Week on Week: The VICE India Mixtape

Attempting to keep up with new releases is exhausting. And the never-ending quest to discover an act before they hit >1000 plays on Bandcamp is all but rewarding. Having given up full time music writing a little while ago, more often than not I find myself feeling a mix of FOMO and IDGAF about new, local music while compiling my Spotify playlists. With this feature, we (that is, I) aim to put together a weekly mixtape with inputs from VICE India staffers (and friends)—across all departments, without being a judgemental asshole.

And this week, I’ve put together a mix from the staffers at WeWork BKC, and a song that I discovered off their almost-always excellent playlists in the building.

“The reason I'm hung up on the song is because .Paak and K-dot are able to talk about racism, police brutality and hate crime against the black community in a splendid manner. Taking a song that is so lyrically dark, and marrying it with psychedelia, disco, funk, and hip-hop is bound to make it a banger.
—Siddhanth Pillai, Events Lead, India (West) and dude with the best band T-shirts

“One of the defining songs of 2018 for me. Beyond being tragically overshadowed by the death of Mac Miller, I think this is one of his most incredible songs till date. Each beat hits so well, and I can't help but feel like he's talking to us from across the grave on this one.”
—Anushka Gupta, Brand & Marketing, India with the gr8st accent and hippest music

“This is my jam and has been for a couple of weeks now. I love that it's super chill, absolutely smooth and just so easy. It's got a good vibe and no jokes makes me move with the tunes regardless of being the 10th time listening to it in the same day.”
—Tanya Rocque, Community Manager, India and always-ditching-my-run-plans

“Discovered this wonderful artist a few years ago while on a jungle safari in Ranthambore, and has been my favourite since. I love the fact that his music is so captivating, very original and doesn’t sound like anything you've heard before. He does very small gigs that are always sold out. Bummer.”
—Kreetika Thakur, Community Lead, India with the ethereal kinda calm

“Well, when I listen to music, I don't really pay attention to the lyrics. For me it's the beat, the tune or the hook that catches my attention. Strangely, lyrics are just part of the soundscape for me. So, I may like a song without knowing much about the lyrics.”
—Venance Roche, Marketing Manager, India (West) and too-smiley-all-the-damn-time

“It’s been a week in this city, and Alicia Keys’ buttery vocals are in my head as I walk through the streets of Chelsea or explore Midtown. NYC and its appetite to accept whoever you maybe—the starry-eyed Broadway enthusiast or the next Wolf of Wall Street—is really what dreams are made of, just like what the lyrics say.”
—Jhanvi Shetty, Community Lead, India forcing us to attend events all the time

“There’s almost no doubt that I’ve heard this song in the WeWork BKC loo. As it happens, on more than one occasion, I’ve finished up, taken my phone out and asked Siri to tell me what song is playing, and I’ve gotta say I’ve made some killer discoveries at this co-working space. I’m also happy to grumble when it goes a bit too four-to-the-floor on Friday evenings, but gotta do something for the uncles there for the free beer. Planningtorock has been an awesome discovery, and I’m obviously not surprised that I’m digging the music; they were signed to DFA, before moving out. Jonathan Galkin knows what’s up, he sure as hell does.”
—Naman Saraiya, Producer, VICE India, and not-ready-to-deal-with-2019-yet, FFS

Check out our previous editions here.