Monday Mixtape is another path towards music discovery, featuring people whose taste I admire answering a series of questions and prompts with songs (which might change from time to time).
Happy Monday, and welcome back to Monday Mixtape. This week’s guest is John Ross, the songwriter behind Wild Pink, a band I was put onto by shaad, who I must legally mention in every single newsletter. I put on the new album Still Coming Down on when I was in Scotland a month or so ago, and it was such a beautiful companion for my lightly melancholy liminal walks around Edinburgh (until I got closer to the jugglers and shouting magicians of the Fringe festival and had to switch to Slayer to drown them out).
I don’t really mind being late to stuff especially when I get to go back and listen to five albums of some of the loveliest indie rock of the past decade. (It’s like when you start watching a new TV show and you’re like omg there’s NINE seasons hell fucking yes).
This new one is big and loose and emotionally cavernous (Friday Night Lights? If we’re sticking with the TV show comp). I really love it. They made the whole album in a single week in Asheville with producer Alex Farrar, with help from some greats: Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, plus MJ Lenderman and his bandmates from The Wind.
Wild Pink is currently on tour.
Here is John’s Monday Mixtape:
John Ross
Sagittarius
Queens, NYHow do you find/discover music?
Whatever is playing at the venue during load in
What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?
“Achy Breaky Heart” - Billy Ray Cyrus
What song have you listened to more than once this past week?
“The Cutter” - Echo & the Bunnymen (ed note: god tier song)
What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?
“My Guy” - Sam and Louise Sullivan
A song off your work out playlist:
I don’t have one of those but “Nothing For Ye” by Joshua Burnside is an emotional workout (ed note: in this house we love Joshua Burnside and low key I could see myself bench pressing to this song)
What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?
“She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” - Sammy Kershaw
What is an excellent walking song?
The greatest walking song ever is “In Another Life” by Sando Perri
Song you associate with being 13 years old:
“Heart Shaped Box” - Nirvana
What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?
“An Ending” - Brian Eno
What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?
“Rainy Night In SoHo” - The Pogues
What song do you use to renew your spirit?
“The Whole Of The Moon” - The Waterboys (ed note: oh okay John knows ball)
What is your favorite cover song?
“My Life Is Wrong” - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (originally by East River Pipe)
What song would you like to hear just before you die?
“Minor Place” - Bonnie Prince Billy
(Almost) all of the songs on John’s Monday Mixtape can be found HERE