Post-Nothing Rock

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Hello and welcome weary travelers from the internet. Come and sit, relax. Listen to the outside world for a second. Hear that? The chirping of birds? What a beautiful sound; unless it's a stellar jay, which is a beautiful bird but my goodness they sound like a shrilling human.

This 10th mixtape is dedicated to our feathered friends, birds! Birds are all around us. In our backyards, parking lots, mythology, symbology, you name it. We envy their ability to just up and fly away from their problems. Use them as a metaphor of our inner feelings and troublings (yes I know troublings is not a word autocorrect but it's my authentic human blog, so bugger off).

I will be honest and mention this was inspired by my son, who's been really into our birds in the backyard this winter. He has his own kid binoculars and everything. Robins, with their orange bellies are his favorite. Also, the song "I Like Birds" is his most requested one to play at the moment.

However, since I like to listen to my sad boy music, this mixtape may start out happy and joyful but it turns to a more dower note (we are into the thick of seasonal depression, what can I say). Just a warning, because it gets fairly dark towards the end - especially the song sung by Scott Hutchison - which is so gorgeous but also tragic. I do make sure the last song is a hopeful one because I believe it's good to think of something hopeful at the end of some bleak musings and Turnstile fits that bill perfectly. If you take the time to stop and listen, a bird will likely be there, to let you know you are in good company.

Hope you enjoy my mixtape dedicated to mother fucking birds!

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Link to the mixtape:

Tilly's Mixtape 10!

Why I Like It:

If someone were to ask me 20 years ago, what genre from the 90s would be making a resurgence in the 2020s, I would never have guessed shoegaze. This is the genre that is famous for staring at their shoes while preforming for goodness sake. Acts like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Catherine Wheel I did not see influencing so many acts in our current age. Then we have the Deftones, a band that uses metal and shoegaze together in a beautiful ying and yang pull that have been an even bigger influence then I ever imagined. Some folks have said they are Radio Head level of influence, which blew my mind to think of, but could be true. I'm not the critical expert.

In the early days, the Deftones were lumped into the Nu Metal genre - which their first couple albums could be argued for - then later they shed that title around Diamond Eyes (or at least when I noticed it). BUT this is not a Deftones post. It's too easy to do Deftones commentary. Now Incubus on the other hand, that's a band I'm also seeing the influence show themselves in the mid 2020s, as given examples by the No Filler podcast and Swim Into The Sound website.

Incubus is a band that was also lumped into the Nu Metal label with the album S.C.I.E.N.C.E., then Morning View came out (after the superb album Make Yourself, that still had some Nu Metal tinge) and it was a whole new game. Similar to what Deftones did. So why does Morning View stand out above the rest for me? One reason, I must admit, is that it has one of more favorite songs of all time "Wish You Were Here" but there is more.

Recently I read a quote from a Substack post that reads: "Your music depends on the things you do outside of music just as much as the things you do within music" and this connected me to story of Incubus renting a house in Malibu to record Morning View, which is the street name of where they stayed. The article mentions that there's this phenomenon called 'Studio Monk Syndrome', where the clinical and methodical method of making a album in a studio can feel lifeless or hallow. Kinda like something AI has made. But what happens when someone adds the experiences of living life into their sounds? Well, it's something uniquely human, and lived in. There's passion, messiness, and borders broken. Just look at their closing track Aqueous Transmission for example, it is a blissful zen song that is lead by a Pipa instrument and a chorus of frogs. That would not be in your typical "rock" album.

When I read this Substack article from Sound + Creativity, I suddenly understood why Morning View is my favorite Incubus album. It's the most human and real sounding.

If this is what inspires the new generation of artists, then I am excited to see what comes in the late 2020s.

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