Dan's Recs: Sliding through ourselves

1. Monday Pick Me Up


"Colorshow" - The Avett Brothers

The Avett Brothers have a way at digging down into the pits of our emotions only to pull out the rawest beauty from underneath. Mondays have a way of squashing any hope and beauty we may have. Best enjoyed with a warm cup of coffee, "Colorshow" thumps clarity into a gray morning soul and prepares it to shine on through the week. The song is a much-needed prism to help focus and separate out our many colors and serves to remind us that even gray is a color in this beautiful spectrum.

2. Latin is For Lovers


"Nada is Igual" - Luis Miguel

I was first introduced to Luis Miguel by my high school Spanish teacher. She tried to capture a certain vivacity and love for life that immature high-schoolers seldom recognize. Though "Nada es Igual" is a lover's lament about how nothing is or will be the same, Miguel expresses the loss of love with the warmth of soul that needs no translation.

3. Losing Yourself in "4x4" Time


"Vanishing Point" - Deadmau5

As a college student, my days are spent rushing from one classroom to another, worrying about all of my various extracurricular activities and trying to feed, wash, and sleep in between the madness. The repetitive nature of life and the constant levels of stress are oddly similar to the repetitive nature of Deadmau5's "Vanishing Point" which, if listened to correctly, can send any listener into a existence beyond this simple earth.

4. I Would Drink it Dry


"Vice Rag" - AA Bondy

If you don't know, AA Bondy is a folk artist that specializes in a certain tone of soft, dark melody. I first saw him perform with Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band and only caught the last bit of his set. I wanted to hear more and found a couple albums but not until I saw him again did it make much sense. When AA Bondy performs he get trashed, hammered, sloshed, and any other slang for downright drunk. "Vice Rag" personifies the anchors holding us in the darkness that is a part of our soul. Bondy's smooth tone and rich words wash over like hot black coffee, warm and invigorating but are still clouded with dark abyss.

5. You've Gone too Far cause you Know it don't Matter Anyway


"Rich Girl" - Hall and Oates

My mother is not normally the one who is on par with my music tastes, but when she gifted me with a greatest hits album of Darryl Hall and John Oates she shot an ace. Hall and Oates bring so much soul out through their music. The bass waves up in down in your chest trying to break free from your rib cage. "Rich Girl" captures anger and frustration with a knowledge that there is nothing that can be done. It's a simple game of understanding and that's all that one can do. We can spout and be angry but after a certain point the game is out of our hands.

--Dan Moore, Alumni Investment Relations Director