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The Ultimate playlist podcast full of Choice Trackz. Side A is the weekly theme of the episode and Side B is a full album review.
Damon (00:37.102)
Welcome back to the Ultimate Playlist Podcast full of choice tracks. I'm Damon.
DW (00:42.421)
Have a good trip.
Taj Williams (00:43.572)
And I'm Taj!
Damon (00:46.314)
It's gonna be back with you guys today. This week we are going over one of my favorite, in this case, new albums. I don't always do a new album review but there's a lot of older bands that I've liked over the years that are coming out with new stuff now. This seems to be a good year for that and reviewing stuff that I might have in my CD collection or record.
Not a huge record collection, I want to grow that. I do encourage everybody to get records if you want to hear a different sound. Definitely a great thing to do. this is a band that's touring now. They definitely have come out with a different sound, I think, and I am pleasantly surprised with that. this is Foster the People.
and they're actually going to be playing that ACL this year too, which is kind of cool. So hopefully I get out there. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it to that, but the album is Paradise State of Mind. This is something that came out really recently, so August of this year, 2024, which is, yeah, I haven't really listened to it until I was...
faced with an episode where I had to pick an album and then I started looking at stuff that was coming out recently and I really liked what they had. We've talked a little bit about disco in one of our episodes and I think that oddly enough like this has a very current sound but they really did hit the mark on that disco sound.
And you don't have to like disco to like the album, I don't think. But one of the people that I really like and we talked about in our disco episode, Giorgio Marotta. So he has that futuristic sound, which I think is really kind of neat. And
Damon (03:01.782)
Yeah, so I think they kind of capture the sound that he might have had back in the day. And now, you It's everybody else's turn, I guess. So, but yeah, this this this band, this album, it was produced by Atlantic Records, recorded at the Eastwood Studios. So the album.
does feature a former guitarist, which I thought was kind of cool. This is Sean Camino. They do a collaboration with a band called Electric Guest.
and they helped with the sound, kind of making it like an old school hipster sound. But the main band is Mark Foster on vocals and Isom Ennis on piano. So two people, but they do collaborations and have people coming in. What's that touch?
Taj Williams (04:01.985)
to view.
Taj Williams (04:05.449)
Okay. no, go ahead. That's like two people. Okay.
Damon (04:09.201)
Yeah, just two people. But two people could do a lot. but yeah, so having the former guitarist come back, I thought was pretty cool. Well, for this one it is, but they used to have three. So Sean was a guitarist in the band. He's not in the band anymore. The last time they came out with an album was like 2018, I think. But
DW (04:17.279)
thought it was three.
Damon (04:34.508)
Yeah, so like I believe it's just the two, the two, but I guess I can go fact check myself.
DW (04:39.377)
about Mark Petinas.
Damon (04:43.774)
previous previous.
DW (04:45.259)
Previous member? Okay. I know Jacob Pink was a previous member too, but I know he left like 2015, 2016, yeah.
Damon (04:51.532)
I mean, they had a lot of previous members or few. Yeah. So like some of the old hits that I really liked were like pumped up kicks, which is like that was like a big song about like gun violence. I think we talked about that. But like they just they had some they've had some really good hits over the over the years. And I definitely. I guess going through like their old stuff and the new stuff, I've.
I can hear the difference. They're similar, but they did add a really cool vibe that was just disco. So, I mean, that's probably not what I would think would drive me to listen to an album, but...
I think because they took a little bit of a break with not doing music for a while, and I think they've done that with a lot of their albums. They've did a studio album, took a little break after having a bunch of hits. I don't know if we're going to have a lot of hits on this album like we did with some of the older stuff in 2012.
Yeah, I think, you know, it's definitely a treat. So my pick out of the album, do you guys want to hear my pick first or you guys want to go?
DW (06:18.155)
Of course not.
Taj Williams (06:19.052)
I thought we were going to go track by track until we get to...
Damon (06:21.992)
okay. You don't want to hear. Okay. So you want to go through the whole album first before we do our picks. We can do that.
Taj Williams (06:29.217)
Well, no, I thought we did picks as they came up. That's right.
DW (06:30.14)
Lama.
Damon (06:32.526)
okay. Yeah, this is a new format for us. It's kind of a journey for me. But yeah, so there in total, there's 11 songs on this album, which is pretty typical. It's like a it's a normal length of an album. And I think that's good that they didn't come out with like some kind of Taylor Swift 36, whatever it was, songs.
Taj Williams (06:36.449)
Yeah.
DW (06:56.703)
you
Damon (06:58.754)
Great stuff, you know, but like sometimes too long is too much. I think further.
Taj Williams (07:03.095)
in 43 minutes for the album, which is about standard.
DW (07:07.402)
Yeah.
Damon (07:07.65)
Yeah, yeah, that's easy to go through and if you're enjoying it. Usually like when I do and when I first listen to an album that's new
especially with a band that I already liked, and they come out with a new album like Fossil People did here, Paradise State of Mind. Yeah, I always go through and I have to go through again after the first time, like second time, then I start hearing stuff I didn't hear. I might be thrown off by, like I was thrown off by this one a little bit. like the first, so the first track is See You in the Afterlife, right? And so this is...
It's not always the for the first song to be my favorite.
You know, I don't think it I definitely don't think that this was it wasn't like it wasn't like a painter for me. Like the opening song usually is in a lot of our episodes. I've said, yeah, the first track is like always my go to. And I think when I go to concerts, I usually see like a band play their first track. And it's like. The first it's a opener, it usually is, or it feels like it is anyway. Sometimes it's just they're like they're banging head, but.
Yeah, but you know this one, definitely holds the tone for the rest of the album's disco vibe.
Taj Williams (08:35.765)
Yeah, and I liked it. I know you had commented that you thought that maybe it shouldn't have been the opening track. I feel like it's a good palette concert. I think it leads well into the next track a lot, but I like it. It's, you know, of the album, it's in one of my top tracks, which I think you said it was for you too, you know, not like...
Damon (08:44.502)
Right.
Taj Williams (09:03.327)
You you weren't going to pick it as your favorite, but was like better than half of the other albums.
Damon (09:09.678)
Yeah, I think like it's yeah, it's definitely it's it's a great album. It's it's you know, it's not a bad album, but like it's hard for me to get into disco. But like like I said, these guys do it like in a way where I actually liked it. So yeah, this would be like a number four. Maybe out of 11, that's pretty good. What do you think, teacher?
Taj Williams (09:30.316)
Gotcha.
DW (09:34.153)
I think this, okay, so here's what I take on this particular start of the album, right? I think this was an excellent pop setter and kind of like a, what do you call it? An icebreaker for the album. And the reason I'm saying that is because I'm thinking about the order of the album, right? How the songs come in and play in with each other. Some are completely abstract of each other. This song being placed anywhere else would have thrown off the album.
Honestly, it's upbeat tempo is on point. I don't even necessarily think of it as disco I think if it's more of it's just like like active pop Situation and an uptempo pop that type deal coming from an alternative band that you don't really don't hear that So just put a fact that it was like, you know One of those glass shattering moments when you play that first song and this is not what you're expecting I Think that that was hats off to them for actually placing the order
other way they did. Like the beat it drives it's literally just it's so damn catchy that you don't even expect this to be a for the people. I expect this from a couple of other bands like we've covered before. So not from them. So this actually was a change of pace for me and I liked it. So you know the actual script behind it definitely you know
Leeds that story is kind of like that great area is like, you know, death is right around the corner, but Let's be happy about it while we're here type situation so I definitely got that feel from from the first track of the album and that literally set my mind for the rest of the album because I Came in a little bit closed out because I wasn't expecting like, you know when we hear bands that we've heard for a long time We kind of have this idea or notion of where they're going
Taj Williams (11:10.39)
Right.
DW (11:31.997)
Most bands that grow up and get older together, they go for more like contemporary adult type sound. And so you kind of lose the audience that you came in with because we're all older now, but this kind of put a refresh on the situation. So it really opened my mindset for the rest of that.
Damon (11:52.178)
Well, that's yeah, I like that take on it. That's a good take And it does start out with a really kickass beat too. It does but like it just blended in with the rest of the album for me and I think that like
DW (11:59.187)
Mm-hmm.
Damon (12:06.454)
It seems like there's a theme going on. I don't know, but like ever since the pandemic, I think the whole world is thinking about the afterlife. Maybe it's because we're getting older or, you know, I'll speak for myself, but like, you know, I think about this stuff a little bit more now in the past few years. So, but music in general has had a lot of, you know, thoughts about that. So, yeah. So they're just following, everybody's lead, I guess.
DW (12:15.082)
Right?
DW (12:29.611)
Mm-hmm.
Damon (12:35.928)
That's kind of how I see it. But they're definitely leaders to this band as a leader band. So this next song is my pick, actually. So we're going through we're going through this album for the for the first from the first to the 11th song.
So we're going to go through 11 tracks and we're all going to talk about our picks as we go through. yeah, so Lost in Space is my pick. It's the second song on the album. Yeah, I think it was better than the first.
Damon (13:20.994)
Yeah. So that's, that's like, I don't know. Like as you go through the song, it gets even more thumping. I think if you have like a bass speaker going, when you're listening to this, it was definitely going to be a, you know, a helper there for you. Or if your headphones have bass, but like, yeah, now we're getting into Georgia or Marauder, territory. Yeah. This is kind of like, it did remind me of,
DW (13:35.977)
Yeah. This was definitely your disco shit all day long.
Taj Williams (13:41.098)
Yeah.
Damon (13:50.464)
of that. but, definitely should have been an opener for sure. This was the first hit single that was released in May. So it came out a little bit before the album in August. And I didn't know that right away when I was listening to it thinking this is going to be my pick. But yeah, definitely other people agree.
Taj Williams (14:12.631)
And this is the only one that I know of that has a music video. So none of the other tracks have a music video.
Damon (14:20.077)
Yeah.
DW (14:22.131)
right yeah this is the least single yeah it makes sense for the time being yeah it may be the only single off the album but they've got a couple longer they actually went with what they wanted to
Damon (14:22.978)
because it was the single release as well. Yeah.
Taj Williams (14:26.901)
Right? Yeah.
Taj Williams (14:35.359)
Right. So, yeah, so I liked it. I can see why it's the single. I'll kind of get to it when I get to my pick, but what kind of threw me off and it started kind of a trend throughout all the tracks, right? Except for a couple songs, but this one kind of sets it in and the song is really good, but like
DW (14:37.791)
I definitely enjoy that.
Taj Williams (15:04.659)
I don't get the weird transition at the three quarters mark of the song. Like they totally drop in like a different tune or beat and then they come back to the main melody. And it's just like, you know, on a couple of songs, it's cool for a reason. It's cool. But like in this one, I just didn't. I I like the song. Don't get me wrong. But it's like they set this trend, especially with
the first and second song where they are going to do transition some point through the song. And I don't know why they do it other than to do it. So.
Damon (15:46.714)
Yeah, you know, I guess like they probably have always done that. Like that's probably their style. And I don't know, maybe more so in this album. But yeah, no, I see what mean. And there's got to be like, there's got to be a reason for it. I didn't, couldn't really see anything like that when I was looking up like, you know, what people thought of the album and stuff. yeah, no, that's a point. Did it, did it make it worse for you?
Taj Williams (15:59.018)
Okay.
Taj Williams (16:07.892)
Okay.
Taj Williams (16:12.033)
Good point.
It's kind of why it's one of the main reasons why I didn't pick See You In The Afterlife as my pick because of the transition. It's there and I like it. I just don't know why you do it if you're going to go back to the main melody. Because the transitions are really far off. It's not like an octave change or it's not adding a new element. It's a completely like...
Damon (16:15.478)
Or is this weird? Is it weird?
Damon (16:23.713)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (16:44.373)
different transition, but then you go back. so, you know, and like I said, for a couple of times it makes sense. But when we get to my pick, it's a little bit different. And I think when we get to Dietrich's pick, it's different. They still have transitions, but for mine, it ends with the transition. It doesn't go back to the main melody. So.
DW (17:09.311)
So I feel you on that. Like, if we're just speaking about like the whole basis on the album, it's definitely got some throw off points. Like it's one of those situations where each song, if you heard by itself.
you could get into it right but if you put it together as a collection and especially the placement of the collection you could definitely get thrown off because there's the the themes are definitely all over the place and so that in itself is like kind of kind of making you wonder like
what all songs that they record and how did these 11 get to the actual album in consideration of others that may have actually flown a little bit better because when you're talking about Paradise State of Mind in my mind you know everything is is just based off of that title alone I know it's probably you know sarcastic in the mean but everything is like upbeat and positive
and there's a lot of not positive in this shit. you know, the beats definitely sound good, but the tone of the songs and what's being actually portrayed out is kind of like a contradiction within itself. And even the album cover is beautiful within its aesthetics. You do get a sense that there's more to it, but.
Damon (18:18.856)
huh.
DW (18:41.587)
Like the album just totally took a left turn for me in that aspect. So, it's kind of hard to just give it like all A pluses and roses when you know that, you know, some of those, some of the terms don't really, really factor in what it was supposed to be laid out as. But then again, the eye is in the beholder or beauty in the beholder or however that statement goes. So we didn't actually create the album they did so they know what they were doing with it. And all we can do is just sit back, listen and admire it or hate it. So.
Taj Williams (19:02.679)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (19:09.631)
Right. Gotcha.
Damon (19:10.966)
Yeah, it's kind of a new album. So I'd like to hear some interviews from them about it. Like there might be something out there now, but I haven't found it. but.
DW (19:19.625)
Yeah, what brought into conception? What were they thinking and certain aspects of it? How did flow? Yeah, I feel you on that with the interviews. Definitely give us a little bit more insight than what we have.
Damon (19:31.378)
And I know that a lot of fans are really happy to see this album come out. So it's like because they know they took a little bit of time. They didn't take too much time, but they took enough. And I, you know, I'm always definitely excited to hear it. I was like, wow, foster people have an album. Great.
DW (19:35.782)
sure.
DW (19:46.685)
And it's crazy because in this microwave age, you know, time frame of music that we're in, if you're gone for like a week, you're considered obsolete. So taking a couple of years and coming back in is like, that's brave. That's got steel balls. So.
Damon (20:05.42)
Yeah, I mean, lot of like they they've, know, they definitely made a name for themselves in the industry. So I feel like they can do a little bit of that. But you got to come back right. And they came back right enough to where it was like. Different, different for sure, you know. Excuse me. So the third track on the album is Take Me Back.
So this song takes me back to FTP's Torches in 2011. that's where I was talking about. They had their hits on that L1 with pumped up kicks and all that. So that's a really fun. They have like cool artwork and their artwork kind of looks 70s kind of weird style on that. So they have their own like style that is unique to Foster With People 2.
And I think a lot of their fans are just, they're like grooving in the, you know, at the concerts. It's like a very big hipster vibe, but they're just, you know, yeah.
DW (21:08.447)
You know what's Sorry, between this song and the last song, The Loss of Space, they almost reminded me of management. That's the feel that I got from them in now that it's aspects. was like when you said the crime grooving and moving, it's like that literally put me in a management frame of mind. It was like, they saw this at it. Yeah, exactly.
Damon (21:18.914)
Yeah, they are in that style.
Taj Williams (21:19.211)
Mmm.
Damon (21:32.814)
And that's MGMT, right? Yeah. So that's how most people know that band too, but their 2011 is like, they were, they were coming out with their hit album around the same time, maybe even the same year. I don't have to look that up, but like I, I know we talked about their stuff too. So, but yeah, they're definitely.
DW (21:45.373)
Mm-mm.
DW (21:50.569)
Yeah, and then went that conventional contemporary route, you know, now versus, you know, going back to the actual upbeat sound. So, but this reminded me of like, like MGMT songs, like just I had that feel to it.
Damon (21:55.906)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (22:06.519)
Yeah, no, for sure, for sure, 100%, yeah.
Damon (22:10.243)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (22:15.169)
But yeah, and I will say like the whole album, like it sets up vibes and it's totally his vibes. So.
Damon (22:28.118)
Yeah, no, I mean, the vibe, you know, the vibe for sure is like.
Damon (22:35.63)
I like, you know, I liked torches for walking. That's why I wanted to hear this album. Like there are, and this kind of fun to do. In the real room. And then you got a statue with a rainbow flying out of the head. Symbolic, I'm sure. with like birds and stuff flying all over the place. got a archangel walking outside. There's a lot going on. So that's like.
DW (22:41.449)
Right.
Damon (23:05.548)
I guess they have a lot going on in their brain too. But that's what makes these guys pretty bad ass and they can play any one of my parties anytime. That'd be awesome. Whatever. You'd have to be a millionaire to get fostered people to play a party for you, but that would be a good concert. That's why we have concerts.
DW (23:14.867)
Mm.
DW (23:24.661)
I wouldn't say a millionaire. I think they'd be reasonable about a couple thousand or so. Maybe that's just, I'm just saying. Or you have a friend that's a friend that's, yeah, you can kill anybody with food, Definitely, you can get anybody with food. You promise good food, you're more likely to get abandoned on food, honestly.
Damon (23:30.774)
maybe. Maybe with food.
Taj Williams (23:32.651)
Yeah.
Damon (23:44.441)
Get some drinks going, free drinks. Yeah. I think they, I don't know, they might be in toast. You never know. You gotta reach out to these artists. If you have a good place for a party, they might play it. Yeah. I doubt they would do it.
Taj Williams (24:00.759)
So yeah, and I was going to just say like this is the first track of two that has bad words in it. So like, it's interesting that they, because I feel like their first like torches didn't have any, maybe it did, like, yeah, profanity. So, but yeah, even for it being a vibe track, like it's like, we have some profanity in there.
Damon (24:19.704)
profanity
Damon (24:27.83)
like you yeah they wanted to be edgy i think well okay so the next track number four is taj's pick
Taj Williams (24:29.813)
have to have an E rating. So, right.
Taj Williams (24:42.559)
Yeah. So that was my pick. Yeah. So it's the title of the track is Let Go.
Taj Williams (25:08.309)
So this one I really loved that the reason why I ultimately picked this one is a it reminds me of like a Motown like a Motown hit like it's weird it but like the really let go like vibe is is you know it's just smooth and then when the transition hits at the end it's like I don't know like the weird thing to
to compare it to, there's two weird things to compare it One is that it's bass jumping off a cliff and then like just gliding down to the bottom, right? Like you just let go, right? Or it's like parachuting. The other weird thing to compare it to is it's kind of like the Beatles across the universe where it has that crazy end, you know, where you just like you have the song and then you just have this weird end that crescendos and then just ends, right?
And I think that's what they were going for here. And that's why I appreciate this one because it has the transition. It kind of goes with the theme of like, let go, like just jump out into the open, you know, just jump, you know, jump down, right. And it's you just letting go at the end of the song, but doesn't go back to the main melody. It's smart enough to be like, no, you just end it there. You know.
DW (26:07.807)
Mm.
Taj Williams (26:34.2)
And that's why I really appreciate this one. And this is why I put this one on as my top pick for the album.
DW (26:44.981)
Okay, okay.
Taj Williams (26:46.155)
Yeah.
Damon (26:48.104)
Yeah, I think it was like I would compare it to like, you know, the first the first track, you know, see in the afterlife where it's like it's got that maybe has a little bit more of like a yacht rock sound, you know, like the laid back 70s. Yeah, definitely good track. This kind of melds into the album. So it didn't it didn't stand out as much to me. But, you know, of course, like I think I like every song on the album. I don't think there's one I was like, fuck this song.
DW (27:15.157)
don't know.
Damon (27:15.436)
But yeah, so it was a good pick. I think that's a good pick for you too, Taj. It does, it seems like it fits what you would like the mellow kind of yacht rock sometimes, you know, not all the time, but sometimes.
Taj Williams (27:29.023)
Yeah. Normally I'm not the biggest vibe guy, but like I like the vibe of this one and like the transition and then it ended. yeah. So, yeah.
DW (27:44.234)
This was actually my number one pick at one point. Yeah, at one, yeah. No, no, no, not even that. was my number one point until I went back and listened to the rest of the album. And the reason why I said that is because this had three things going forward for me. One, it was...
Taj Williams (27:46.507)
there's what? okay.
Damon (27:47.862)
The Tiltage took it from you.
DW (28:02.375)
It was a vibe. was literally when I tell you that summertime is my favorite time of year. Reason being is because this had a summertime vibe to it. It's all about letting go. It's all about feeling free. It's all about everything is great. And then like you said, not that crescendo just literally went down and capped it off. So like you described jumping off of a cliff, you know, cliff diving, everything is cool. And then you get to the bottom and then you don't have enough air and then you hit the ground. It's a type situation.
So it's like damn, but they had that aspect of it, right? It had a summertime vibe type situation. It just feeling free. Then you have the 70s mixture or fusion of nowadays updated sounds with 70s flow. So in itself was definitely relaxing. And then third part of it was it came at a right time.
If this would have came like further down in the album, I think it would have been slipped on for real. So for the fact that it came right in that four or five spot, like that's where it should be in my mind. So that actually worked out for me as far as placement goes. I'm real big on placement with this album because I felt like there's a couple of things that could have been rearranged, but for the most part, if it did, it would have thrown everything off. So they really tried to meld in, even though there were some parts that really didn't.
Taj Williams (29:25.825)
Mm.
DW (29:30.837)
feel like they went together. Just listening back on the songs, I listened to that like four times. Just going back through the songs, it felt like this is thoughts in the mind and you know how mind is kind of spastic and all over the place and scatterbrained at times. So that kind of feel like what they were going for in a situation. So, but this particular song right here was a groove. It was a vibe. It definitely had its
It's feel good mark and you know, you could hear it being played in somebody's house party and you know, somebody just vibing out to it. Especially when you got a couple of drinks in you and you have some herbal essence, whatever the case in point may be, but you're feeling good. So yeah, I get it.
Damon (30:19.394)
And he doesn't mean the shampoo, by the way. This isn't a commercial spot. So I like your take on that. You know, and Dietrich, that was good. I mean, I think this is a thought provoking album for sure. And it's not like you wouldn't think, Foster people, OK. they had the hip pumped up kicks and then they know they have a new album and it's going to blow your mind.
Taj Williams (30:22.43)
you
DW (30:23.706)
I need the Calgon to take me away.
DW (30:37.993)
Mm-hmm.
Damon (30:47.776)
So so get ready. But yeah, no, I think it's definitely it was to me it was. it was a paradise state of mind. It really does fit. think the name of the album really does fit. They probably did a lot of drugs, but that's OK. Maybe not. And if they did and that's what they like, that's cool, too. But not condoning anything listeners. So.
Taj Williams (31:13.865)
you
Damon (31:17.506)
That was number four. Now we're going to go to number five with Feed Me. Yeah, I guess Feed Me was like a... This is... I guess I thought it was a really good one. It starts out different than you expect. And then it holds true to that, I think, the Georgia Overrater sound, which is really like...
Taj Williams (31:38.124)
Yeah.
Damon (31:46.968)
Daft Punk did a really good rendition of Georgia Marauder, which I talked about before, Random Access Memories. And that's like, that's that true like 70s sound too.
DW (31:51.808)
Yep.
Taj Williams (32:09.089)
Yeah, this one's one of the weird ones because it starts out with that funky, like that weird psychedelic funky pop. It's basically what it is. And you're like, once you get in the vibe, you're in the vibe. But when it first starts off, you're like, what is this? Like, did somebody take a chicken and a frog and make them play guitar?
Damon (32:19.064)
Yeah, and it's... yeah.
Damon (32:30.124)
And then it's this.
Taj Williams (32:38.303)
Psychedelic funky trip, that's for sure.
Damon (32:38.496)
It's got, yeah, I don't know. It's like I got that like in the desert, like Jim Morrison sound, you know, like you're seeing a mirage near like you're just wasted from having no water. But then all of sudden it just turns into like a funky ass beat. And I fucking love it. And the bass, yeah.
Taj Williams (32:50.916)
yeah.
Taj Williams (32:59.98)
Yeah.
DW (33:02.943)
Yeah,
Taj Williams (33:20.66)
All right.
Damon (33:31.864)
Yeah.
DW (33:32.689)
It definitely fits fits that tool in that situation. Yes, it is psych pop. It is psych pop all the way. If we made a new drama, hey, we made a new drama, but no, it's like, sorry.
Taj Williams (33:43.147)
you
Damon (33:45.602)
Yeah, some groovy stuff, man. It's a f-
DW (33:47.243)
Yes, it works. Like I say, it would be a 60 slash 70s disco if it did not have the updated sounds. The updated sounds take it all the way to the next level.
Damon (33:57.677)
Yeah.
Damon (34:02.678)
Yeah, they even throw it. It almost sounds like they're doing like, like spinning a record. I mean, it's got like this. It's got all kinds of sounds going on, but they made it work. Yeah, this is a, this is the ship. This has got the base that I like, it works well with it.
DW (34:10.855)
Exactly.
DW (34:15.721)
All right.
DW (34:20.403)
I love rolling basses. I love pick songs like little, little tick noises and rolling basses. That is always a funky combination and it never fails.
Damon (34:22.22)
Yeah.
Damon (34:33.646)
So next on the list is Paradise State of Mind, which is like the name of the album. And for this one, title track here. Yeah, so I guess in some way I found the mothership here. It's a trippy space sound.
Taj Williams (34:45.148)
the title track.
Damon (35:03.13)
It's got a great I think it's got a really good beat to it just like just like they all do They don't all have the same beat. That's let's be clear on that. They don't all have that deep drum beat bass like the same way They all have the same sound like you can tell they're on the same album but I think they do a good job of like doing different sounds for different songs and not making it too Much like did I just hear that? You know what I mean?
Taj Williams (35:30.967)
Yeah. No, yeah, they all stand out and they're different. But this is one those, again, where it has that 3 quarters transition and then goes back to the main melody, if I remember correctly. But yeah, this one's a good song. It's like a slower tempo of like a.
Lost in Space and See You in the Afterlife. We're halfway through the album, so it's kind of like a not quite an air mission song, but it's like a, you're halfway, so we're going to slow down before we get back into it type of thing.
DW (36:17.257)
Yeah, it's a midpoint. It's kind of funny for me because for being the title track, I thought it was going to hit harder. I honestly thought that they were going to bring all the thunder into this particular track and separate the album out and go a different direction with the second half of it. I don't want to say I don't like it because I do like it.
Damon (36:17.278)
Real party pleaser.
Taj Williams (36:27.244)
Mm.
DW (36:47.083)
Am I going to listen to it 20 times in a row? No. That's how I feel about the Tattletrack. That's how I feel about Paradise State of Mind. I know it has that hairy feel. It's got the swing. It's got the, you know, the drum and bass is there. Everything is there in order to be a feel good situation. But it just does not pack that punch that I thought it would considering that you had other songs before it that literally took you on another journey type situation.
So for this being the title track, I thought they kind of, maybe it set the tone for the rest of the album and that's why the other pieces of it kind of came to what they did. I'm just not a fan of the song altogether, like much as I am for a couple of other songs on it.
Taj Williams (37:35.924)
Because you talked a little bit about placement detrick. So do you think it's because it comes right after Feat Me and you have such a heavy, funky beat and then you go into this and you're like, it's so smooth. It's almost like YouTube. It's like going from funky pop and then let's play some YouTube. And you're like, I need a better transition in between the two.
DW (38:00.487)
Right. Honestly, when I was talking about a couple of songs I would have moved around, I would have literally made this the last song on the album. This would have literally completed the album in a sense to me because it, like I said, it wasn't a powerful track by any means, but it wasn't one to just be slept on because like you said, you have to, you have to give it that listen because this is the totality of where everything is coming from. Right. So I can honestly see this as a wrap up.
Taj Williams (38:11.809)
That makes sense.
Taj Williams (38:26.513)
That makes sense.
DW (38:29.011)
And that would have been a better placement for me, just in my sense.
Taj Williams (38:33.609)
OK, I like that for sure. So yeah.
DW (38:37.096)
Okay.
Damon (38:37.173)
Yeah, it does does do that would do it justice to coast out with paradise state of mind
DW (38:43.603)
Yes, that would definitely do the song or justice in placement of the album than the song itself. So, where it's at right now in the middle because it like after that, you go on that deeper, that deeper route that we were talking about going into the depths of the mind and just that second half doesn't sound happy at all. So this is that midpoint, but it gets lost in the transition.
Damon (38:50.925)
That's, yeah.
Damon (39:09.742)
Yeah, well, I think, yeah, this is definitely like, you know, the end of the night, the last hour of the party. is till 2 a.m. and there's like three people left. So, yeah, that's that's definitely where, you know, that would do it justice at the end of the album. And, you know, good thing is you can always switch it up yourself at home.
DW (39:19.562)
Mm-hmm.
Taj Williams (39:24.812)
you
DW (39:31.253)
Yeah.
Damon (39:36.448)
So hopefully you take our pointers and when you're listening, keep all that stuff in mind. But in a paradise state of mind it is. I'm not going to use my drum roll. Maybe later. But so the next song that we have on the album, number seven is Glitch Zig.
DW (39:44.298)
Mm-hmm.
Damon (40:05.836)
anybody look up glitch zig because that's a fucking weird word so this has like i i found it to have hard trumpet sound so that really brings me back to like a ragtime sound which is kind of like throwing in a mix a little bit for this but i mean i wouldn't expect anything less you know from foster the people to have different instruments going but that's what i got out of it you know but
Taj Williams (40:07.617)
You
Taj Williams (40:35.851)
Yet this one was kind of like a, felt like a mashup. Because it had a weird techno part and then it had like a, it wasn't quite syncopated, but then like the soft melody and it really transitioned between the two, but it felt more like a mashup than anything else.
Damon (40:36.203)
makes it more memorable.
DW (40:42.45)
You
DW (40:56.063)
This actually should have been right behind Feed Me. This and Feed Me together should have been together, because that would have been like a one-two combination of sorts. this is like a B-side of Feed Me. So in essence, that's why I was saying, State of Mind in between these two did not make any sense at all to me. You should have Feed Me and Glitch It together. That would have been a nice little path that you could roll on.
Taj Williams (40:59.425)
Yeah.
DW (41:23.921)
you know, they're similar in sounds, you'll still have that same little funky little roll where it just goes in a different pattern. And that would have been like, okay, that's perfect placement. Feed me, you know, glitch zig, I'm grooving, I'm moving. I've got my little groove and then if I want to fall off, I can do that afterwards. And that would have been such a better situation. I mean, it's got its own vibe.
I don't like, I just hate it coming in after Paradise State of Mind.
Taj Williams (41:54.487)
So, but yeah.
DW (41:58.377)
It's like a DJ playing a song right after you play like two or three songs that are good in a row. Then you play that one song and everybody goes to the bar and starts drinking and gets off of the dance floor. And then he's trying to figure a song to get him back on the dance floor. Like this is that mix right there. Like you played Paradise State of Mind. Now you're playing Glitch. They tried to get people back in the groove, but they already lost it. So it's like.
Taj Williams (42:09.975)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (42:21.463)
Right,
DW (42:26.803)
I've done it so many times as I had to learn from it.
Damon (42:27.022)
Yeah, they were they were tripping on something, dude. I think they they definitely made up that word too, from what I'm seeing. That's definitely not I don't know if it's in the dictionary. Maybe it's under.
DW (42:33.163)
Pretty much.
DW (42:39.332)
for sure.
DW (42:44.836)
If I play it in Scrabble, y'all better count that shit. That's all I'm saying.
Damon (42:49.356)
yeah, it's a word now for sure. It's a hipster word. It's got to be the hipster dictionary. There's got to be something. Yeah. Well, that was glitched. It's kind of another song for me. I, you know, like I said, hard trumpets and all that. But so the holy Shangri-La, that's a cool name for a song, I think.
DW (42:54.453)
And I want the double points as well.
Damon (43:15.79)
So it's keeping like with the deep bass sound throwing it throwing in that 70 sound, you know, but not annoyingly.
Taj Williams (43:26.411)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (43:30.227)
It. Yeah, well, and this this was like have it because I think like each song has its counterpart, and so like this is kind of the counterpart to let it go. But I just like let it go a lot more is the thing. And this one was OK, but for some reason, let go just always stood out to be more so.
DW (43:30.229)
What do you Quiet.
DW (43:41.792)
Mm-hmm.
DW (43:55.463)
I'm always a fan of Thump Bass, especially in their use of it. They slowed it down. Like it's got that groove there. It's just a slowed down tempo of it. Like I, it was cool. I definitely love the lyrics more so than I love, you know, the beat. And the reason why I say that is because
You know, this is that that getting into the deeper state of mind type situation, right? This is the the euphoric thoughts and trying to put things in perspective and and, you know, trying to see a bigger purpose in life. That's that's the feel that I got out of it. And in all honesty, like, I understand why it's on the back half of the album. And that's cool. I just goes it comes down to the placement.
If those other two songs would have got put together, you could have put this, like I say, and Let Go could have been towards the back of the album with this. And these two together would have actually had a groove and set to it. And that would have been cool. Like I said, it doesn't stand out like Let Go, but it has its own vibe. And I respect the vibe. I always respect the vibe.
Taj Williams (45:14.677)
Yeah. So, okay.
Damon (45:17.991)
I thought yeah, I thought I had a Bee Gees sound really it kind of like he really does capture that Yeah
DW (45:22.047)
Yes. You hit that nail on the head. Yes, it does have a BG's attentiveness to it coming in from that group. are correct.
Damon (45:32.238)
another 70s disco band. like you, yeah, they're really pulling vibes from, from other bands for sure. think with this, cause they, you know, the sound isn't on all their other stuff. So, but, I like it. I'm glad that they decided to do that. I could be completely wrong, but yeah, I hear Bee Gees. I don't think I was ever a real big fan of Bee Gees really.
They have like they had the big biggest hits, I think, out of disco. But.
Damon (46:07.5)
Yeah, that's that was Shingur La, number eight on the on their album Paradise State of Mind. So now we're going to number nine. We're towards the tail end of this album. It'd be sad to be done with it, but yeah, I definitely like this one. Sometimes I want to be bad. And I think that was somebody's pick, Dietrich.
DW (46:36.393)
Yes, it was. That was a big.
Damon (46:37.038)
So what do you think about it?
Damon (46:44.874)
As far as. Do you think it was should have been like the first song?
Damon (46:53.272)
Probably not.
DW (47:03.677)
So no, I don't think it should have been the first song. I think it was right in this placement where it should be. This is to me, I'm just gonna throw this out here. This is depression. This is, know, when you, Idle mind is the devil's playground. That's what this is. This is literally, you know, I feel loneliness coming in, you know, wants to be my friend. I feel this is that contradiction of what I was talking about before where
You literally have this nice little mid-tempo beat and it's got all this feel-goodness in it, but the lyrics themselves, total opposite. This is not a happy song. And for the fact that they're on an album called Paradise State of Mind, it literally is the opposite of that. Even though the fills are still in the same vibe,
DW (48:02.311)
I don't know, it's kinda hard to place it for me. Cause it's like, I picked it as my favorite song because I love walking contradictions. I absolutely adore when a song does not go the same route as its vibe. That being said, as far as on this album goes, I felt like it had its good place, it had its part. Is it gonna be a hit or a single? No.
Rarely do I actually come with the hits or singles that everybody in the mother is gonna love like I like what likes what I like and at this moment of time when I heard this I'm like, yeah, I could totally be in like one of my lonesome states and play this and like not wallow in it, you know Slow songs are making wallow in it. This is a mid-tempo up beat type situation and kind of make me get out of it. so that's how I thought about it
Taj Williams (49:02.935)
So I will let you know, like I kind of slept on this song when I listened to it. And then when you said you had picked it, I was like, am I missing something? So when I went back and I listened to it, here's what I think the song is. I think the song is somebody biting their tongue. And then it's them saying, I really want to this person out. And then it's them cussing the person out because
DW (49:02.997)
What do got?
DW (49:09.034)
Mm-hmm.
DW (49:25.355)
See you.
Taj Williams (49:32.383)
That last third of the song, the last fourth is that flute comes in and that flute is like is like a why am I thinking this Snoopy's the little bird? It's a bird cussing somebody out, right? That's exactly. And so like, I think that's what the song is. The song is like, you know, sometimes I want, you know, be good. Sometimes I want to be bad and cuss people out. And I'm trying not to. And then you just
DW (49:37.653)
Mm-hmm.
DW (49:47.699)
What's that?
Taj Williams (50:01.811)
end up exploding on a person and gussin' out. Yeah. Woodstock, that's who it is. It's Woodstock exploded. Yeah.
DW (50:05.771)
I see that. I'm not mad at that. I can actually see that.
DW (50:11.893)
Mm-hmm.
DW (50:16.853)
So what stock did getting Snoopy's ass a couple times? Yeah, definitely.
Taj Williams (50:19.561)
Right? Exactly.
DW (50:22.611)
It's like the thought of you want to explode but you you're just thinking of it because you're getting your mind your own your own head. Gotcha. Dammit what's your type?
Damon (50:23.582)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (50:30.697)
Yeah.
Damon (50:35.98)
Yeah, so did you like this more because it had a little bit of a sad undertone to it? Yeah.
DW (50:43.935)
For sure. love, I love, it's crazy, it sounds crazy, you know, cause I try to be a upbeat person all the time, but I love the sad undertones because that's a real feeling. You know, you can't run from a sadness. Like everybody tries to, but sometimes you just gotta be in it. And then as long as you can come out of it, then you're okay.
DW (51:11.275)
and this had the Go Lucky groove. It's like, like, Hey Now. You know, everybody loved Andre 3000, Hey Now, and, yeah. But that was the song about breaking up. they know it was, that was one of those contradictions where everybody's like, yeah, they just, you know, shake it, shake it like a Paul and Roy picks. He just made it so happy and upbeat.
Damon (51:11.308)
Yeah.
Damon (51:26.269)
Ha ha!
DW (51:38.803)
If you forget that it's a fucking sad song and that's what this kind of reminds me of. It's happy. It's not totally upbeat because it wasn't being tempo, but it had an upbeat sound to it, but it was a sad song. So that's what kind of drove me into it. So yeah, that's what.
Damon (51:45.432)
That, yeah.
Damon (52:00.738)
Yeah, going through the lyrics, you definitely see that there's like, there's some like sadness to it.
DW (52:03.143)
Mm-hmm.
Damon (52:08.236)
guess maybe a lot of people can relate to it. So that's pretty cool, I think. I think that they do a good job of creating music that people can relate to and probably a lot of the younger generations, know, maybe our generation. Yeah. When a band can do that, you know, and, you know, the whole album, I think, evokes emotions, different emotions, but.
DW (52:18.441)
Yeah, that play on emotions is nice. Yeah, definitely.
DW (52:33.734)
Mm-hmm.
Damon (52:37.87)
So that was Dietrich's pick number nine. Sometimes I want to be bad. So number 10 is Chasing Low Vibrations. And this is an 80s sound to me. I guess you got like synthesizer, probably all the stuff in this album, but I hear like laser sounds and low vocals. But it's kind of a peaceful song. I think it's pretty laid back.
So.
lasers fighting flowers? don't know.
Taj Williams (53:13.035)
Yeah. Yeah. This is one those, it was close on my list, but the transition just, the transition threw me off. But yeah, I mean, it's kind of, yeah, it's like a nice mellow afternoon beat. But then if you listen to the lyrics, you're like, okay. You know, he's talking about how he wants to live in low vibrations and then, you know, be happy tomorrow. It's like,
Just let me be sad today and I'll be happy tomorrow. Okay. Yeah.
DW (53:54.133)
This sound wise right here, this is classic foster people.
Taj Williams (54:00.541)
yeah, for sure.
DW (54:02.527)
This, this, when I thought of this album coming out and you telling us that this was your pick, this is what I had in mind that the album was gonna be.
DW (54:15.125)
So for the fact that this was towards the end and it literally came after, sometimes I wanna be bad, like I totally get it because you're still in your fields.
Damon (54:15.17)
This is torches. Yeah.
DW (54:30.397)
And this was the sound that I initially thought we were going to get. And so the fact that they went back and touched on it in this particular point, I'm all for it.
Damon (54:42.402)
Yeah, I wonder if they saved it for the end, you know, like they wanted to kind of like towards the end, have a little bit of original sound come back. But. Again, I'd like to hear what they had to say. I'm sure they could probably find them talking about it somewhere. There will be interviews if there hasn't already been. But. Yeah, I think they they definitely pulled it off pretty well with that softer sound.
Taj Williams (54:42.508)
Yeah.
DW (54:49.813)
Mm-hmm.
DW (54:58.293)
Right.
Damon (55:09.922)
Not that that's not in other songs in the album, but it definitely doesn't sound 70s to me. think we like you hit it on the head there, the nail on the head when you said it sounds like more original, foster people. It's it's coming out of that 70s like five. In a way, I guess you could probably say the whole thing 70s too, but. It's a trippy album, just like the album cover is trippy.
Taj Williams (55:38.123)
Yeah. it kind of, once you say that, it makes more sense with the last track. So. Yeah, because I'll say that this one makes it sound like it's their old sound, and then the last track makes it sound like it's their new sound, for sure.
Damon (55:39.533)
So.
Damon (55:46.601)
Yeah, so
DW (55:59.561)
which that's why I don't think it should be the last track. Like if I were to reorder this, literally, a diamond to be born would be their intro song.
Taj Williams (56:09.887)
Mm.
DW (56:12.073)
because you're talking about just by on the name itself, a diamond to be born, that to me sparks the idea or the thought. And that I would make the first song and then see you in afterlife, literally comes after that. And that's funny within its own self. I would take from there, let go and...
Taj Williams (56:20.971)
Gotcha.
DW (56:40.031)
Holy Shangri-La, I would put those together towards the end of the album. I would bump up, glitch me, glitch Zig to feed me. Paradise State of Mind, I would make that the last song of the album because that would totally revamp the whole feel of it.
Taj Williams (56:57.601)
Gotcha.
DW (56:57.649)
and then go from there, but that's that's just me. That's where i'm coming from with it diamond diamond didn't be born It's nothing nothing. I'm gonna be playing on my playlist. i'm not gonna, you know play it five times in a row It's a great sound. It's got great ambiance. I love that but it's not a song to me It's just you know the ending of an album type feel and this is this is how they wanted to end it off.
I would honestly reorder this shit and I would put that as the first one because that sounds more like an intro than it does an ending. An outro. So, to me. To me.
Taj Williams (57:30.251)
Makes sense.
Taj Williams (57:34.288)
I could see that for sure.
Damon (57:36.429)
It really does. Yeah. yeah. Number 11, a diamond to be born. Last track of the album. It does sound like it could have been. The intro song, but like I said before, they they really do capture the sound. George O. Marauder, but they did, you know, they did. He was like, I guess, like.
Redid by Daft Punk. did like random access memories that attribute to his stuff, but they really do sound like,
DW (58:08.545)
huh.
Mm-hmm.
Damon (58:17.518)
death punk on Random Access Memories in this song. I'm not saying they're stealing it, but like it definitely has that sound for sure. And throughout the whole album, there's a 70 sound and then you have this kind of solidified it for me. was like, wow. So I guess maybe this would. To room into the album afterwards, because I like, I love the love Random Access Memories, one of my favorite albums, but. Yeah, that was my take on that.
DW (58:25.493)
Yeah.
DW (58:37.119)
Okay.
DW (58:48.179)
Yeah, I think the album is a great album. It's got great songs. It's got great concepts. Even, you know, a diamond to be born, you have to go through all this pressure in order to make a diamond, right? That's that's within itself is his own symbolic trait. But I think I would give the album a solid B plus. It almost would have been an A if it wasn't for placement. Because. Go ahead.
Taj Williams (59:13.303)
no, go ahead. You're fine.
DW (59:18.153)
No, no, I was, that's all I was going to say. It would have been an A if the songs were placed in a different order because then it would bring a whole different feel to them.
Taj Williams (59:29.811)
Yeah. And for me, the last thing I was going to say was just the title itself. And it's only because of the generation I was probably born in and the number of syllables. For some reason, I keep thinking a diamond in the rough. I keep waiting for the Latin song to go on.
DW (59:44.531)
Mm-hmm.
DW (59:50.428)
Man.
Damon (59:54.174)
Well, thanks, Taj. Let's print it back to the actual album we're talking about. I'm just kidding. Everybody likes Aladdin too. It's good. So now I know what you really think. Yeah. Yeah, I think it is. It's also it's a good ender as well. A Diamond to be Born is a good ender. There's lots of symbolism in this album.
DW (59:56.305)
Right?
Taj Williams (01:00:00.432)
you
DW (01:00:10.408)
Right?
Taj Williams (01:00:10.699)
Yeah.
DW (01:00:18.527)
Mm-hmm.
DW (01:00:22.538)
Yes.
Damon (01:00:22.636)
Lots of feels, very big disco vibe. If you like that, which I think a lot of people do, if it's done right, this is something that I don't think you could play all the way through at a party. If it was like the beginning of a party, maybe outside for the, the outer dwellers of a party. Cause it's just chill music in a way, but a couple.
DW (01:00:48.275)
Yeah, for our playlist, I would totally reorder this and it would come out a banger. Like if we were to play some of our song through here, you could go on this whole &M's journey and it would be nice.
Damon (01:00:53.219)
Yeah.
Damon (01:00:59.395)
Yeah.
choice tracks can redo we can do paradise redo paradise state of mind and make it a little bit better that's what we're saying to you fostering people now but yeah you can definitely mix it up anyway you want and that's the beauty of you know when you when you get an album and listen to it and it's easier to do now than it was before well cd's you can do that too but
Taj Williams (01:01:03.745)
You
Taj Williams (01:01:13.079)
you
Damon (01:01:28.654)
Yeah, so this is a that's that's been a review of Paradise State of Mind by Foster the People. Thanks for listening to us. Yeah, about a band and an entire album. You made it through 11 songs with us. So.
Taj Williams (01:01:43.692)
Right.
Right? So, okay. Well, we'll go and wrap things up then. This has been Trace Tracks. You can find this on tracetracks.com or emails at tracetracks.gmail.com. Both of those end with a Z. We ask that you please subscribe and listen to all past and future episodes. Let's go and sign out. I've been Taj.
Damon (01:02:08.417)
I'm Damon.
DW (01:02:10.165)
Thank you for listening to our take on the band. We'll be right back once we... I couldn't even go there. Anyway, I'm D-Trix and we're gonna pick up the needle, but y'all keep spinning those choice tracks.
Taj Williams (01:02:13.867)
you
Taj Williams (01:02:17.594)
you
DW (01:02:59.221)
Yothert.
DW (01:03:08.863)
What's our dynamic here?
Damon (01:03:10.562)
That was weird.