’s near-greatest-hits density anchored by Billie Jean. Foo Fighters’ The Pretender turns sixth-album freedom into kinetic fuel, and A Tribe Called Quest’s We the People closes with legacy, politics, and gratitude—proof that a final statement can still move the culture forward.

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sam-2026-6th-album-mix/pl.u-1LX0auZaGX7V

1. There, There - Radiohead

2. Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen

3. tv off - Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay

4. Purple Rain - Prince

5. Formation - Beyonce

6. Michelle - The Beatles

7. '03 Bonnie & Clyde - Jay-Z featuring Beyonce

8. Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 - John Mayer

9. I Need My Girl - The National

10. Thriller - Michael Jackson

11. The Pretender - Foo Fighters

12. We The People.... - A Tribe Called Quest

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A voice can be an instrument, a mirror, and sometimes a battlefield. That’s the ground we cover with actor-singer Winter Andrews aka the “indie sorcerer”—as we trace how mimicry, rhythm, and empathy shaped both his acting and his music. 

From being moved by Regina Spektor’s allegory in Samson to discovering the strange peace inside Hozier’s Shrike, Winter opens up about the songs that taught him to hold big feelings without apology. We talk Chester Bennington’s quiet ache amid the roar, Imogen Heap’s ghostly minimalism, Dermot Kennedy’s raw folk energy, and Phoebe Bridgers’ gentle delivery of devastating stories. Then Jeff Buckley brings the hopeful melancholy that still lights the way.
 
 With that map in hand, we step into Winter’s upcoming EP, Till the Moon Fades Away, and the world he built across four originals. Wildfires starts small and blooms into a cinematic swell, setting the promise that intimacy and grandeur will meet. The Lovers is a three-act love story threaded by one telling word—if—moving from yearning to union to elegy, with strings by Rob Moose amplifying the sweep of time. Babel rises from shame and self-loathing into a towering confession, a song years in the making that demanded the right vocal arc and tempo to match its storm. Across the Snow closes like the aftermath of hard nights, born through a character to reach truths that were too raw to face head-on.
 
 If you love singer-songwriter storytelling, indie folk drama, cinematic ballads, and vocal-forward production, this conversation will hit home. 

Follow all things Winter Andrews on Instagram and TikTok (@ItsWinterAndrews)

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/winter-andrews-mix/pl.u-MJEGINqbr8

1. Samson - Regina Spektor

2. Shrike -  Hozier

3. Numb - LINKIN PARK

4. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap

5. After Rain - Dermot Kennedy

6. Zombie - YUNGBLUD

7. You Missed My Heart - Phoebe Bridgers

8. Morning Theft - Jeff Buckley

9. Wildfires - Winter Andrews

10. The Lovers - Winter Andrews

11. Babel - Winter Andrews

12. Across the Snow - Winter Andrews

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The first few minutes the audio might get choppy but it's fixed for the majority of the episode afterwards! Apologies for that.

The moment Tori Norman Castillo quit her Wall Street job from an LAX terminal after attending the Grammys, she knew her path forward would be different. As co-founder of Kelzana Artist Management, she's now revolutionizing how musicians build sustainable careers through strategic storytelling.
 
 "Branding goes so deep," Tori explains, drawing from her film background to reimagine artist development. "I think about storytelling for musicians as a movie—what's the plot of their brand? Are they the tragic hero? The rebellious protagonist?" This cinematic approach transforms how artists connect with audiences in an overcrowded marketplace.
 
 Tori's playlist is titled "Top of the Mountain" and it's a journey through life's seasons from the youthful energy of Baby Keem's "16" through reflective winter tracks like Jorja Smith's "I Am." Each selection reveals how music marks transformative moments and shapes our understanding of ourselves. Having grown up in the Blue Ridge Mountains before traveling the world, Tori now returns to Georgia with a renewed appreciation for her roots and the musical influences that defined her.
 
 Kelzana's business model reflects this thoughtful approach, offering everything from foundational brand development to full management services. By meeting artists where they are and building authentic narratives, Tori helps musicians create sustainable careers beyond algorithmic trends.
 
 Whether you're an emerging artist seeking direction or simply fascinated by the intersection of music, storytelling, and personal growth, this conversation offers fresh perspective on finding your authentic voice in a noisy world. Connect with Tori and explore Kelzana's artist-centered approach at https://www.kelzanamgmt.com/.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40L2daCIrUTYMvhQAzKTB2?si=3vbR3XejS2OoHnlE-qTwbw

1. 16 - Baby Keem

2. Songbird - Eva Cassidy

3. Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes

4. Speyside - Bon Iver

5. River - Leon Bridges

6. El Condor Pasa (If I Could) - Simon & Garfunkel

7. Gild the Lily - Billy Strings

8. These Days - The Jesse Williams Band

9. Rather Be Alone - Leon Thomas featuring Halle

10. Harvest Moon (Spotify Studios Version) - Lord Huron

11. 17 - Youth Lagoon

12. I Am - Jorja Smith

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Sam's had a big year and now he gives Matt and all the listeners his top 12 songs of 2025!

We open with punchy rock and bass-heavy pop, shift into raw confessionals, and close with orchestral EDM that practically lifts you out of your seat. The throughline is contrast: songs that hype you up, songs that make you think, and songs that do both without breaking a sweat.

We kick off with Wet Leg’s sharp-tongued ode to overcrowded city life and swing into Blackpink’s high-gloss momentum, built for big speakers and bigger moods. From there, NF’s “Fear” brings unfiltered honesty about relapse into anxiety, while King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard bend genres with big band brass and 70s sparkle. Logic’s “Not a Game,” elevated by Lucy Rose’s airy hook, threads grit with grace; AJR’s “The Big Goodbye” hooks you with an auctioneer loop and a look back at what you leave behind when you chase a dream.

The mid-list heat spikes with Lindsay Stirling and Shuba’s “Evil Twin,” a violin-meets-EDM surge that belongs on every pre-run playlist, then deepens with Florence and the Machine’s “Witch Dance,” a visceral reflection on mortality and power. Jenny’s “Like Jenny” delivers chorus-first pop engineered for pure joy, while Maiah Manser’s “With a Smile” introduces siren-core chills over a sleek electronic bed. Lil Wayne’s “Welcome to Tha Carter” blends choir, sample wizardry, and razor wit, asking whether we ever pause to savor heaven after clawing through hell. We close with “Lazarus Rise,” a cinematic ascent from haunted piano to full orchestral thunder—a reminder that genre walls are meant to be climbed.

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https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sams-best-of-2025/pl.u-dok7jCBkWPg6

1. Catch these fists – Wet Leg 
2. Jump – Blackpink 
3. Fear – NF 
4. Phantom Island – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard 
5. Not a Game – Logic featuring Lucy Rose 
6. The Big Goodbye – AJR 
7. Evil Twin – Lindsey Stirling featuring Shuba 
8. Witch Dance – Florence and the Machine 
9. Like Jennie – Jennie 
10. With a Smile – Maiah Manser 
11. Welcome to Tha Carter – Lil Wayne 
12. Lazarus Rise – Wasiu & Apache 

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This week Matt brings his 12 best songs of 2025 to the mix and Sam helps him count them down.

We start by turning chaos into rhythm—yes, we joke about measuring chores in “Bruno Mars minutes”—and then dig into the textures that made this list sing. Inhaler brings that recognizable lineage without slipping into pastiche, while Jon Batiste crossfades jazz, soul, R&B, and hip‑hop into one irresistible lift. Raekwon reminds us the music video still matters when artists build worlds worth rewatching, and Julian Baker sharpens the edges of love with metaphors that cut and comfort at once. The Minus 5 becomes this year’s deep‑dive rabbit hole, a catalog made for holiday listening sprees.

David Byrne, Ghost Train Orchestra, and Hayley Williams pose a deceptively simple question—what is the reason for it?—and answer it with arrangement, rhythm, and surprise. Bad Bunny’s “Nueva Yol” doubles as a love letter to New York and a case study in performance as gateway; go watch the SNL set and tell us it doesn’t hook you. ROLE MODEL’s viral “Sally” bit shows how smart stagecraft fuels repeat plays, while Eric Church centers the theme that ties the hour together: music as a time machine, stitching memories with melodies. Counting Crows deliver a classic storyteller’s arc about becoming, and Kacey Musgraves closes the book with a vow that cuts through the noise: if everything falls apart, you were it.

Come back next week to hear Sam's Top 12 of 2025!!

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/matts-best-of-2025/pl.u-q6DaTNGyBP

1. Bonde de Brunao - Bruno Mars

2. Your House - Inhaler

3. Big Money - Jon Batiste

4. Bear Hill - Raekwon

5. Sugar in the Tank - Julien Baker & Torres

6. Words & Birds - The Minus 5

7. What is the Reason For It? - David Byrne & Ghost Train Orchestra featuring Hayley Williams

8. NuevaYOL - Bad Bunny

9. Sally, When The Wine Runs Out - ROLE MODEL

10. Hands of Time - Eric Church

11. Spaceman in Tulsa - Counting Crows

12. If The World Burns Down - Kacey Musgraves

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In this week's mixtape rewind, we go back a couple of years to when Matt and Sam did a deep dive into music supergroups.

Imagine loading a playlist where legends keep walking through the door. That’s the ride we built as we dive into supergroups that actually deliver, from the crunch of Audioslave and the finesse of Cream to the indie cohesion of Boygenius and the pure joy of the Traveling Wilburys. We chase the central mystery behind these collaborations: when distinct sounds collide, what holds, what changes, and why does it matter?

We start with the gravitational pull of great voices. Chris Cornell gives Audioslave immediate identity while Tom Morello adds that unmistakable edge, and Maynard James Keenan turns A Perfect Circle into a masterclass in mood without copying Tool. Then we test chemistry in the engine room: Chickenfoot fires up old-school rock craftsmanship, and Them Crooked Vultures stretch grooves into cinematic builds powered by Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones. For a genre swerve, Mount Westmore brings bass and swagger with Snoop, Too Short, E-40, and Ice Cube trading bars like it’s a victory lap.

Contrast keeps the mix alive. Wild Flag threads surfy drums with indie bite, and Boygenius shows how three solo voices can trade lead without crowding the song. Prophets of Rage fuse protest and power, pulling rap and rock tight around a sharp social focus, while The Highwaymen remind us that sometimes the most classic move—four giants trading verses—still lands hardest. And to cap it all, the Traveling Wilburys prove that when Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty decide to have fun, the hooks practically write themselves.

1. Be Yourself by Audioslave
2. Big Subwoofer by MOUNT WESTMORE
3. White Room by Cream
4. Down the Drain by Chickenfoot
5. Elephants by Them Crooked Vultures
6. Romance by WILD FLAG
7. Passive by A Perfect Circle
8. Bruised by The Bens
9. Living on the 110 by Prophets of Rage
10. Highwayman by Highwayman
11. Satanist by boygenius
12. Wilbury Twist by The Traveling Wilburys

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Just a quick message of gratitude for our listeners.  

Also, you can publish your own Best Of mix with our Mix Tape Cards and save 20% from now until the end of the year with the Promo Code: BESTOF

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Sam is back!  He and Matt reunite just in time for Thanksgiving to give everyone a mix of songs featuring the term Thank You.

We kick off with Sly’s Thank You and the relief of being yourself again, then trace how Dido’s gentle melody got flipped into Eminem’s Stan without erasing its original warmth. Andrew Gold’s Thank You for Being a Friend sparks a riff on friendship rituals, party etiquette, and why the Golden Girls hook lives rent-free in our heads. DJ Khaled and Big Sean bring gratitude to ambition, reminding us that success without appreciation rings hollow. Boyz II Men drop us into a 90s harmony cocoon, proving that a simple refrain can feel like community.

The mix widens with Logic’s Thank You, closing on real fan voicemails from around the globe—a living map of music’s connective tissue. Alanis Morissette’s Thank U honors letting go and landing; Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre rework Sly’s groove into a modern head-nod; Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats turn repetition into affirmation. Diana Ross glows with a love that adds to an already good life, pushing back on the myth that gratitude only comes from struggle. And we sign off with Moana’s You’re Welcome, a playful reminder to accept appreciation with grace.

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sam-thank-you-mix/pl.u-02P6s4oxbV

1. Thank You (Fallenttinme Be Mice Elf Again) - Sly & the Family Stone

2. Thank You - Dido

3. Thank You for Being a Friend - Andrew Gold

4. Thank You - DJ Khaled featuring Big Sean

5. Thank You - Boyz II Men

6. Thank You - Logic featuring Lucy Rose and The RattPack

7. Thank U - Alanis Morrissette

8. Thank You - Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre

9. Thank You - Nathanial Rateliff & the Night Sweats

10. Thank You - Diana Ross

11. Thank You - Busta Rhymes featuring Q-Tip, Kanye West & Lil Wayne

12. You're Welcome - Dwayne Johnson

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