Super Awesome Mix

This week's Mixtape Rewind takes us back to Season 1 when Instagram picked our summer soundtrack, and we just tried to keep up. We asked listeners to send their best summer songs, then built a real mixtape out of the chaos: 12 tracks that feel like heat haze, long evenings, and that first day when summer finally clicks into place. Along the way, we shout out the people who submitted picks and admit where we couldn’t resist sneaking in a few of our own.

The fun part is how quickly “summer music” stops being simple. We get nostalgic with LFO’s “Summer Girls” and the oddly unforgettable lyrics that still scream 1999, then jump to Sylvan Esso’s “Rooftop Dancing” and talk about why rooftops are basically the city version of a pool. Weezer’s “Feels Like Summer” brings that bittersweet edge, and from there we keep pulling on the thread of sunny songs that hide something darker underneath.

Lorde’s “Solar Power” nails the new-release summer vibe, The Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon” turns out to be way more cynical than it sounds, and Childish Gambino’s “Feels Like Summer” smuggles climate change anxiety into a laid-back groove. We round it out with true summer essentials like DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s “Summertime,” a pure-pop hit from Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen, a “Constructive Summer” pep talk from The Hold Steady, and a cover-song detour with The Ataris and “Kokomo” before Poison closes the night with “Nothing But A Good Time.”

One more tease: there’s no Bruce Springsteen on the main mix, and yes, we noticed. Hit play, share this with a friend who hoards playlists, and leave a review if you want more listener-built mixes. What’s the one song you swear belongs on every summer playlist?

You can find the mix here on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2xecia1iK9SH9fpDGGyElY?si=60cde1613e264ad0

1. Summer Girls - LFO

2. Rooftop Dancing - Sylvan Esso

3. Feels Like Summer - Weezer

4. Solar Power - Lorde

5. Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks

6. Feels Like Summer - Childish Gambino

7. Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

8. Good Time - Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen

9. Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady

10. The Boys of Summer - The Ataris

11. Kokomo - Lily Wood and the Prick

12. Nothing but a Good Time - Poison

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Spring shows up and suddenly the release calendar explodes, so Matt and Sam do what we always do on Super Awesome Mix: sift through the chaos and hand you a March new music playlist that’s actually worth your time.

We start with U2’s “Yours Eternally,” a collaboration that pulls in Ed Sheeran and Ukrainian artist Taras Topolia and frames a protest minded moment with an unexpectedly hopeful finish. From there we jump into Death Cab for Cutie’s “Riptides,” a track that captures modern burnout in one chorus, then test the line between country and pop with Megan Moroney and Sheeran. The mix keeps pivoting: Charlotte Sands brings a hard rock jolt, King Tuff turns time into a hook you’ll quote all week, and Blackpink proves again how effortlessly K-pop can play as mainstream pop and hip hop.

On the rap and rock side, we dig into Killer Mike’s soundtrack cut and the idea that honesty beats a friendly facade, then crank up The Pretty Reckless, Freddie Gibbs with DJ Paul (adult ears only), and Sevendust’s “Unbreakable” for anyone who needs a little volume to get through the day. We close with Bleachers pushing back against outside noise and a Mumford and Sons collaboration with Chris Stapleton that somehow feels both simple and huge.

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sam-march-2026-new-music/pl.u-z2pvuGxoYJ

1. Yours Eternally - U2 featuring Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia

2. Riptides - Death Cab for Cutie

3. I Only Miss You - Megan Moroney & Ed Sheeran

4. One Eye Open - Charlotte Sands

5. Invisible Ink - King Tuff

6. Me and my - Blackpink

7. Spying Eyes (Smiling Faces) - Killer Mike featuring Lena Byrd Miles

8. When I Wake Up - The Pretty Reckless

9. Find Out - Freddie Gibbs & DJ Paul

10. Unbreakable - Sevendust

11. dirty wedding dress - Bleachers

12. Here - Mumford & Sons & Chris Stapleton

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

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This week's Mixtape Rewind take us back to the end of 2022 as we countdown our final 12 songs of the year.  We argue, laugh and occasionally get a little existential about the songs that earned repeat plays, the lyrics that won’t let go, and the artists who made the whole internet stop and listen.

We start in motion with a driving track that brings back the pre-smartphone road trip era and the simple thrill of turning everything off and just going. Then we jump straight into pop gravity: Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” why one perfectly timed line can become an earworm, and how that hook can even mess with your morning self-talk. From there, we bring the party back with a feel-good Calvin Harris collaboration that somehow feels underrated, plus Wet Leg’s sharp, funny lyrical detours that reject the constant stream of judgment and noise.

The second half widens the sound on purpose: Zach Bryan surprises us with real emotion and a reminder that memory isn’t linear, Rosalia delivers genre-bending Latin music that hits even harder when you translate the words, and Run The Jewels combine protest bars with a remix approach that shouldn’t work but absolutely does. We also hit Regina Spektor’s “sugar vs love” warning, The Mountain Goats as the perfect workout song, Phoenix with Ezra Koenig for pure nostalgia, and Kendrick Lamar closing the door with grief, trauma, and the strange way we can be united even when everyone mourns differently.

1. Empty Stomachs and Bloodshot Eyes by Jake Swamp and the Pine
2. Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift
3. Stay With Me by Calvin Harris, Justin Timberlake, Halsey, Pharrel Williams
4. Angelica by Wet Leg
5. The Greatest Day Of My Life by Zach Bryan
6. BULERIAS by ROSALIA
7. JU$T [Toy Selectah Version] by Run the Jewels, EL-P, Killer Mike
8. SugarMan by Regina Spektor
9. Training Montage by The Mountain Goats
10. Tonight (feat. Ezra Koenig) by Phoenix
11. The Last Dance by St. Paul & The Broken Bones
12. United In Grief by Kendrick Lamar

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

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A steel town becomes a stage, a chorus becomes a dare, and a new record asks what we’ll do when the comfort runs out. We sit down with XBYRDX (aka Bird), a southern Indiana singer‑songwriter, to trace six formative tracks—Springsteen’s Youngstown, The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Just Like Honey, The Clash’s White Riot, The Replacements’ Unsatisfied, The Cure’s Plainsong, and Hüsker Dü’s Don’t Want to Know If You Are Lonely—and hear how noise, melody, and place turned him toward cinematic songwriting.

Then we dive into Anthems for the End Times, where XBYRDX threads big themes through tight hooks. “Ayn Rand’s On Welfare” challenges a polished indifference that calls itself self‑reliance and reminds us that posting isn’t voting. “MAGA Girl” wears a pop sheen while charting a romance split by worldview. “Shrine” confronts flags and monuments, arguing for context over erasure and the courage to tell full history. “Prize Fighter” is the bell‑ring: get off the ropes, organize, and claim agency. The title track sounds apocalyptic but hides a stubborn optimism—no savior is coming, so we move now, together. “White Noise” closes on our algorithmic silos, urging listeners to step past the echo and find signal.

Across the conversation, XBYRDX talks craft—layered synths, texture over solos, melodies that carry weight—and the artists who taught him to let songs feel like weather. If you’re drawn to protest music with heart, indie rock with teeth, and storytelling that sees people before positions, this one’s for you. 

Stream 'Anthems for the End Times' on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you get your invisible music, and let us know which track hit you first. 

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

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This week's Mixtape Rewind has our friend and the host of the podcast What Are You Listening To?, Jenn Tully, joining Matt and Sam to present her Desert Island Mix.....which may have changed since we recorded this episode.

From 80s powerhouses to modern indie storytellers, Jenn maps the songs that shaped her life and the moments they still soundtrack.

We start in montage mode with John Waite’s Change and a spirited Vision Quest detour, then settle into anchor territory: the Eagles’ warm-road harmonies and Led Zeppelin’s tender Tangerine. Joy spikes with The Police’s Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, a steel-drum smile fit for any beach, while Taylor Swift’s Invisible String wraps pandemic-era time into something curious, mystical, and finally wondrous. Jenn’s love for storytelling shines through John Mayer’s Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, a cult-favorite narrative that sparks debate about reinvention, risk, and what it means to surface somewhere new.

Modern textures pull the set forward. Glass Animals’ Life Itself examines belonging with kinetic honesty, Iron & Wine’s Call It Dreaming offers lyrical grace for anyone carrying old loves, and Young the Giant’s Superposition turns physics into romance—finding beauty in overlap, uncertainty, and dual truths. We celebrate Annie Lennox’s vocal fire on Eurythmics’ Would I Lie to You and the candid power of sister-trio Haim on Forever. And to close, Jenn lands on Madonna’s Borderline, a timeless 80s gem that still blooms on every listen.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7DVnKQUtnZyidjcaKrAQub?si=4bfe773548754bb7

You can find her mix on Apple Music here:
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/jenn-tully-desert-island-mix/pl.u-11zBJogFNWpD5mB


Be sure to follow her own super awesome mix show here:
https://whatareyoulisteningto.buzzsprout.com 

1. Change by John Waite
2. Ol’ 55 by Eagles
3. Tangerine by Led Zeppelin
4. Life Itself by Glass Animals
5. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by The Police
6. invisible string by Taylor Swift
7. Would I Lie to You by Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart
8. Call It Dreaming by Iron & Wine
9. Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967 by John Mayer
10. Forever by HAIM
11. Superposition by Young the Giant
12. Borderline by Madonna

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

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Blizzard warnings outside, sonic weather systems inside. Matt and Sam pulled together twelve new tracks that cut through the February haze, from Bruce Springsteen’s lightning-fast protest release to Charli XCX’s orchestral, slow-burn elegance. The throughline is momentum—how artists old and new push ideas forward, whether by turning up the amps, sharpening the story, or stripping a feeling down to its essential parts.

We start with the tradition of the protest song and how the modern pipeline lets Bruce write Friday, record Saturday, and shake feeds by Sunday. That urgency echoes across the mix: Moby and Jacob Lusk descend into winter stillness with a haunting piano rework, while Metric flips the phrase “victim of luck” into a catchy meditation on fortune’s fallout. Foo Fighters slam back to a vintage roar, asking heavy questions with a grin, and Joe Jackson proves legacy doesn’t mean nostalgic—his bright, narrative pop still lands clean.

Midway, the energy pivots. Andrew Bird and Gavin Brivick give us a short, tender plea that lingers, then Young the Giant wrestle with belonging and the quiet art of not letting go. The Black Keys deliver a bluesy reminder that losses make the wins sweeter, and J. Cole sets 'Two Six' ablaze with tight imagery and shape-shifting flow. Charli XCX steps into cinematic mode for Wuthering Heights, weaving strings and restraint to let the emotion breathe.

We close with memory and maintenance: Joyce Manor’s snapshot of the bar that shaped a moment, and The New Pornographers’ vow to keep the small flame alive—“my hands are cupped around a match.” 

If you’re here for thoughtful lyrics, rock that punches, indie hooks, and a few gut-punch lines you’ll carry all week, queue this one up and ride the arc with us.

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sam-february-2026-new-music/pl.u-0KJxH4oxbV

1. Streets of Minneapolis - Bruce Springsteen

2. When It's Cold I'd Like To Die - Moby & Jacob Lusk

3. Victim of Luck - Metric

4. Asking For A Friend - Foo Fighters

5. Fabulous People - Joe Jackson

6. Need Someone - Andrew Bird & Gavin 

7. Different Kind of Love - Young the Giant

8. You Got to Lose - The Black Keys

9. Two Six - J Cole

10. Always Everywhere - Charli XCX

11. I Used To Go To This Bar - Joyce Manor

12. Votive - The New Pornographers

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

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This week's Mixtape Rewind takes us back to Season 3 when we first thought of the idea that would become our podcast, The Battle.

What happens when two totally different songs share the exact same title? We built a “battle mix” to find out—pairing heavyweights and outliers across genres and decades—then we argue, analyze, and crown winners. From Go to Get Back, each round reveals how a single word can split into protest anthems, breakup arias, dance‑floor bliss, or guitar‑driven chaos.

We kick off with Blink‑182 and The Black Keys on Go, weighing a bold tonal shift against a signature groove. Eurythmics steamroll Charles & Eddie on Would I Lie To You with brass, bite, and Annie Lennox’s powerhouse vocal. True Love sparks a values debate: Angels & Airwaves deliver a soaring, cinematic build while Coldplay’s “lie if you must” line clashes with the title. Roy Orbison’s You Got It proves timeless compared to a New Kids on the Block time capsule. Then it’s Growing Pains, as Alessia Cara’s present‑tense anxiety meets Ludacris’s reflective narrative—two coming‑of‑age angles, one title.

The center of the card gets fiery. Green Day’s Holiday channels mid‑2000s protest energy against Madonna’s disco‑pop celebration. Rihanna’s Take A Bow serves velvet‑gloved dismissal, while Muse opens an album with a synth‑rock chill that lingers. Tupac and The Beach Boys both claim I Get Around, one with effortless charisma and the other with historic chart significance. Foo Fighters’ Run slams with near‑metal intensity, outpacing Snow Patrol’s slow‑burn. Happy pits NF’s candid mental‑health lens against Pharrell’s pure joy machine—two roads to one feeling. And our main event, Get Back, throws Ludacris’s peak hit‑maker energy against The Beatles’ cultural gravity and complicated context.

 https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/same-name-different-songs-mix/pl.u-JPAZEoJTLd7Y15j

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1sCtai2Hujfbv9kZD0qnU9?si=779125752f4c4f3f
     

1. Go by The Black Keys
2. Go by blink-182
3. Would I Lie To You? By Charles & Eddie
4. Would I Lie To You? by Eurythmics, Annie Lennox,Dave Stewart
5. True Love by Angels & Airwaves
6. True Love by Coldplay
7. You Got It (The Right Stuff) by New Kids On The Block
8. You Got It by Roy Orbison
9. Growing Pains by Ludacris
10. Growing Pains by Alessia Cara
11. Holiday by Green Day
12. Holiday by Madonna
13. Take A Bow by Rihanna
14. Take a Bow by Muse
15. I Get Around by 2Pac
16. I Get Around by The Beach Boys
17. Run by Snow Patrol
18. Run by Foo Fighters
19. Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince
20. Summertime by Kenny Chesney
21. HAPPY by NF
22. Happy by Pharrell Williams
23. Get Back by Ludacris
24. Get Back by The Beatles

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

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What do you do with songs you adore but can’t file anywhere? That was the inspiration for Sam's 2026 birthday mix.  He shares with Matt everything from TV themes that outshine their shows, soundtrack deep cuts that became life markers, long builds that earn their intensity, and genre-bending grooves that defy labels.

We start with Benjamin Clementine’s Nemesis and the power of a great intro to set tone and memory, then shift to Regina Spektor’s reminder not to confuse sugar with love. A Nike-era earworm from Crystal Fighters and Puscifer’s Grand Canyon showcase how movement and mood can make a song feel cinematic. Death Cab for Cutie’s I Will Possess Your Heart proves the four-minute intro isn’t excess—it’s obsession rendered in sound. Passion Pit reframes a Smashing Pumpkins classic into a floating, nerve-steadying cover, while Anderson .Paak’s Till It’s Over blooms from grayscale to neon like a perfect post-work reset.

Meg Washington’s How to Tame Lions hooks by tone and clever wordplay even when meaning stays elusive. Del Castillo lights up the room with blistering Spanish guitar, conjuring old west horizons without a single frame of film. Lorde’s A World Alone lands a painfully true line about growing up online. Mr. Scruff’s Get a Move On becomes the exact soundtrack to your morning routine. And Zero 7’s Likufanele closes with a hypnotic chant that turns focus into flow.

If you enjoyed the ride, share the episode with a friend, subscribe for more curated mixes, and leave a five-star review to help us climb to number one by episode 200.

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sam-sam-birthday-2026-mix/pl.u-9DX3du7dDK4b

1. Nemesis - Benjamin Clementine
2. SugarMan - Regina Spektor
3. Follow - Crystal Fighters
4. Grand Canyon - Puscifer
5. I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab for Cutie
6. Tonight, Tonight - Passion Pit 
7. ‘Til It’s Over - Anderson Paak
8. How To Tame Lions - Meg Washington
9. El Corrido De Don Lulai - Del Castillo
10. A World Alone - Lorde 
11. Get A Move On! - Mr. Scruff
12. Likufanele - Zero 7

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

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This week's Mixtape Rewind takes us back to season 2 where we started off looking at second albums from artists.  We pull from a wide spectrum—Bowie and Springsteen, Weezer and George Strait, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Kacey Musgraves, Childish Gambino and AJR, Vampire Weekend, All-American Rejects, Foo Fighters, and Kanye—to map the patterns behind sophomore success. The result is a guided, story-rich playlist that shows how voice, risk, and timing can turn “album two” into the real breakthrough.

We start with liftoff—David Bowie’s Space Oddity—then punch into the live-wire storytelling of Springsteen’s Rosalita. From there, the conversation pivots to reinvention: Weezer’s Pinkerton, once dismissed, now revered for its raw edge; George Strait’s grounded homesickness that proves classic country doesn’t need novelty to resonate; and Macklemore’s Thrift Shop, which became a phenomenon by celebrating thrift finds instead of luxury culture. You’ll hear how Kacey Musgraves’ Biscuits distills social wisdom into wry, singable lines, and how Childish Gambino’s 3005 pairs melodic pull with a search for purpose that gives the hook real weight.

We dig into narrative and craft, too. AJR’s Netflix Trip turns The Office into a memory map for growing up, while Vampire Weekend’s Horchata blends intricate arrangements with playful rhyme in a way that feels both brainy and breezy. Rock anchors the back half: All-American Rejects deliver a straight-shot hook with Dirty Little Secret, and Foo Fighters’ Everlong crystallizes the band’s identity as they evolve from a one-man debut to a full-force collective. We close on Kanye’s Gone, a late-album standout from Late Registration that proves the deepest cuts often hold the longest fuse.

 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/78UWWKd8DuntJfsrnJRWEn?si=Jw_1rDNCQkGJFe1PONg-6A

1. Space Oddity by David Bowie
2. Rosalita by Bruce Springsteen
3. The Good Life by Weezer
4. I Can’t See Texas From Here by George Strait
5. Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
6. Biscuits by Kacey Musgraves
7. 3005 by Childish Gambino
8. Netflix Trip by AJR
9. Horchata by Vampire Weekend
10. Dirty Little Secret by The All-American Rejects
11. Everlong by Foo Fighteres
12. Gone by Kanye West

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

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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

Go to My.SuperAwesomeMix.com and start using our new app on any device - mobile or laptop.  Copy and paste a link to your playlist then turn it into an old school mixtape in minutes!  

Support the show

Visit us at https://www.superawesomemix.com to learn more about our app, our merchandise, our cards, and more!