Super Awesome Mix

This week's Mixtape Rewind takes you back to where Matt and Sam reviewed memorable first tracks from albums.  The first track can make you stay, skip, or fall in love. We dove into 12 album openers that don’t just start a record — they define it — and traced how a great intro sets the promise for everything that follows. From the sunlit optimism of the Beach Boys’ Wouldn’t It Be Nice to the neon stride of Taylor Swift’s Welcome to New York, we explore how artists use track one to signal a theme, a shift, or a dare.

We share the moments that hooked us: Alanis Morissette cutting straight to the bone on All I Really Want, Pearl Jam’s Once roaring to life as a debut mission statement, and Chance the Rapper turning gospel joy into a full-album thesis on All We Got. We also talk about pivots and reinvention — Springsteen’s The E Street Shuffle breaking from his Dylan-leaning debut, and Swift’s leap from Nashville to skyscraper synth-pop — and why that boldness belongs right up front. Along the way, we celebrate high-voltage openers like Sleigh Bells’ Tell ’Em, the literate punch of Titus Andronicus’ A More Perfect Union, the tender sting of Dashboard Confessional’s Hands Down, the bittersweet charm of The Shins’ Kissing the Lipless, and Andrew Bird’s Fiery Crash turning an airline safety demo into a meditation on mortality.

This is a love letter to sequencing, storytelling, and the lost art of letting an album guide your night. 
Matt and Samer go through twelve songs that served as the opening tracks for some amazing albums.
You can find the mix here on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04FSmhh5ejKJ5oDdPr1WED?si=060ea013ab8c4c76
1. A More Perfect Union - Titus Andronicus
2. Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne
3. Tell 'Em - Sleigh Bells
4. Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys
5. All We Got - Chance the Rapper
6. All I Really Want - Alanis Morrissette
7. Kissing the Lipless - The Shins
8. The E Street Shuffle - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
9. Hands Down - Dashboard Confessional
10. Once - Pearl Jam
11. Fiery Crash - Andrew Bird
12. Welcome to New York - Taylor Swift
13. Let Go - Frou Frou
14. Back on the Block - Quincy Jones
15. Marching Bands of Manhattan - Death Cab for Cutie
16. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
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What if the sixth album is where artists finally step into their truest selves? We kick off season six by chasing that idea across genres and decades, building a mix from Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, Kendrick Lamar, Prince, Beyoncé, The Beatles, Jay-Z, John Mayer, The National, Michael Jackson, Foo Fighters, and A Tribe Called Quest. The pattern that emerges is hard to ignore: at album six, craft meets courage, and the results can be seismic.

We start with contrasts—Radiohead’s brooding There, There and the stark intimacy of Springsteen’s Nebraska—spotlighting how restraint can be as bold as maximalism. Kendrick’s TV Off punches at the attention economy while delivering meme-worthy flair; Prince’s Purple Rain towers as a career-defining epic that still feels alive. We trace personal and cultural stakes in Beyoncé’s Formation, then pivot to The Beatles’ Michelle to show how Rubber Soul reshaped their sound with subtle, melodic confidence.

The timeline gets playful when Jay-Z’s ’03 Bonnie & Clyde foreshadows what Lemonade would later complicate. We celebrate narrative craft in John Mayer’s Walt Grace, sit with The National’s vulnerable “45%er” admission, and marvel at Thriller’s near-greatest-hits density anchored by Billie Jean. Foo Fighters’ The Pretender turns sixth-album freedom into kinetic fuel, and A Tribe Called Quest’s We the People closes with legacy, politics, and gratitude—proof that a final statement can still move the culture forward.

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sam-2026-6th-album-mix/pl.u-1LX0auZaGX7V
1. There, There - Radiohead
2. Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen
3. tv off - Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay
4. Purple Rain - Prince
5. Formation - Beyonce
6. Michelle - The Beatles
7. '03 Bonnie & Clyde - Jay-Z featuring Beyonce
8. Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 - John Mayer
9. I Need My Girl - The National
10. Thriller - Michael Jackson
11. The Pretender - Foo Fighters
12. We The People.... - A Tribe Called Quest
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A voice can be an instrument, a mirror, and sometimes a battlefield. That’s the ground we cover with actor-singer Winter Andrews aka the “indie sorcerer”—as we trace how mimicry, rhythm, and empathy shaped both his acting and his music. 
From being moved by Regina Spektor’s allegory in Samson to discovering the strange peace inside Hozier’s Shrike, Winter opens up about the songs that taught him to hold big feelings without apology. We talk Chester Bennington’s quiet ache amid the roar, Imogen Heap’s ghostly minimalism, Dermot Kennedy’s raw folk energy, and Phoebe Bridgers’ gentle delivery of devastating stories. Then Jeff Buckley brings the hopeful melancholy that still lights the way.
 
 With that map in hand, we step into Winter’s upcoming EP, Till the Moon Fades Away, and the world he built across four originals. Wildfires starts small and blooms into a cinematic swell, setting the promise that intimacy and grandeur will meet. The Lovers is a three-act love story threaded by one telling word—if—moving from yearning to union to elegy, with strings by Rob Moose amplifying the sweep of time. Babel rises from shame and self-loathing into a towering confession, a song years in the making that demanded the right vocal arc and tempo to match its storm. Across the Snow closes like the aftermath of hard nights, born through a character to reach truths that were too raw to face head-on.
 
 If you love singer-songwriter storytelling, indie folk drama, cinematic ballads, and vocal-forward production, this conversation will hit home. 
Follow all things Winter Andrews on Instagram and TikTok (@ItsWinterAndrews)
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/winter-andrews-mix/pl.u-MJEGINqbr8
1. Samson - Regina Spektor
2. Shrike -  Hozier
3. Numb - LINKIN PARK
4. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
5. After Rain - Dermot Kennedy
6. Zombie - YUNGBLUD
7. You Missed My Heart - Phoebe Bridgers
8. Morning Theft - Jeff Buckley
9. Wildfires - Winter Andrews
10. The Lovers - Winter Andrews
11. Babel - Winter Andrews
12. Across the Snow - Winter Andrews
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The first few minutes the audio might get choppy but it's fixed for the majority of the episode afterwards! Apologies for that.
The moment Tori Norman Castillo quit her Wall Street job from an LAX terminal after attending the Grammys, she knew her path forward would be different. As co-founder of Kelzana Artist Management, she's now revolutionizing how musicians build sustainable careers through strategic storytelling.
 
 "Branding goes so deep," Tori explains, drawing from her film background to reimagine artist development. "I think about storytelling for musicians as a movie—what's the plot of their brand? Are they the tragic hero? The rebellious protagonist?" This cinematic approach transforms how artists connect with audiences in an overcrowded marketplace.
 
 Tori's playlist is titled "Top of the Mountain" and it's a journey through life's seasons from the youthful energy of Baby Keem's "16" through reflective winter tracks like Jorja Smith's "I Am." Each selection reveals how music marks transformative moments and shapes our understanding of ourselves. Having grown up in the Blue Ridge Mountains before traveling the world, Tori now returns to Georgia with a renewed appreciation for her roots and the musical influences that defined her.
 
 Kelzana's business model reflects this thoughtful approach, offering everything from foundational brand development to full management services. By meeting artists where they are and building authentic narratives, Tori helps musicians create sustainable careers beyond algorithmic trends.
 
 Whether you're an emerging artist seeking direction or simply fascinated by the intersection of music, storytelling, and personal growth, this conversation offers fresh perspective on finding your authentic voice in a noisy world. Connect with Tori and explore Kelzana's artist-centered approach at https://www.kelzanamgmt.com/.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40L2daCIrUTYMvhQAzKTB2?si=3vbR3XejS2OoHnlE-qTwbw
1. 16 - Baby Keem
2. Songbird - Eva Cassidy
3. Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes
4. Speyside - Bon Iver
5. River - Leon Bridges
6. El Condor Pasa (If I Could) - Simon & Garfunkel
7. Gild the Lily - Billy Strings
8. These Days - The Jesse Williams Band
9. Rather Be Alone - Leon Thomas featuring Halle
10. Harvest Moon (Spotify Studios Version) - Lord Huron
11. 17 - Youth Lagoon
12. I Am - Jorja Smith
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Sam's had a big year and now he gives Matt and all the listeners his top 12 songs of 2025!
We open with punchy rock and bass-heavy pop, shift into raw confessionals, and close with orchestral EDM that practically lifts you out of your seat. The throughline is contrast: songs that hype you up, songs that make you think, and songs that do both without breaking a sweat.

We kick off with Wet Leg’s sharp-tongued ode to overcrowded city life and swing into Blackpink’s high-gloss momentum, built for big speakers and bigger moods. From there, NF’s “Fear” brings unfiltered honesty about relapse into anxiety, while King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard bend genres with big band brass and 70s sparkle. Logic’s “Not a Game,” elevated by Lucy Rose’s airy hook, threads grit with grace; AJR’s “The Big Goodbye” hooks you with an auctioneer loop and a look back at what you leave behind when you chase a dream.

The mid-list heat spikes with Lindsay Stirling and Shuba’s “Evil Twin,” a violin-meets-EDM surge that belongs on every pre-run playlist, then deepens with Florence and the Machine’s “Witch Dance,” a visceral reflection on mortality and power. Jenny’s “Like Jenny” delivers chorus-first pop engineered for pure joy, while Maiah Manser’s “With a Smile” introduces siren-core chills over a sleek electronic bed. Lil Wayne’s “Welcome to Tha Carter” blends choir, sample wizardry, and razor wit, asking whether we ever pause to savor heaven after clawing through hell. We close with “Lazarus Rise,” a cinematic ascent from haunted piano to full orchestral thunder—a reminder that genre walls are meant to be climbed.

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https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sams-best-of-2025/pl.u-dok7jCBkWPg6
Catch these fists – Wet Leg 
Jump – Blackpink 
Fear – NF 
Phantom Island – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard 
Not a Game – Logic featuring Lucy Rose 
The Big Goodbye – AJR 
Evil Twin – Lindsey Stirling featuring Shuba 
Witch Dance – Florence and the Machine 
Like Jennie – Jennie 
With a Smile – Maiah Manser 
Welcome to Tha Carter – Lil Wayne 
Lazarus Rise – Wasiu & Apache 
Support the show
Visit us at https://www.superawesomemix.com to learn more about our app, our merchandise, our cards, and more!