This month's theme is guilty pleasures. Everyone has artists and songs that they like but are wary to readily admit either because the artist or song in question is... let's say less legitimate than other songs or artists, or because there is a stigma attached. In the interest of full disclosure I am now going to share ALL of my musical guilty pleasures with you.
Just to remind everyone: If you would like a copy of this mix(or any of the previous ones) let me know and I will gladly make you one.
Track 1 - "Yeah" by Usher feat. Lil' Jon and Ludacris
This song has EVERYTHING. It's a classic Usher song about bangin' girls in a club with two more of my favorite guilty pleasures Lil' Jon (YEAH) and Luda. It's just so catchy and Usher will always have a special place in my heart because the very first time I ever got up the nerve to ask a girl to dance (Melissa Klapproth at the 8th grade graduation dance) we slow danced to "You Make Me Wanna".
Track 2 - "Lip Gloss" by Lil Mama
It was six in the morning when my sister, Rachael shook me awake, dragged me to her car and played me this song. I wasn't even mad about the hour at which she made me wake. Also this video is amazing.
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Track 3 - "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage" by Panic! at the Disco
PatD are great songwriters with really hooky melodies. At times they are definitely still quite young but overall I like them despite the amount of shit I get for liking them.
Track 4 - "Live Your Life" by T.I. feat. Rihanna
This is a guilty pleasure I acquired from my friend, Steven. T.I. makes fantastic dance music and this song has a good message as well. Rihanna is a pleasure I'm not at all guilty about.
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Track 5 - "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" by Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is probably my least guilty "guilty pleasure". They are legitimately a good band. Patrick and Pete write complex, clever lyrics. The band is always experimenting and growing musically. The only reason I feel the least bit guilty about F.O.B. is that their fanbase mostly consists of tween girls. If more of their fans were like my friend, Monica, then there would be no guilt here.
Track 6 - "Savior" by Rise Against
I have always liked Rise Against, but for as long as I've liked them I've had people tell me that they are like the Backstreet Boys of hardcore. I don't know what the problem is. I don't think Rise Against present themselves as hardcore... Tim McIlrath has an awesome voice and they write some solid music.
Track 7 - "Finding Out True Love is Blind" by Louis XIV
The reason I am ashamed of liking this song is because this band is so vulgar. This is probably their tamest song sexual content-wise... But this one gets way stuck in my head and isn't that terrible.
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Track 8 - "Bulletproof" by LaRoux
So I go to Denny's sometimes with friends to play games when we don't have somewhere else to hang. It's usually really late at night and there's nobody else in Denny's so we can hear the Denny's promotional TV show looping over and over. Well for a month or so they were playing this song over and over and I started to really like it. So the only stigma here really is the way in which I found out about LaRoux.
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Track 9 - "Hey Mami (Sharaz Remix)" by Fannypack
Ladytron have this album called "Softcore Jukebox" full of their influences, friends, and some other unreleased Ladytron songs. This song was on that mix and I really took to it. The best story I have about this is that I put it on a mix for Rachael and she was driving to Riverside with my at-the-time girlfriend and when this song came on my ex got all flustered and concerned. She kept asking Rachael, "Where does this side of Jeff come from!?" and talking about how she thought she didn't even know me all of the sudden.
Track 10 - "Love in This Club" by Usher feat. Young Jeezy
Just another great Usher song. Mostly just wanted to include this video.
Track 11 - "All Falls Down" by Kanye West
No matter how many dumb things he does or says, how many pop stars he grabs the mic from at a televised award show, how many albums he decides to make with all auto-tune... I still love Kanye. It is at this point that I realize I have not shared any of my hip-hop musical taste with you guys and I want to assure you that I also like legitimate hip-hop (who knows, maybe that will be the November mix).
Track 12 - "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" by Al Green
This song is in one of my favorite scenes from Notting Hill (what? you haven't seen it? you totally should)
Track 13 - "Summer Breeze" by Seals & Crofts
This is a joke. I hope you got it.
Track 14 - "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga
A lot of people hate her, but I think Lady Gaga is a talented songwriter and singer. She's a pretty self-made pop star and even though they are sometimes a little risque for my taste I appreciate the amount of work she puts into her music videos.
Track 15 - "Helena" by My Chemical Romance
I appreciate pop-punk when it's done well. This brings us to My Chemical Romance. Surprisingly they have beautiful, sweeping albums as well as great singles.
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Track 16 - "Stole My Heart" by Little & Ashley
You have probably heard this song on those Kindle commercials. I did too and had to immediately go check out this band. The girl in this band is an actress and a model and is the girl who is actually in those commercials.
Website
Track 17 - "For You I Will(Confidence)" by Teddy Geiger
I'm a huge Tom Cavanagh fan and he had this show that was briefly on network TV then moved to VH1. As it is with all my favorite shows, it was canceled after one season. Anyways, the show was about a talent scout for a major record label whose idealism gets him fired from said label and he goes to an indie label where he's free to do what he wants. His first discovery in the show is "Wayne" who is actually Teddy Geiger playing this song in a crowded New York bar. (the show was called "Monkey Love" and also starred Judy Greer and Jason Priestly. you should watch it!)
Track 18 - "Where There's Gold..." by Dashboard Confessional
People either love or hate Chris Carrabba. I love him.
I'm going to be more prompt in the future, so expect all mixes on the first of the month from now on. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this month's mix!
