Spring is here, it’s light out a little bit longer once we all get off work… the times, they are mellow. Which is why our staff compiled an amazing Mellow March Playlist that’s perfect for spring, the light sun rays, days out on the beach, or even a short road trip drive.

Enjoy!

As of 1pm on Tuesday July 1st, Songza is officially part of the Google Family.

For those who don’t know, Songza is a music playlist streaming service from Long Island that has gathered about 5.5 million users in its 6 years of existence.

Songza’s curation algorithm—or its “concierge” option, is unlike any other service in that it takes into account the activities the listener is participating in at the time of day and creating a playlist to fit that specific, unique environment. The range of activities is extensive—ranging from “Lounging In a Cool Hotel” to “Waking Up On The Right Side Of The Bed”, and my personal favorite, “Shopping At A Vintage Store”.

It’s finally summer AND we are a week away from Fourth of July. What does that mean? BBQ time. I asked our staff to give me their ultimate favorite summer BBQ songs that they would play while chomping down on a tasty grilled burger, hot dog, or veggie burger (if you swing that way).

You may notice the playlist looks a little different too, we tried out a new platform called bop.fm to create this month’s playlist. We love the look and functionality of it. Cool part is, you can also add video using YouTube or Vimeo. Try it out for yourself, here and check out our picks below!

Tad:
“Summertime” - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
“Cruel Summer” - Bananarama
“A Summer Song” - Chad and Jeremy

Calia:
“Summer Mood” - Best Coast
“Fresh” - Summer Camp
“Petition” - Tennis

Jacob:
“Three Little Birds” - Bob Marley
“What I Got” - Sublime
“Never Know” - Jack Johnson
“Brighter” - Matthew McAvene
“Lovely Day” - Bill Withers

Haaris:
“Doin’ Time” - Sublime
“Sugar Kane” - Sonic Youth
“Sunshowers” - MIA
“Super Rich Kids” - Frank Ocean

Justin:
“Diamonds on the Soles of Her shoes” - Paul Simon
“Holiday” - Vampire Weekend
“It All Feels the Same” - Tennis
“My Pet Snakes” - Jenny and Johnny
“Home” - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
“5 Years Time” - Noah and the Whale
“Barnacle Goose” - Born Ruffians

Tracy:
BBQ equals country music in my mind:
“Man! I Feel Like a Woman” - Shania Twain
“Good Girl” - Carrie Underwood
Also, these songs scream summer:
“All Summer Long” - Kid Rock
“Wagon Wheel” - Old Crow Medicine Show
“Second Hand News” - Fleetwood Mac

Drew:
ANY CREEDENCE!
“Summer Girls” - LFO
“The Sign” - Ace of Base

Sean:
“Barbeque” - ALO

Keir:
Mellow & groovy surf-ish tunes will always be on at my BBQs:
“Kiwi Maddog 20/20” - Elliott Smith
“Ana” - Pixies
“Algiers” - Calexico

Our theme this month is prep music! We’ve compiled our favorite background music to listen to while preparing or serving food. And it turned out to be a blend of pump-up jams and chill-wave flows for your enjoyment.

Haaris:
While I prep pure aggressive hip hop:

Wu Tang - “Ice Cream”
Hodgy Beats - “Turnt Down”
Odd Future or OFWGKTA - “Bitches Brewin”
Odd Future or OFWGKTA - “Bubble Gum”
Tyler the Creator - “Tamale”

When we eat it’s all about instrumentals and beats:

Flying Lotus - “Beginners Falafel” 
Omega One - “The Hashishin”
Boris - Flood (entire record)

Tad:
Boards of Canada - “Turquoise Hexagon Sun”
Tycho - “A Walk”
Sea Wolf - “Whirlpool”

Tracy:
Toro Y Moi and then Electric Guest if I need to get into a good mood.

Justin:
The XX - “Intro”
Tycho - “A Walk”

Jacob:
The Siket Disc!

Here’s a sample track “What’s the Use?” from the epic instrumental Phish album.

Wikipedia says: 
“The Siket Disc emerged from material developed during the Bearsville Studio sessions for Phish’s 1998 album The Story of the Ghost. Not exactly outtakes or unfinished songs, The Siket Disc’s compositions are actually select excerpts from the long-form improvisation of the “Ghost Sessions”. The Phish keyboard player Page McConnell edited and mastered the selections into this compilation, named for engineer John Siket”

Sean:
Fink is pretty good for background music - “Perfect Darkness”, “Yesterday Was Hard On All Of Us”
But I listen to Live Phish Radio a lot too.

Calia: 
The XX - “Sunset”
How To Dress Well - “Repeat Pleasure”

Cheyenne:
Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne - “Rather Be”
Classixx - “Holding On”

Artists have the ability to grow on you. We validated this statement in this month’s staff playlist. I asked all of our staff members to give me a couple bands that they used to absolutely hate, but have now come to love. Some of the choices will come as shocking.

This made for a pretty interesting playlist. Listen below and read the fun stories from each staff member as well.

Keir:
As a mopey insecure teen I actually hated mopey insecure British ‘80s bands like the Smiths/the Cure/Depeche Mode. A decade later I married someone who’s both well-adjusted AND a huge fan of those bands, so it was easy to let the hate go and finally appreciate so many overplayed classics that I missed the first time around:

The Smiths - “How Soon is Now?”
The Cure - “Fascination Street”
Depeche Mode - “Personal Jesus”

Calia:
The National. When I first heard their self titled album, Cherry Tree and even Alligator .... I really didn’t like it. I thought the singer’s voice was way too deep causing the lyrics to become buried behind his strange voice and the music itself just seemed boring. BUT BOY WAS I WRONG. They came out with Boxer, High Violet, and a real winner… Trouble Will Find Me and won me over.

Stand out tracks:
Cherry Tree (yes I love it now!)

Calvin Harris. This one’s more like a guilty pleasure but I seriously hated ‘Feel So Close’ until I myself experienced dancing to it with all my best friends and screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs while fist pumping. I still listen to ‘18 Months’ while running and working out and love every second of it.

Stand out tracks:
I Need Your Love
Bounce

Haaris:
Prince - I love Prince now, but when i was a kid i didn’t get it, then he did the whole Batman Soundtrack. It was like i shook hands with the Joker buzzer in palm style. “Batdance” - Prince

NIN - Yeah i said it, anyone who knows me know that I love this band (borderline obsessed would be more accurate ). I went from thinking these cats were a bunch of industrial electronic dj’s that ripped the shit out of Joy Division drums to not missing a single tour from 1999 and on. How did such a swing from hate to love occur? The magic of a live show in 1999 at Madison Square Garden for the Fragility tour. After seeing that i must say I was WRONG, really WRONG, sorry Trent and Atticus. And like i said I haven’t missed a tour since the fragile….. “Where is Everybody” - Nine Inch Nails

John Legend- When he 1st came out I thought this guy was super soft for an R&B guy, so disregard almost anything he did, then Kanye put him on a track and going back Mr Legend, i was wrong sir, my bad. John Legend is solid in my books. “Who Did That To You” - John Legend

We had to squeeze in a little Valentine’s Day playlist for all of you having romantic nights tonight, or just wanting some good tunes in the background.

Here is our playlist in all its glory! It’s a short and sweet one, but we picked a great variety, enjoy!

Tad:
1. “Love” - John Lennon
2. “Sea of Love” - Phil Phillips

Tracy:
3. “Love Potion No. 9” - The Searchers
4. “Let’s Get It On” - Marvin Gaye
5. “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” - Frankie Vallie and The 4 Seasons

Calia:
6. “Made To Love” - John Legend
7. “I Can’t Stop Loving You” - Ray Charles
8. “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me” - The Miracles

Haaris:
9. “Week In The Knees” - SWV
10. “We Are Gonna Be Friends” - The White Stripes
11. “Fell In Love With A Girl” - The White Stripes

Keir:
12. “My Funny Valentine” - Elvis Costello
13. “Say Yes” - Elliott Smith
14. “I Summon You” - Spoon
15. “Lover’s Day” - TV On The Radio

Jacob:
15. “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” - Weird Al Yankovic

Can you believe 2013 is coming to a close? A full year has passed by quite rapidly, but it has also graced us with wonderful music! We had to share a “Best of 2013” playlist for November (since the December playlist is strictly a “holiday/winter wonderland” playlist).

There are lots of picks from The National’s Trouble Will Find Me as well as Haim’s hit debut album Days Are Gone. Check out what we’ve been listening to below!

Justin:
1. “Black Skinhead” - Kanye West - Yeezus
2. “Late March, Death March” - Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse
3. “Don’t Save Me” - Haim - Days Are Gone
4. “Cayucos” - Cayucas - Bigfoot
5. “I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo” - Capital Cities - In a Tidal Wave of Mystery
5. “Hannah Hunt” - Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
6. “While I’m Alive” - STRFKR - Miracle Mile

John:
7. “Press Pause” - Pretty Lights - A Color Map of the Sun
8. “Ringleader” - Shigeto - Ringleader
9. “Lose Yourself to Dance” - Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
10. “You Never Need Nobody” - The Lone Bellow - The Lone Bellow

Tracy:
11. “Don’t Let Me Down” - Solange - True
12. “The Love Club” - Lorde - The Love Club EP
13. “Lies” - CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe

Jacob:
14. “Know Till Now” - Jim James - Know Till Now
15. “Pompeii” - Bastille - Bad Blood
16. “The Darlnigs of Lumberland” - They Might be Giants - Nanobots
17. “Suit & Tie” - Justin Timberlake ft. JAY-Z - The 20/20 Experience
18. “Be Free, A Way” - Flaming Lips - The Terror
19. “Early Days” - Paul McCartney - NEW

We here at Oniracom have no shame in our song choices, so we are bringing you our ultimate guilty pleasure playlist. There’s everything from Usher and Britney Spears to… Creed. Yes, Creed.

It’s surprising that we haven’t chosen this theme sooner, but here you have it, the Oniracom Staff Guilty Pleasures Playlist. Enjoy!

Calia:
1. “Semi-Charmed Life” - Third Eye Blind
2. “Burn” - Usher
3. “Feel So Close” - Calvin Harris

Jacob:
4. “What’s the Difference” - Dr. Dre
5. “Haven’t Met You Yet” - Michael Buble
6. “Read My Mind” - The Killers
7. “So Damn Lucky” - Dave Matthews

Justin:
8. “Tarzan Boy” - Baltimora (from Turtles 3: Turtles in Time)
9. “Lucky” - Britney Spears
10. “Crazy for This Girl” - Evan and Jaron
11. “Dreams” - The Cranberries

This playlist was probably our most fun yet. I asked all of our staff members to come up with a few songs that are quintessential Oniracom.

All of the songs below remind us of our amazing office and the friendly environment that comes with it.

Some of our staff provided descriptions to each of their choices as well, which makes it all the more fun! Take a listen and soak in the Oniracom vibes.

Haaris:

1. ‘Go With the Flow’ - Queens of the Stone Age
Working in this environment is different from day to day. One must be able to adapt.

2.‘Sitting Waiting Wishing’ - Jack Johnson
Creative environment where we can contemplate creative campaigns and make them real.

3. ‘Clique’ - Kanye West
The quality of our work is extremely high, that can only be created by an all star team of individuals.

4. ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ - Guns n Roses
For this really busy days…

5. ‘Good Life’ - Kanye West
This is a GREAT place to work, I can’t say that enough.

Jacob:

6. ‘Hope’ - Jack Johnson
7. ‘Brighter’ - Matt McAvene
8. ‘Jerusalem’ - Matisyahu
9. ‘Let Love Rule’ - Lenny Kravitz
10. ‘Sunshine’ - Matt Costa

Spring has officially arrived. The flowers are blossoming and the nice mix of sunny and gloomy days in Santa Barbara are a refreshing change of pace.

Now all we need is a good springtime playlist to get us through spring cleaning and all of our spring projects. Here you have it, the April staff playlist:

Calia:

1. “Never Wanted Your Love” - She & Him
2. “The Sweetest Thing” - Camera Obscura
3. “Santa Cruz” - Gold Motel

Jacob:

4. “Make The Money” - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
5. “Mexican Cousin” - Phish
6. “Never Know” - Jack Johnson

Tad:

7. “The Desert Babbler” – Iron and Wine
8. “Morning Has Broken” – Cat Stevens
9. “What a Day for a Daydream” – The Lovin’ Spoonful
10. “Prelude in C Major” – J.S. Bach

Happy Valentine’s Day! Since it’s the special day of love, our February Staff Playlist includes all of our favorite love songs that are mushy gushy, romantic, heart-wrenching, and lovely all in equal measure.

If you need a romantic playlist, well here you have it! Sit back and enjoy.

Justin:

1. “My Best Friend” - Weezer

2. “Postcards From Italy” - Beirut

3. “Love And Some Verses - Iron and Wine

Mike:

4. “You Can Close Your Eyes” - James Taylor

5. “All My Life” - K-Ci & JoJo

6. “You’re My Best Friend” - Queen

We reminisced 2012 for our January Staff Playlist, choosing our favorite tracks from this past year. We are however, excited to hear everything that 2013 is going to bring! There are many highly anticipated albums coming our way. Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, David Bowie, Local Natives, Arcade Fire, Jay-Z, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are each releasing a brand new sparkly album for 2013.

Here’s a playlist to get you going until some of these great albums are released!

Calia:

1. “Sunset” - The xx

2. “Dissolve Me” - alt-J

3. “Unto Caesar” - Dirty Projectors

4. “Lost” - Frank Ocean

Matt:

5. “Safe and Sound” - Capital Cities

6. “Global Concepts” - Robert DeLong

Drew:

7. “My Little Brother” - TW Walsh

8. “Working Titles” - Damien Jurado

9. “Attaboy” - Goat Rodeo Sessions