Presenting 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 >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.

"BMTH are back with a bouncy new single from their upcoming album 'Amo', further moving away from their heavy sound. It's a super catchy tune about a dude who starts his own cult and how things slowly start getting out of hand. Frontman Oliver Sykes was inspired by Netflix documentary, Wild Wild Country when he was writing this. I had it on loop for a real long time, and the music video which came out recently is also quite mad."
- Sahil Amin, online editor and Hazard-ous on the turf

"The Tom Petty version is one of the my favourite pick-me-up songs. Apparently the lyrics ‘some days are diamonds / and some days are rocks' come from a line Johnny Cash told Petty, and is what inspired him to write the song eventually. The original came out in 1996, but the Lumineers released a version of it on Petty's first death anniversary (October 2, 2018), calling him a musical hero. Gotta agree, Lumineers."
- Tara Kapur, Syndication and Marketing Alliances Manager, and runner in recovery

"Being surrounded by people who have an in-depth knowledge about artists, albums, instruments and gigs, I confess to being a total muggle. "Wonderful Tonight" by Clapton was one of the first English songs that I discovered—and from 2003 to now, it remains a top favourite. Clapton's voice in this country-style, touching ballad clearly expressed his emotions for his wife, and to a teenage me, defined how a relationship should be—honest, expressive and uplifting. Over the years, I've heard various renditions of the song but there's something about the original that tugs at my heartstrings even today."
- Ishita Puri, Creative Producer and (self-confessed) die-hard romantic

"I’ve been listening to this Hawaiian singer, who I got introduced to by a friend. What got me hooked to this is the honesty in his voice. Nothing more, nothing less."
- Anil Chaudhary, Head of Commercial and Business Operations and follower of casual Fridays.

"For me, somehow, all of The Strokes songs induce a sense of nostalgia, and this song is the epitome of that feeling. A great, laid-back tune that is in sync with the easy swagger of this entire band. Even though it’s upbeat, the song is about growing up and drifting away from your friends; but there will always be the past to reminisce about. I bloody love The Strokes, and if you haven't heard all of their songs, you're missing out."
- Sujay Kulkarni, Short Form Producer and gr8st critic of the BMC’s tow-truck

"Riding the Hallyu wave well into relative obscurity, I've been dumping every Korean hip-hop/rap/trip-hop playlist I can possibly find into my music library. Paloalto or Jeong Sang-Hyun is on almost all of them. How do I describe his music? The Korean rapper has a distinct 90s-00s throwback sound that is decidedly updated for the 2010s. I don't understand Korean (yet!) and since I love the sound of the language, I'm happy to be an ignorant listener, loving the music for its beats, riffs and the imagined meanings I keep infusing the lyrics with."
- Rituparna Som, Editor-in-chief traversing between Gen X and Gen Z

"I don’t even know where to begin talking about this song. The first time I heard it on record? The first time I heard it live? Or the first time I played it to a bunch of peeps at an after-party, and watched their faces go from confused to whoa real quick. Man, let me be straight here. Seedhe Maut better be blowing up festivals real soon, or we’ll have to succumb to mediocre hip-hop being passed off as breakthrough for a long time coming. The country’s independent scene is in a bit of a flux, with hip-hop leading the charge for some revival and Seedhe Maut are right there leading it.
This collab with Prabh Deep, another torchbearer for Dilli da hip-hop, has some genius lines, and one of my favourite ones: 'mujhe chain / nahi milega jab tak inn saalo ka dhanda naa kardu main thapp.’
More here .
- Naman Saraiya, Producer and smug bug in denial

Check out last week’s edition here.