The Majak Mixtape --- Instrumentally Yours Mix

Oh words, we love you. Clearly. But sometimes words aren't necessary. Sometimes a little instrumental music is all we need. Though instrumental music is often times knocked as music to shop to or have a root canal during because it can be so unobtrusive that it seems to not even exist. But in today's mix we wanted to celebrate tunes that through music and maybe a few scattered vocals are able to transport us away from our little corporate coffins known as cubicles into a whole other, better lit, better paid fantasy world in a mix we're calling "Instrumentally Yours."

First up are two overtures from Janelle Monae's awe-inspiring album The ArchAndroid.




Janelle Monae, or her alter ego android Cindi Mayweather, is one of the most creative voices out in the music business that she doesn't even need her voice on a tune to make a lasting impression. The instrumentals harken back to the glory days of barbershop quartets, old school Disney movies and all around glamour. One can imagine Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers whirling around a glossy dancefloor to either one of these tunes. We'd like to give two snaps and some props to Monae and company's live instrumentation on the album given the see of AutoTune that populates the music shelves of today that there is a warmth that comes from the sound of real strings and such.

Be sure to see Ms. Monae when she opens for Of Montreal this fall.

Switching gears completely, Chuck Mangione's Feel So Good.


Looking like the short, bearded relative of Supernatural's Jeffrey Dean Morgan, we here at The Majak Kingdom love this tune because of our undying love for criminally underrated cartoon King of the Hill. Chuck Mangione routinely made appearances on the show, playing himself as a spokesman for the Mega Lo Mart. And with almost every appearance or mention, you could be sure that this bit of 1970s AM Radio gold would be played in the background.

Also a 1970s staple, George Benson's Breezin


People were really too busy getting high to care for songs for words. That's the only way I can really explain how stuff like "Breezin" and "Feels so Good" took off in the mainstream.

And one last tune is yet another hit from the 1970s, Barry White's "Love Theme"


We don't know about you, but we are like 95 percent sure we're going to walk down the aisle to this tune at our wedding.