It’s Music Monday and some of us are getting into that holiday mood!
**What our editor-at-large Doreen St.Félix is listening to:**
No holiday soundtrack is complete without Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas.” The first chords flood in, and the memories rise up: last-minute gift shopping with my mom. cooking and prepping food on Christmas Eve, laughing with family until the early morning hours. Eleven months out of the year, I identify as more of a grinch than a santa. But cut this classic track on, and I melt into a puddle of sincere, totally corny, holiday cheer.
**What our associate editor Laia Garcia is listening to:**
I wasn’t sure what I would recommend today, but when I logged into YouTube today Barrio Boyzz showed up as one of my recent searches and I went on a bit of a hole, watching all their videos. In the mid ’90s, Barrio Boyzz were in constant rotation on the radio stations in Puerto Rico, and I feel like to this day they are severely underrated as boy bands go. The “Boyzz” were a group of Puerto Rican and Colombian immigrants, sang in English and Spanish and had those perfect R&B grooves, and slick dance moves DOWN. “Donde Quiera Que Estes,” their classic duet with Selena, is such a sweet throwback, and their voices just sound so good together! This song brings me BACK something crazy, especially when Selena starts scatting at the end. She was such magic and this is just one example of how incredible her talent was.
**What our editor in chief Jessica Grose is listening to:**
“We were just talking about the sublime Jenny Lewis in the office, so I thought I’d recommend a favorite song from her old band, Rilo Kiley, “Wires and Waves.” It’s from their debut album, Takeoffs and Landings, which came out in 2001 (Christ I’m old). No one writes or sings about loneliness and heartache better than Lewis, and this one is a keeper.” – Jessica Grose, Editor in Chief​
**What our CEO Ben Cooley is listening to:**
​I went to college in St. Paul, MN in the late eighties/early nineties so don’t lecture me on rock music. I remember being bruised, baffled, and electrified at their live shows. Obviously Babes in Toyland were a part of an amazing Twin Cities punk rock tradition but their sonic and cultural influence on the world has been criminally overlooked. These women were the originals. Please watch and take notes ladies and gentlemen.
