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Tim Casteel

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Understanding the Times

Good Clean Fun 2018

August 14, 2018 By Tim Casteel

What’s the first thing students encounter when they come to your event? The music that you’re playing. The problem – finding good music that’s not explicit.

So here’s a Good Clean Fun Spotify playlist.

Full of upbeat, fun songs that are clean and that appeal to an ethnically diverse college student audience.

It’s a mix of Christian rap, dance, popular music, indie rock, and a handful of songs in Spanish. I double checked lyrics for all of them (even the Spanish songs!) and there’s no sexual stuff, cussing (there are some songs labeled explicit, but I assure you they are clean; sometimes whole albums are labeled explicit while individual songs are fine), no taking the Lord’s name in vain (i.e. — “oh my g__d”; I’m looking at you Taylor Swift — Shake it Off), etc.

We use this playlist at our Cru (Fort Worth) Winter Conference, Cookouts, and Weekly Meetings.

Play them in order, just hit shuffle, or drag songs over to new playlists you are making.

Within Spotify, click “Follow” to add it to your sidebar of playlists.

Would love to hear if you have upbeat, clean songs that you like that didn’t make the list!

Top Songs of 2017

January 14, 2018 By Tim Casteel

An annual tradition on my blog – My Top 100 Songs of the Year.

To further explore amazing music, here are my Top Songs from the 2010’s (click “Follow” at the top of Spotify if you want to add any of the playlists to your sidebar of playlists)

 

If you follow indie music at all, you’ll find that most “Top Songs of The Year” are trying really hard to be cool and prove their hipster-ness. My Top Songs list is Indie Music for the Masses — Indie Music that’s actually enjoyable to listen to.

 

My 3 Top Albums of 2017:

Grizzly Bear – Painted Ruins (click to play on Spotify) – beautiful, complex music. So many good songs on this album. Mandy and I had the opportunity to see them in concert this fall which was amazing.

The National – Sleep Well Beast – another great album from probably my favorite band of all time. Brooding and quiet, but moving. The lead singer co-wrote many of the songs with his wife which adds vulnerability as they wrestle with their marriage.

 

Hamilton – Original Broadway Cast Recording (OK, I know this didn’t come out in 2017, but my family fell in love with this 2 and a 1/2 hour “album” in 2017). Pretty much all we listened to all fall, culminating with a trip to Chicago to see the play this past December! This play is brilliant songwriting.

 

 

Here are my 100 favorite songs of 2017  (click to play the full list in Spotify): 

100 The Silence by Manchester Orchestra

99 Stroll On by Mutemath

98 Deflect the Light by Vessels, The Flaming Lips

97 Starlight (Goldroom Remix) by Jai Wolf, Goldroom

96 Goodbye Soleil by Phoenix

95 Cruel World by Active Child

94 Hold Me Down by Yoke Lore

93 Good Luck by The Undercover Dream Lovers

92 The Castle by The Flaming Lips

91 The Passenger by Hunter As a Horse

90 Silence by Marshmello, Khalid

89 Stars Last Me A Lifetime by Cut Copy

88 Oslo by Anna Of The North

87 This Song by RAC, Rostam

86 No Promises by San Fermin

85 Good Love by Zola Blood

84 Darling by Real Estate

83 Fleur de Lys by Phoenix

82 Only You by Yoke Lore

81 Ran by Future Islands

80 Anymore by Goldfrapp

79 Light Outside by Absofacto

78 Whiteout Conditions by The New Pornographers

77 Your Love by HAERTS

76 Cave by Future Islands

75 I Saw You Close Your Eyes by Local Natives

74 Only You by Selena Gomez

73 Change My Mind by JR JR

72 Into Waves by A Little Nothing

71 Work It on out by Haiva ru

70 Jupiter by James McAlister, Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner

69 Signal by SOHN

68 Strange or Be Forgotten by Temples

67 Hot Thoughts by Spoon

66 Proof by SOHN

65 Utopia by Austra

64 Love by Lana Del Rey

63 Die Young by Sylvan Esso

62 No One’s Here To Sleep by Naughty Boy, Bastille

61 The Only Thing by Zola Blood

60 Right Words by Cults

59 The Only Heirs by Local Natives

58 Thunder by Imagine Dragons

57 Of The Night by Bastille

56 Black Out Days – Future Islands Remix by Phantogram, Future Islands

55 Punk Drunk & Trembling by Wild Beasts

54 The Driver by Bastille

53 Sum by Loney Dear

52 I’ll Still Destroy You by The National

51 oh baby by LCD Soundsystem

50 Believer by Imagine Dragons

49 Electric Blue by Arcade Fire

48 I Don’t Know Why by Imagine Dragons

47 Fallss by Bayonne

46 I Took Your Picture by Cults

45 Goodpain by Yoke Lore

44 Cut-Out by Grizzly Bear

43 Mercury by James McAlister, Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner

42 Guilty Party by The National

41 Third of May / ÅŒdaigahara – Edit by Fleet Foxes

40 Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man

39 Nobody Else Will Be There by The National

38 Hard Liquor by SOHN

37 Spiral by Wye Oak

36 We a Famly by The Flaming Lips

35 Wasted Acres by Grizzly Bear

34 Venus by James McAlister, Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner

33 Role Model by Phoenix

32 Four Cypresses by Grizzly Bear

31 Visions of Gideon by Sufjan Stevens

30 Now & Then by Sjowgren

29 On Our Way Home by Empire of the Sun

28 Everything Now by Arcade Fire

27 Aquarian by Grizzly Bear

26 Asido by Purity Ring

25 The Moth by Manchester Orchestra

24 Day I Die by The National

23 Easy Tiger by Portugal. The Man

22 Read My Mind by Geographer

21 Deadcrush by alt-J

20 Hit Parade by Mutemath

19 Saturn by James McAlister, Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner

18 Wave Is Not the Water by Wye Oak

17 Mourning Sound by Grizzly Bear

16 Born to Beg by The National

15 Offering by Cults

14 Slip Away by Perfume Genius

13 Number One (feat. Richie Havens & Son Little) by Portugal. The Man, Richie Havens, Son Little

12 Tell Me Why by Nine Pound Shadow

11 The Gold by Manchester Orchestra

10 Abandon by Charles Fauna

9 The Alien by Manchester Orchestra

8 Neighbors by Grizzly Bear

7 Cassius, – by Fleet Foxes

6 The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness by The National

5 Rennen by SOHN

4 Losing All Sense by Grizzly Bear

3 Empire Line by The National

2 Three Rings by Grizzly Bear

1 Beige by Yoke Lore

Would love to hear – What were your favorite songs from 2017??

Winter Conference Music Playlist

January 4, 2017 By Tim Casteel

Bookmark this and save it for your next conference (or weekly meeting). It’s not easy to find good, upbeat, CLEAN music. Look at the top songs of 2016 – 1 out of the top 10 could be played at a weekly meeting. The rest are explicit.

I put together the playlists we play before and after meeting at our 2017 Cru Winter Conference.
And I thought it might save you all a lot of time to share those on here.
A couple notes:
  • We aim for 10 minutes of music while students come in (at night, we do 9 minutes followed by 1 minute of an epic “sit down song” – for the last couple of years we’ve used “Waking Up” off of the Oblivion soundtrack)
  • 5-6 minutes of music while students walk out
  • For the after meeting playlists, make sure to have a song that starts strong. It’s the signal for students to get up and leave, so you want it to start loud, not ease into it.
  • Pre-meeting night meetings, we aim for upbeat, danceable songs (hip hop and pop-py sing-along songs that people know)
  • Pre-meeting morning meetings, same thing, just a little more chill – Ride by Twenty One Pilots is a perfect morning pre-meeting song. Everyone knows it. Kind of upbeat. But not too obnoxiously upbeat.
Here’s all the songs we used in one playlist:
Winter Conference 2017 Songs

Here they are:
WC 17 Day 1 PM
WC 17 Day 1 PM post
WC 17 Day 2 AM
WC 17 Day 2 AM post
WC 17 Day 2 PM
WC 17 Day 2 PM post
WC 17 Day 3 AM
WC 17 Day 3 AM Post
WC 17 Day 3 PM
WC 17 Day 3 PM Post
WC 17 Day 4 AM
WC 17 Day 4 AM Post
WC 17 Day 4 PM
WC 17 Day 4 PM post 
Here’s a slew of songs to use during a refection times:
WC Reflection music
And a bunch of possible songs you could use for competition games during the meeting (like, we do a mattress surfing competition, etc). I can’t vouch for all these being clean/appropriate (like Bangarang is great til he drops an F-bomb at the end):
WC Competition music
And here’s some other good songs that we didn’t use but are appropriately clean and upbeat:
WC17 Possibilities

Top Songs of 2016

January 1, 2017 By Tim Casteel

An annual tradition on my blog – My Top 100 Songs of the Year.

To further explore amazing music, here are my Top Songs from 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009 (click “Follow” at the top of Spotify if you want to add any of the playlists to your sidebar of playlists)

There weren’t any clear “song of the year” candidates in 2016. I like every song in the top 8 equally.

2016 was the year of experimental/weird indie pop – with Yeasayer, Animal Collective and M83 all turning in a slew of great songs. Also really liked Phantogram’s album. But really, 2016 was Twenty One Pilots‘ year. By FAR my kids’ top album of the year. And as much as I’m a hipster music-snob and pretty much hate anything that is on the radio, I begrudgingly REALLY like Twenty One Pilots. Easily the best album of the year. Every song is different and good. Those two dudes have a knack for crafting perfect pop songs. AND their lyrics are super solid – with most songs referring to God.

Despite my hipster tendencies, my top 100 songs are actually really fun to listen to. If you follow indie music at all, you’ll find that most “Top Songs of The Year” are trying really hard to be cool and prove their hipster-ness. My Top Songs list is Indie Music for the Masses — Indie Music that’s actually enjoyable to listen to (not grating avant-garde or sleep-inducing-singer-songwriter).

Most of these songs are Indie-pop, Indie-rock, or Indietronica.

Here are my 100 favorite songs of 2016 (click to play individual tracks or here to play the full list in Spotify): 

100        Family And Genus — Shakey Graves

99        Swim Against the Tide — The Japanese House

98        The Moment — Tame Impala

97        Arizona — Frances Cone

96        Everything All At Once — Local Natives

95        Crazy Eyes — Brother Moses

94        Strangers — Psychic Twin

93        Gemini Feed — Banks

92        Waving Goodbye — Sia

91        Sunday Love — Bat For Lashes

90        Do You Remember — St. Lucia

89        Prophecy Gun — Yeasayer

88        Gold – Jorgen Odegard Remix — Imagine Dragons, Jorgen Odegard

87        Dead Alive — The Shins

86        Wings of Love — LIV

85        Time — Mint Royale, Tom Cane

84        LIFE — HEALTH

83        Drifting — On An On

82        Way To Go — Empire of the Sun

81        Never Going Back — Caveman

80        Cheap Thrills — Sia

79        The Sound — The 1975

78        Silly Me — Yeasayer

77        I Can Only Stare — Sleigh Bells

76        Human — Caveman

75        Free — Broods

74        80 West — Caveman

73        All in My Head — Porcelain Raft

72        Club Aso — Palmistry

71        Two Vines — Empire of the Sun

70        I Was Wrong — A R I Z O N A

69        Celestial Creatures — Wild Beasts

68        For U (feat. Charli XCX) — Miike Snow, Charli XCX

67        8 (circle) — Bon Iver

66        May I Have This Dance — Francis and the Lights

65        A 1000 Times — Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam

64        High And Low — Empire of the Sun

63        Ablaze — School Of Seven Bells

62        Choose Me — James Blake

61        Bird Set Free — Sia

60        Don’t Let Me Down — The Chainsmokers, Daya

59        Broken Glass — Sia

58        I Feel The Weight — Miike Snow

57        Gone — Day Wave

56        Way Back Home — Cameron AG

55        Here’s To Us — Ellie Goulding

54        Lane Boy — Twenty One Pilots

53        22 (OVER S∞∞N) — Bon Iver

52        Easier — Mansionair

51        Conrad — SOHN

50        Tear In My Heart — Twenty One Pilots

49        I Need A Forest Fire — James Blake, Bon Iver

48        Same Old Blues — Phantogram

47        Sledgehammer — Rihanna

46        Mother Emanuel — Local Natives

45        Turning a Hand — Francis

44        Past Lives — BØRNS

43        Run Run Blood — Phantogram

42        Past Lives — Local Natives

41        Burn the Witch — Radiohead

40        Radio Silence — James Blake

39        Get Right — Jimmy Eat World

38        American Money — BØRNS

37        River — Bishop Briggs

36        Heathens — Twenty One Pilots

35        I Need Your Light — Ra Ra Riot, Rostam

34        Turn It Around — HAERTS

33        Warrior — AURORA

32        Doubt — Twenty One Pilots

31        Friends (feat. Bon Iver) — Francis and the Lights, Bon Iver – favorite part= “I’m Francis!”. Worth watching their goofy music video featuring Kanye

30        Chariots — Paper Route

29        In a Black Out — Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam

28        What Is Left to Solve — Rogue Wave

27        Cruel World — Phantogram

26        Golden Gal — Animal Collective

25        Divine Simulacrum — Yeasayer

24        If You Should See — Wye Oak

23        Hocus Pocus — Animal Collective

22        Trouble — TV On The Radio

21        Fairly Local — Twenty One Pilots

20        33 “GOD” — Bon Iver - pretty disappointed with Bon Iver’s album, overall. But a few solid songs.

19        You’re Mine — Phantogram

18        Malachite — Lydia Ainsworth – Lydia opened for Yeasayer when we saw them this fall in Tulsa and had some great songs. Eagerly anticipating a full length album from her.

17        Loan Shark Blues — Yeasayer

16        Ride — Twenty One Pilots

15        Warning Call — CHVRCHES

14        Lying in the Grass — Animal Collective

13        You Don’t Get Me High Anymore — Phantogram

12        Polarize — Twenty One Pilots

11        Used To — Mutemath

10        Watching the Waiting — Wye Oak – got to see Wye Oak in Kansas city this summer. She’s super talented and amazing live.

9        Fountain Of Youth — Local Natives - this song reminds me of the crazy election season with it’s lyric “I have waited so long, Mrs. President”.

8        Go! (feat. Mai Lan) — M83, MAI LAN

7        I Am Chemistry — Yeasayer – you’ll never hear a better song about the gas C4H10FO2P (sarin gas) and other toxic chemicals

6        Dream Awake — LIV – an early single from one of my most anticipated albums for 2017 from supergroup LIV – made up of two of  my favorites, Lykke Li and Miike Snow

5        Do It, Try It — M83 – give this song a chance. Super weird at first progressing to what M83 does best – epic soundscapes

4        FloriDada — Animal Collective – another super weird song. But you can’t help but have a smile on your face and tap your toes as you listen to it. And surprisingly deep song on the Dadaism and the elite’s snobbery toward Floridians.

3        Take Me Home — Phantogram – easily the best cover song this year. Who knew Phil Collins could be so cool?

2        Hometown — Twenty One Pilots – a great song from the best album of 2016. They did a smaller concert in NW Arkansas (which is an absolute miracle – NO ONE comes to Arkansas). I took all 5 of our kids to the show and they LOVED it (It was a few days after we got back from our summer in East Asia so we didn’t have tickets – we just scrounged up a few at the gate!). Those two dudes are legit entertainers and great musicians. My kids wouldn’t let me play anything but Twenty One Pilots in our van ALL fall. Seriously. “DA-AAD, can you put on Twenty One Pilots – this music is boring!”

1        Cold Night — Yeasayer – we got to see Yeasayer in concert in Tulsa and they were absolutely amazing – cementing their status as our #1 alltime favorite band. I thought their new album was pretty disappointing – but still a few gems on it.

Would love to hear – What were your favorite songs from 2016??

Top 100 Songs of 2013

December 23, 2013 By Tim Casteel

This is Indie Music for the Masses — Indie Music that’s actually enjoyable to listen to (not grating avant-garde or sleep-inducing singer-songwriter).

To further explore amazing music, here are a few bonus lists:

  • My Top 10 Albums of 2013
  • Here is (on Spotify) my Top Songs from 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009

Click “Follow” at the top of Spotify if you want to add any of the playlists to your sidebar of lists.

Here are my 100 favorite songs of 2013 (click to play individual tracks or here to play the full list in Spotify): 

        1. Andrew Belle — Pieces
        2. Empire Of The Sun — Alive
        3. Dwntwn — Stood Me Up
        4. Deptford Goth — Union
        5. Foals — Bad Habit
        6. St. Lucia — The Night Comes Again
        7. Autre Ne Veut — Counting
        8. Widower — Oh Catherine, My Catherine
        9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. — If You Didn’t See Me [Then You Weren’t On The Dancefloor]
        10. Jose Gonzalez — Step Out
        11. Lucius — Don’t Just Sit There
        12. Anna Meredith — Nautilus
        13. POLIÇA — Smug
        14. Say Lou Lou — Julian
        15. Vancouver Sleep Clinic — Vapour
        16. MS MR — Dark Doo Wop
        17. Young Galaxy — Pretty Boy
        18. Big Black Delta — Into the Night
        19. Leagues — You Belong Here
        20. Röyksopp — Running To The Sea
        21. Major Lazer — Get Free – feat. Amber of Dirty Projectors
        22. Haerts — Wings
        23. Young Galaxy — New Summer
        24. Phoenix — Entertainment
        25. Dustin Tebbutt — The Wolves (Reprise)
        26. Alpine — Gasoline
        27. Junip — Line of Fire
        28. Dustin Tebbutt — Where I Find You
        29. City Calm Down — Pleasure & Consequence
        30. Widowspeak — Ballad of the Golden Hour
        31. CHVRCHES — The Mother We Share
        32. Social Studies — Terracur
        33. Sir Sly — Ghost
        34. Phosphorescent — Song For Zula
        35. Wildlife Control — Different
        36. Phoenix — Chloroform
        37. Yeasayer — Don’t Come Close
        38. Arcade Fire — Here Comes The Night Time
        39. Phantogram — Never Going Home
        40. London Grammar — Wasting My Young Years
        41. Arcade Fire — Afterlife
        42. Lovelife — Your New Beloved
        43. Phantogram — Celebrating Nothing
        44. Sia — Elastic Heart – From “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” Soundtrack
        45. Active Child — Evening Ceremony
        46. M83 — Oblivion (feat. Susanne Sundfør)
        47. Telekinesis — Ghosts and Creatures
        48. Local Natives — You & I
        49. CHVRCHES — Now Is Not the Time
        50. Phantogram — The Day You Died
        51. Vampire Weekend — Diane Young
        52. Caveman — Chances
        53. Cults — High Road
        54. Phoenix — Don’t
        55. Arctic Monkeys — Do I Wanna Know?
        56. Lana Del Rey — Young And Beautiful – would have been higher but I hate the line “oh that body, oh that face makes me want to party”. So lame.
        57. Volcano Choir — Byegone
        58. Arcade Fire — Reflektor – somebody read some Kierkegaard…
        59. POLIÇA — Tiff
        60. Cults — I Can Hardly Make You Mine
        61. Justin Timberlake — Mirrors – Radio Edit
        62. The National — Don’t Swallow the Cap
        63. Drake — Hold On, We’re Going Home
        64. Youth Lagoon — Dropla
        65. Portugal. The Man — Plastic Soldiers
        66. Daft Punk — Doin’ it Right
        67. Radical Face — We’re On Our Way
        68. The Boxer Rebellion — Diamonds
        69. Autre Ne Veut — Play by Play – wait for it. Get past the weird first 1:45.
        70. Sky Ferreira — Ain’t Your Right
        71. Vampire Weekend — Hannah Hunt – some would say this is the culmination of VW’s career. In particular: 2:35-3:20
        72. The National — Demons – one of the greatest lines from a long list of self-deprecating, depressing lyrics from the Eeyore of indie music – Matt Berninger: “When I walk into a room, I do not light it up”
        73. High Highs — Open Season
        74. Phoenix — The Real Thing
        75. CHVRCHES — ZVVL
        76. Sky Ferreira — Everything Is Embarrassing
        77. SOHN — Lessons
        78. Caveman — Where’s the Time
        79. Active Child — Silhouette (feat. Ellie Goulding) – beautiful music from two great singers (trying to out-falsetto each other)
        80. Ivan & Alyosha — Running for Cover – not sure if these guys are Christians, but a great song re: the Garden of Eden and original sin
        81. The National — Sea of Love
        82. Beck — I Won’t Be Long
        83. Cults — Shine a Light
        84. Haerts — Hemiplegia
        85. Volcano Choir — Comrade – Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. Enough said.
        86. Arcade Fire — It’s Never Over (Hey Orpheus) – love this new sound for Arcade Fire in this pair of songs
        87. Arcade Fire — Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)
        88. CHVRCHES — Tether – beautiful as it builds to a synth-dance ending
        89. Cults — Were Before – Madeline singing “I like it like the way we were before” at :28 is one of the best moments in music in 2013
        90. Vampire Weekend — Don’t Lie – especially love the sound of 1:15-1:35
        91. Phantogram — Black Out Days – one of my favorite bands – great combo of synth-beats and vocals
        92. Dustin Tebbutt — The Breach – can’t wait for a full length album from Dustin. Beautiful song.
        93. The National — Graceless – a rare upbeat (though still depressing!) song from The National.
        94. Vampire Weekend — Step – this easily could have been song of the year. Witty lyrics. Beautiful, unique music.
        95. Local Natives — Heavy Feet – a sad, lonely song with an upbeat, driving background
        96. The National — I Should Live in Salt – at first the repetitive nature of the lyrics turned me off to this song. But ended up being my favorite off of a great album. A moving song about regret and brotherly love through conflict.
        97. CHVRCHES — Recover – the best pure pop song of the year. Upbeat but wears well over time unlike most too-slick pop songs
        98. Caveman — In the City – anthemic, rich indie-rock.
        99. Vampire Weekend — Ya Hey – I wrote an entire blog post about this song. Incredible music. Even better lyrics.
        100. James Blake — Retrograde – beautiful and sparse. One of the best moments in music 2013 when at 1:23 he drops from falsetto to sing in baritone “We’re alone now.”

Would love to hear your top songs. What are your favorite songs of 2013?

 

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