In a few days, I will be turning a year older and to celebrate, I am going to prepare a simple get-together with my friends this weekend. I already have an idea on how the setup is going to be (see image below), but a well-curated playlist is definitely going to help set the mood so I am currently crafting a Spotify playlist that we can use for this weekend.

Image source

This week's mondaymixtape is dedicated to show a glimpse of what my playlist is going to look like so far.

Some guidelines as you participate in the #mondaymixtape conversation:

1. Make a post with #mondaymixtape as your first tag
2. Post links to 5 songs you like
3. Tell us why you like them. Point out features that surprised you, stuff you learnt from the song, etc etc.

So, there! This is just going to be a chill weekend, so, in case you will be throwing a party with the same theme in the future, you may use this mixtape as your reference. Enjoy!

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1. Coldplay - Til Kingdom Come

It's my birthday and Coldplay is my favorite band in the world, so of course there will be a Coldplay song in this birthday mixtape!! Lol. What I like the most about this song is although it looks, feels, and sounds so simple, it easily shows Coldplay's ingenuity in everything they do. It may be one of the most chill songs of Coldplay, but the lyrics and the whole feels...I have no words for it. I love how it's so stripped back, but even after you listened to it, you won't feel that it lacked anything at all. This version, in particular, I love how Coldplay, as a tribute to Johnny Cash, tries to explore different sounds (i.e. country, folk, rock, pop) in just one song...and it still works. Yep, genius.

2. Lisa Mitchell - Unravelling

Lisa Mitchell has been around for quite sometime now (see Neopolitan Dreams ) but I discovered her only recently. The thing that I like the most about her is the unique character of her voice. Her voice has this certain texture that sounds easy to do but technical-wise, is actually challenging to pull off. Believe me, I tried. Although Unravelling is not as famous as Neopolitan Dreams yet, I just know that Unravelling could eventually become one of her more mainstream songs soon.

3. Reese Lansangan - A Song about Space

Okay. It's probably obvious why this is included in my birthday mixtape. Two things: Reese Lansangan and Space. This is one of the Reese's songs that really floored me in every way. Well, the melody is catchy, which is a genius thing to do especially when singing about complex stuff such as space. But the thing that most impressed me is...yes...you guessed right...the LYRICS. This is actually the very song that made me so jealous of Reese lol, especially because I LOVE space too...and I am a frustrated singer-songwriter-guitarist so...nice going, Reese!!! But, no, I'm not even mad. So proud of Reese for being this crazy talented! Please, please, please check this song out!

4. Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds and a Sound

Blind Pilot is one of the less mainstream folk bands at present. I guess one of the reasons why folk is an acquired taste for many people is the different-sounding instruments (as compared to the more mainstream ones like acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboards, etc). However, I think Blind Pilot is one of those bands that can easily and successfully convert people into liking folk. 3 Rounds and a Sound is actually a good song to play to someone you'd want to convince to like folk.

5. The Paper Kites - Featherstone

I've started listening to indie-folk bands only recently but I've already liked The Paper Kites way back their "Woodland" album (in which Featherstone is a part of). I have been a low-key The Paper Kites fan, and I think that part of the reason why I am a fan is that I think The Paper Kites are sneaky geniuses to take a feel-good melody and pair it with heart-wrenching lyrics to come up with Featherstone. Smart! It took them a really long time to release new music, but I guess it was worth the wait, because their latest EP On the Train Ride Home is a whole new level of awesomeness. I'd probably feature some of their songs from their EP in my future mixtapes.