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Mixtape 39
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 39

Some truly dreamy songs on this playlist - “Les Fleurs,” by Minnie Ripperton, “Soft Sands” by the Chordettes, and surprisingly, a gorgeous song from…

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Mixtape 38
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 38

I miss making you playlists for your disc drive, so I made you this. I know it’s not the same… but it’s the closest I can get. New mixtape monthly up on my spotify. Find me there at…

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Mixtape 37
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 37

I love so many songs on this playlist.

This whole Girls album brings up so many nostalgic feelings for me. Jeff Beck’s “Nadia” is an amazing demonstration of a guitarist adapting to new styles of music, with a jungle breakbeat kind of backdrop, and…

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Mixtape 36
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 36

The first four songs on this are perfect to me. Q’s “Today” has an unreal build that I listen to again and again just to hear the drums come in. “Sweep Me Off My Feet” is just so well done. CARRTOONS are an unreal vibe, and…

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Mixtape 35
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 35

Some Real Hipster Hits on this one, including classic grooves from the excellent production minds of Madlib (Madvillain), Dangermouse (Gnarls Barkley), The Avalanches, and Knxwledge (NxWorries). A couple classics on here, as well, like…

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Mixtape 34
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 34

“Pick Up Your Feelings” was one of my top songs this month. I couldn’t get enough of it, or the call and response of The Raconteurs’ song “Level,” one I’d forgotten about until recently. Surprising highlights on this were…

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Mixtape 33
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 33

This ranks pretty high in my list of best playlists I’ve ever made. So many undeniable classics, and so many killer songs, old and new. Dijon’s “Many Times” is one of my all time favorites here, but looking down the tracklist…

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Mixtape 32
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 32

Great upbeat songs on this one, solid indie vibes. The guitar lines on Bomba Estéreo’s “Deja” are ones that I come back to all the time, they’re so well done. Benny Sings chips in a quality cover of…

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Mixtape 31
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 31

These first five songs are flawless. Pin It Down is such a fantastic riff. “I’m a Rock” is an incredible Sly & The Family Stone style track. The Box Tops’ “The Letter” is an all time favorite of mine. I can never get over the fact…

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Mixtape 30
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 30

I worked out of a studio on Skid Row I swear was haunted. Each room you walked by in the far-too-quiet hallways had a hard-eyed person sitting staring out at you. The bathroom was filled with…

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Mixtape 29
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 29

“The World is Beyond Us - It’s Too Enormous” is a line I would get stuck in my head all the time. I love this Tame Impala Remix of a Crowded House song that I, in all honesty, had…

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Mixtape 28
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 28

This is a rare 10/10 playlist, from start to finish. I love how this one turned out. Some of my favorite moments on here are the dropout in the middle of Chaka Khan’s “Like Sugar,” the rhythm of the vocals on…

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Mixtape 27
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 27

This one starts and ends on a fade - starting with my favorite version of “Not Fade Away,” the Stones version, and ending with…

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Mixtape 26
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 26

Everytime Pharcyde’s “Passing Me By” starts, I have a hard time not singing out the first few lines. The gritty production, the personality in the performances, there’s a reason this is a classic. There are some well-known classics on this one, including…

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Mixtape 25
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 25

This is a great summer playlist. When I wrote “Basic Bliss,” I was listening to this, trying to figure out how to make a song that would fit on this playlist in particular. Queen’s “Cool Cat” was really influential to me on that song. I just wanted to make something that felt like summer. Some standout tracks from this are the excellent DJ Premier produced…

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Mixtape 24
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 24

When Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars announced they were forming Silk Sonic (and that bass icon Bootsy Collins would be involved) it felt like the world as a whole apologizing to me for the entirety of the COVID pandemic. This playlist leads off with the lead single from that album, but there are plenty of other gems, well-known and unknown on this playlist. I’ll say my favorite albums from this playlist are…

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Mixtape 23
mixtapes John Moran mixtapes John Moran

Mixtape 23

Listening back to this playlist now, I get transported back to my car, driving through a neighborhood where I no longer live, past I high school I never attended, on a late spring afternoon, with “Crawling Home When The Morning Comes” playing on my speakers, trying to figure out if I need to hire a mix engineer to finish off “Dead End Friends,” or it I could get my mix to sound as good as anything on this playlist. I ended up…

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