The new (and old, but newly exciting) music really started piling up, so it’s time to batch out a mixtape of what I’ve been rocking out, rocking steady, and removing the rocks from my yard that got scattered over the course of the winter to (seriously, if the spring mix tape can’t get you through yardwork, what’s it even good for?!).

Contributor shoutouts in no particular order (since I can only half-remember where a ton of these were originally found): Action Bronson, Spaz, Dave Nadig, Kevin Alexander, Connor Platt, Jeff Chapman, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Valle Z (re: Numan, but also Newman), and whoever picks the playlist at Superette. Good people + good music = good living.

And if I forgot you (sorry) but if you have a contribution for a future edition - bug me on the internet.

Without further ado, play it on Spotify and Apple Music and read along…

Maye Omama | Ebo Taylor: I dare you to not get this stuck in your head. It’s the African version of what ska and rocksteady were accomplishing, and it’s so danceable, and so fun. This is how you kickoff a spring mix.

Shy Girl | Hollie Cook: She, Hollie Cook I mean, is the Sade of reggae. That is all you need to know. Let her voice grow on you (and see the end of this playlist too, because the dub record she just put out is amazing). We went from Africa to Jamaica to England.

Butterflies | Buju Banton: Back to Jamaica. We can’t sneak out that easily. Buju can still turn it on when he wants to, or maybe just when he needs to, and it so, so good when he does. What a love song. I’ve got butterflies.

Shook One | Tiana Major9: OK, so not a love song, but we have to thematically progress. I didn’t think I could love another flipped Mobb Deep track as much as I love this one. Another post about it here. This is a magical re-imagining and I can’t get it out of my head.

Pop | Roc Marciano: It was the Mobb Deep sparseness that sent me reaching for Roc Marciano’s updated variation on sparseness. Plus, I just love the onomatopoeia energy. Love note to Marcberg here. Pop pop pop pop pop pop - you can’t help yourself.

Ear Drums Pop | Dilated Peoples: A throw back to another “pop” classic. I also love Alchemist in this middle era before the industry had totally shifted yet, doing mainstream and underground side by side. Plus, the lyrics…

Eye Patch | De La Soul: Why only throw it back that far? Someday when I learn to make a proper DJ mix, I’ll take that De La lyric from Iriscience’s verse and combine it with the outro from the intro on Buhloone Mind State and - I’ll be so proud of if that if it works as much in the real world as it does in my head. 3 pops in a row.

Breathe And Stop | Q-Tip: If BMS was De La moving past their first two evolutions (De La Soul listening guide here), I’ve finally come to full peace and appreciation with Q-Tip in his post-Tribe evolution, making wild beats like this with Dilla. I resisted “Vivrant Thing” coming after it, but, I admit it, I love these songs, tell 18 year old me to get over it, err, breathe and stop and enjoy it.

Rhymes Like Dimes | MF DOOM, DJ Cucumber Slice: It’s silly, and it’s genius, and Quincy Jones never got flipped like this again. Mashed potatoes! Apple Sauce! Buttery biscuits!

M.E. - Remastered 2009 | Gary Numan: The through-line from DOOM to Numan is the synths, ok? Killer live, too. But let Quincy Jones doing his thing get twisted and knotted across all of music, as it so inevitably did.

It's ok | Tigers Jaw: I really dig the whole record, but this intro track (and seeing them do the acoustic duo thing live on Record Store Day) is forever stuck in my head. Remember when she was on Just Press Record?! They are a magical musical duo.

Where's Your Love Now - Waxahatchee Version | This Is Lorelei, Waxahatchee: I know, I’m stuck in one lane sometimes, but Waxahatchee is soooo good, right? That keyboard line, over the looping drums, and how it morphs into the guitar part, then the voices, then - I just get lost.

One Thing At A Time | Courtney Barnett: Barnett is back, baby! The hum before the track starts is so cool. Then the loose, very Television-y hammer-ons make me love how lost in funny corners of indie rock time she continues to be.

Across The Line | Remember Sports: The yodel-ish voice break has never been done better. Plus, “Oh no, you’re in love with me now” is - they’re so good at capturing an awkward panic.

catch these fists | Wet Leg: The rocker disco freakout needed to get turned up, you could feel it building on that last song. I love a dance fight song. Especially with the restraint embedded in this fightsong.

RIDING WITH MY GIRLS | Die Spitz: And now the restraint is off the table. Die Spitz goes hard. Listen for the snarl on the bass, and try not to end up listening to Power Trip or Maiden after this one, because…

Cuntology 101 | Lambrini Girls: This is punk. Don’t play it around sensitive people bec- no, play it around sensitive people, that’s what this music is for. If you want to actually catch the fists Wet Leg brought up, this is a natural extension after you got out of Die Spitz’s mosh pit.

Tití Me Preguntó | Bad Bunny: Since we’re already on the dance floor, and I haven’t been able to fit this into another playlist for a couple years now, let’s all say cheese together. This is such a killer song and I know why he opened his halftime show with it.

$TILL PAID (FREESTYLE) | Jessie Reyez: She’s an artiste. The range and awareness of the distinct tone of her voice, it’s impressive. The way she takes it to the chorus so effortlessly, I love how her voice floats.

Barz Simpson | Sonnyjim, The Purist, MF DOOM, J A...: The mood has fully mellowed now. Comic book rappers in England. This song sounds like a style of dress that I can’t pull off but wish I could (while smoking a hand rolled cigarette and drinking some fancy Bordeaux)

One More | MIKE, Wiki, The Alchemist: While we’re all the way turned down, we need some real no-drums, soul-fueled, evolution of what Ghostface had started on years ago vibes. Rapping to the outros on the radio. Perfectly executed.

Flight Risqué (feat. Freddie Gibbs & SALIMATA) | Jenevieve, Freddie Gibbs, SALIMATA: The tape ain’t over, I can’t let you shut it off yet! I’m a flight risk, you know? That’s what the end of the tape is for. To get you ready to play it again. This one gets me there. Those drums kicking back up, you know? Toast to his toxicity and sensitvity with me.

Yamaha | Dijon: Dijon is lo-fi Prince for 2026. I love where he’s going. I had to get something on here because he’s one of the most interesting artists behind the scenes right now. Does this almost sum up the full mix? We got synths, we got shouts, we got drums, we got breaks, we got a groove… come on!

Shy Dub | Hollie Cook: If I’m going back to the era of Prince, let me give you that modern twist on Sade just once more. How perfect is her voice for this? Go ahead and start it over from the top.