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Music

Presenting Week on Week: The VICE India Mixtape

A song for each day of the week, throwing in a mix of new releases and some #throwbacks. Everything from homegrown hip-hop to Bollywood (uh-no?) to K-pop—we gotchu.
week on week

Attempting to keep up with new releases is exhausting. And the never-ending quest to discover an act before they hit >1,000 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—across all departments—without being a judgemental asshole.

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“Top Down” by Kari Faux & Leikeli47

“I have Insecure to thank for introducing me to TT The Artist (Lavish) and Kari Faux whose other song “No Small Talk” (featured in S01E01) have been personal anthems. “Top Down”, however, is a personification of the abandoned, unapologetic nature of the show, and even though it features in the S01 finale, it’s a brilliant introduction to the series, and a fun soundtrack.”
- Sneha Nair, Associate Producer and deadpan specialist

“Razayi” by The Tamaashbeens

This made me stop abusing the shuffle button deep into a Soundcloud-shaped rabbithole. I’ve been fascinated by this Pakistani band since. There’s something different about their sound, with lyrics that seem like they were absent-mindedly scribbled in the middle of the night. What I like best about the song is that it revels in its existential crisis rather than drown in it. “Kagazon ke lafz dhul se gaye hai, pehchaan apni roz dhund rahe hai, uthe baithke sad hum gaye hain (The words are starting to fade off the paper, as we rust away in this daily search for identity)." It's the perfect slacker anthem.
- Aashna Sharma, Researcher and existential asshole

“Logic” by FTS (Tienas | Quest | Nuke | RaySon47)

"I take your writer's block, and then I play Tetris with it." To be honest, Tienas' verse does everything for me on this track, from local Bombay scene boys FTS. He kicks in without any warning and all of it—the aggression, flow, lyrics—it's all just too good to put into more words.
- Nidhi Salian, Associate Producer and aspiring MC

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“The Clouds Breathe For You” by The Glitch Mob

“More often than not, this is my first song of the day. It’s quite peaceful and gets me going. I’m not really a fan of glitch-hop, but this GM song is something else. Next time, Wu-Tang!”
- Fawaz Dalvi, In-house Designer and master-of-decks

“This Town” by Niall Horan

“Every time I listen to this song, it amuses me the same way it did when I heard it the first time. It has been on my mind since a close friend recommended it, and unlikely to leave my playlist any time soon. My favourite part of the song goes like this, “If the whole world was watching, I'd still dance with you / drive highways and byways to be there with you / over and over the only truth / everything comes back to you.””
- Sanskrita Patnaik, HR Associate and follower-up of emails

“Money” by LEISURE

Some help to slow down your big city life? And because I couldn’t pick just one, here’s more - Amitesh Mukherjee, Editor and zen-like-charm-spreader

“Has Ended” by Thom Yorke

“A couple of weeks ago, he turned 50. Thom Yorke is 50 years old (!), and for a better part of his life, and almost the entirety of my life, has made music that has evoked many emotions. I wrote on my Instagram stories, ‘Thom has a voice that can heal, thrill and melt you all at once’ and this song is a searing example of those qualities.' Created to accompany the upcoming Luca Guadagnino-directed remake of the horror flick Suspiria, Yorke reaches deep inside himself to be able to evoke these emotions, and I can’t wait to hear the whole thing!”
- Naman Saraiya, Producer and smug bug in denial