music | cait +tiff

January 1, 2018
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T / happy new year / tiff’s top tunes 2017

Hi guys hi. This year was a doozy right? If I said 2016 was weird then 2017 was way weirder. I fell off the music wagon. I failed in my personal goal of becoming the Rob Gordon of mp3s. In a nutshell: the patriarchy is still not yet smashed. Reading the news kinda sucked 99% of the time. Have you ever angry-run? Basically, a ton of feelings happened. There as a deep dive in terms of inspo. But I’ve got to check my privilege here: I realized I had a solid community of innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders and all-powerful wonderful people both near and far. Cait is in Cali and things are brewing hard for 2018. The work has continued to flow. I had over 100 photoshoots this year! The quality of my photos and my confidence are going up all the time. I’m still challenging myself. I might have convinced myself that it is totally possible for a East Coast girl like me to move to California. My soul might actually feel comfortable in the Pacific North West. I also discovered that colouring and puzzles are great alternatives to substances that aren’t too good for my liver.

Cut to the chase Tiff.

Basically I woke up this morning. It was 2018. The mistake I made this year was that I didn’t listen to enough music. I had neglected in favour of this, this and this. And I’m completely bent on correcting for that in 2018. So this list isn’t quite exhaustive. I might be a little ashamed about it. There’s a ton of go-girl music, which I am not ashamed about.

And all my favourite covers and remixes from this year here! And lists for 2016, 2015, 2014!

November 21, 2017
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T / mental space mix

Photo Credit: Olympic Peninsula by Tiffany Tsang

It’s been a minute, right? So we took a good long break. I was on the road (a big long one called the US101) and there’s just so much brewing right now on all our sides. I know that my mental space has been filled up. It’s also way cluttered in the way a an A&E Hoarder is, without the random dead bodies hidden it the corner but still the feeling that it’s all gonna spill at any moment. So I’ve had to limit things. And one of the first things to go was music. Super sad face. But that’s what breaks are for, right?

My resolution coming back was to make time for it. (I’m a big fan of this app, by the way). Telling my brain: it’s time for pure, unadulterated MUSIC. And that’s how this new playlist was borne. Until a bad case of the jetlag hit and I became of puddle of displaced equilibrium. So I’m sharing it now. I hope you’re making time for the things that matter to you. And if you aren’t, you really should.

Anyways, there’s a lot of good new stuff in here that’s from all over the place. Yaeji is a hip new artist that splits her time between Seoul and New York. Siobhan Sainte hails from New Zealand. And there’s all the fabulous artists I’ve loved for ages that are now releasing new and remixed beats. Charlotte Gainsbourg and Tame Impala – big hearts out to you. Basically, this mix is getting me through my to-do list. It’s a big mix for the long list.

March 20, 2017
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T / happy monday / hot thoughts

Photo Credit: Feist.

Some really good albums from a couple of my all time favourite bands came out over the past month. And I got to spend a lot of time in a car with them this past weekend. These bands were the soundtrack to my late teens and early 20s and are so telling about my early millennial status. I discovered Spoon while watching The OC. Then I found The Shins when I fell in love with Zach Braff and his Garden State. I met Dirty Projectors when I moved to Cambodia and met all the young things from Brooklyn. And the story of Tennis fell into my lap while I was living the hipster wannabe story in London. Don’t you love it when music comes with a time and a place? True story: I catalog all of my music by the month and year it came into my life. There is indeed a soundtrack to my life. Not joking. I might actually be John Cusack from High Fidelity in the multiverse. Or Kevin Smith.

Oh right, Feist is coming out with her new album next month. 22 year old Tiff is going nuts. Here are the faves from everything I am spinning this week!

Spoon – Hot Thoughts, from their album of the same name.

The Shins – Name for You, from Heartworms.

Dirty Projectors – Cool Your Heart (ft. Dawn) from their self-titled album.

Tennis – Ladies Don’t Play Guitars, from Yours, Conditionally.

Feist – Pleasure, from her forthcoming album of the same name.

February 27, 2017
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T / happy monday / cool your heart

Photo Credit: D. Morrison.

When a song features the lyrics: “gonna cook you with pepper and lime,” I know it’s going on heavy rotation. That would be from Paris chanteuse Mai Lan. And then there are all the new things from Dirty Projectors and their collab with Solange. Good music is blowing up right now. And with efforts like the 100 First Days, I cannot wait to see what the subversives come up with. Also, Moonlight just won Best Picture at the Oscars. I don’t care what people say, the arts are responding.

Hearts are ALL on fire right now. And it’s definitely not from all the good heat coming from Valentine’s Day. So I thought I’d put together a playlist of some very new faves and some old spins that have kept my cardiac sounds in check. New faves like Bay Ledges, and stalwarts like Animal Collective, Clap Ya Hands Say Yeah, Spoon (because I’m a 39 year old guy who went to school in Austin at heart) and Sondre Lerche all have new tunes the kick the year off with. So this playlist is mostly filled with some old geezers. But I’ll get the babies to you soon.

January 2, 2017
by caitandtiff 2 Comments

T / happy monday / top tunes 2016

Photo Credit: Eric Cahan

2016 was weird right? I’ve been making my year end music lists for the past ten years and looking back at the process, it’s always fraught with so many feelings. This year there were so many feelings. Looking back at the year, Lemonade and all the excitement that came with it, feels like it was eons ago. There was an attempted musical movement. David Bowie released one of his best albums, and past away shortly after. We lost so many lions of pop. Why did everything released after July sound like it was auditioning for the Stranger Things soundtrack? And I grew into a curmudgeon thinking that no one had rose up to replace them. But hopefully the little eggs, like Anderson .Paak, will grow up to be icons.

But at least everyone’s soundtracks got better? Magical Cloudz made it into a magical moment in The OA. Have you watched (and listened to) millennial mystery Search Party?

I’m excited for 2017. Because ladies will be marching. From turmoil comes innovation. If 2016 was a moment of pause, then 2017 will be lit on fire. In the meantime, here is everything I had on repeat.

PS – Check out my lists for 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011.

August 16, 2016
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C/ The Get Down

Photo via Tube Filter

With the advent of Netflix in Cambodia, a whole new world has opened up to people that sometimes just want to stay inside. Sometimes, those people are me. My current Netflix bright spot is The Get Down, a music-laden series on the beginnings of hip hop, life in the 1970’s Bronx, and of course, love. Everybody loves love.

The characters are raw, imperfect, beautiful, and silly talented. The lead love story is between Ezekiel and Mylene, played by Justice Smith and Herzien Guardiola. The two of them make me feel like I have accomplished nothing in my life. Most of the cast members are new names for me, with the exception of Jimmy Smitts, who I have loved since his days on LA Law, and Jaden Smith, the prodigal son of never-aging beauty-robots, Will and Jada.

Also, and I understand that my focus might be different that others, but the clothes are amazing. Some of the disco suits are hilarious and cringe-worthy, but there are so many pieces that I want to snag for myself. You could pull a lot of these outfits and wear them now, and my affection for the high-waisted, booty loving, denim culotte is only growing.

I highly encourage watching this show. It has had mixed reviews, but if you are into hip hop, the historical side of the greatest city on earth, and Donna Summer, get down on it. (Sorry.)

caitsig

August 9, 2016
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C / this mix

via A Well Traveled Woman

I am constantly searching for things that make my days brighter and a little bit more fun. Because I often work alone, I try to keep music upbeat and often turn to embarrassing pop to keep the day moving. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly times when the only option is putting on the Les Miserables soundtrack (the 1992 live cast version, not the movie version, don’t be ridiculous) and singing Eponine’s parts poorly and loudly. Lucky for me, Tiff is able to rescue me from myself and has far better taste than I do. She also has the patience to constantly hunt for new cool tunes and share them with me.

She sent along this mix on Sunday and it has been my soundtrack for the last three days. It’s a fun one, with mostly remixes from the 80’s and 90’s including, but not limited to: Listen to Your Heart, Just One of Them Days, and the King of Wishful Thinking. I honestly don’t know what else I need.

It’s so good. Perfect mix of chill and fun and OH MY GOD ITS THAT SONG I LOVE THAT SONG!!!!

I hope it helps you through your Tuesday.

caitsig

June 13, 2016
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T / happy monday /

Photo Credit: Prue Stent

So I just woke up from my old-man phase when it came to music in 2016. Sometime in March, I had given up. The world had succumbed to Ariana Grande. I was a mega curmudgeon. The medium was dying, everything that was being produced sounded the same and it was futile to expect anything more than what would satisfy the addiction algorithms. But I’ve had a slow rebirth that wound up with a crescendo of music love this past weekend.

But enough of those meditations. I had a slow morning. The snooze button was pressed multiple times. This means I wasn’t in the mood for any sort of high intensity exercise either. So I’m all about the fancy pantsy dancey this morning. And I’ve declared Biggie as my spirit rapper this week. So I have to open the mix with a little millennial remix. Enjoy!

PS – To our international friends, we’re currently exploring new music platforms as 8tracks has reconfigured its policies to be in line with international streaming regulations (mega huge frownie face!). If you are unable to reach our playlist below, try this link, where you can play on your desktop!

February 15, 2016
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T / happy monday / rock (sort of) on

Artwork Credit: David E Bonazzi

I’ve started to fall in love with music again. Gone are the days I spend grumbling about how pop music all sounds the same. I’m not that curmudgeonly yet. But ever since I started a project to help re-brand these guys, I’m getting back to my roots. Last week, I spent an evening with all the new stuff. And they are goodies. This mix starts like any commute in the twilight of winter should. Slow and early with the wandering beats of Sun Seeker. The beats move a bit faster as the day edges on, with Kevin Morby and then a Duran Duran cover by Shamir. And finally we hit up Anderson .Paak, a newbie on the hip hop-soul scene that I’m beyond digging.

I hope this little mix gets your Monday going swell.

PS – 8tracks is currently down. You can access the mixtape here!

December 21, 2015
by caitandtiff 2 Comments

T / happy monday / tiff’s top tunes 2015

Photo Credit: Eric Cahan

We’re supposed to be slacking this week and getting our friends to do our work, but it turns out I forgot to schedule this thing I have to do every year. So I’m sliding it in while I’m supposed to be not doing much but eating my weight in seafood on the Cambodian coast.

Last year, I wasn’t what you would call crazy about the selection of tunes that were being churned out. Increasingly, I find myself non plussed by how mechanical and inorganic sounds are becoming in the sphere of popular music. Almost as if an algorithm is pumping them out, aware of what beats per minute will most stimulate our repeat listens. There was a bunch of swiping to the left basically. This year, I’m a hella more optimistic. There was reinvention and cross ocean collabs. I can’t get the K-pop dub smash intermix out of my head. It just works so well. Then, Blood Orange took us back to the old days while confronting very current issues with Sandra’s Smile, which I’ve had on repeat for the past couple of months. Great people came back to us and made even better music (I’m looking at you, Jamie XX, Beirut and Animal Collective). And a whole bunch of new kids on the block made a scene (baeb rxxth, Class Actress). Basically I was happy this year. The same kind of happy that comes with watching the opening credits of Master of None. And looking back on it, there were a lot of favourite songs, so I couldn’t name one.

And there was so much good stuff, I made a list just for remixes and covers. Because being a music geek knows no bounds and a member of Janelle Monae’s Wundaland crew reinventing Radiohead is more than inspired.

Enjoy and happy holidays!

PS – Here they are in alphabetical order, and you can even listen to them if you keep scrolling down.