My last write-up was a little anemic. I’m honestly still figuring out this whole being consistent about posting my thoughts publicly, thing. This time I’ll tell a very abbreviated story along with the music.
Once upon a time, it may as well have been a million years yore for as connected as I feel to that past self, I was a DJ/GM/MD for a radio station. You don’t need to look up the abbreviations. Suffice it to say that I was in charge of it all except for my much-removed faculty advisor. At this time in my life I didn’t realize I was an introvert wearing the clothes of an extrovert and I was an asshole that tried to boss people around. If you are reading this and you knew me then, I’m sorry for having absolutely NO tact and thinking it was endearing/funny. But looking back was it all cringey? No. Not in the least.
Since it is damn near impossible to motivate college students to help in extra-curriculars in any way that is not internally motivated, I ended up doing all of the grunt-work myself. I spent countless hours in the station making calls to promotion companies and speaking on the phone with people I’m still connected to today (hey-o Jon & Bram). I also had the task of reviewing piles of new music every week. And for some very deep-seated psychological reasons which may at some point be revealed, I was VERY motivated by listening to music. I did, in fact, review every damn piece of music that landed on my desk. From Swedish Death Metal to Ambient clicks and bloops to Spoken Word - EVERYTHING.
Taking just one little baby step backward, I entered into my positions at the studio liking and listening exclusively to: Hair Metal, Top 40 Hip Hop & the crustiest of Crust Punk with a range, maybe extending to Skate Punk. Yes, an asshole I was certainly. And perhaps being exposed to that variety of music may be one of the reasons I no longer am (most of the time).
So I promised to make this abbreviated which means I’m going to give myself this last paragraph to bring it all home - for the time being. I graduated, left my posts, got a grown-up job, left my grown-up job, became a yoga teacher and found myself, once again, voraciously reviewing songs to create an hour’s worth of good music for public consumption. I’ve been at it now since 2014. I have 146 public playlists on my Spotify profile. Currently, I’m sharing with you the most current. At some point I’ll highlight my faves from the past. Its really remarkable and sometimes beautiful how the parts of us that are truly interwoven into the fabric of our being can never truly be set aside. Review below the drop…
I started off this playlist with Wake Up from Chris-n-Teeb. What attracted me to this song was its minimalism and its appropriateness for the beginning of a yoga class. Moving on to Go To Town & Doja Cat, I have to say that, at first I thought she was kinda a gimmick and that wasn’t entirely wrong. But, she is definitely funny and she’s won me over. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a Stan but this is two playlists in a row for her, so we shall see. Bea Miller’s Feel Something Different has a Billie Eilish feel. It fit well for me at the point at which it appears in the playlist so it stuck. Didn’t Come To Play switches up the energy a bit and moves it away from the realm of pop. I’m also generally interested to hear non-US based hip/hop and rap, which this is. Spiral is awesome; ethereal at first and infectious after the beat drops. Its my second fave song on this playlist. I’m always down for Major Lazer. The reason is complicated. For a glimpse into why… Matt recently challenged me to make a playlist of “music I would make if I was a musician.” Said playlist will happen at some point and spoiler alert: it will be heavily bifurcated between acoustic guitar-led pop music and frenetic electronic world music. The latter is basically Major Lazer in a nutshell. Some of their songs are misses. Jadi Buti is a little different than their typical fare which hooked me. Rubi Rose is good if you like Cardi. Her flow is similar but her voice has a gravity to it even one level deeper and I like it. Ok….Ten Cuidado. What can I say? Its fucking good. Pitbull has done it again. More on this later, but I am from a South American family. I understand my love for Reggaeton and Cumbia is not universal to everyone. But, I think the world is being won over. If you’re a skeptic now, you probably won’t be for too much longer. This is my fave song on the playlist hands down. Holy Ghost $$$ is a slower, preeeetty sick rap and then the playlist chills out significantly. You’ve got a bunch of smoother, slower tempo, softer-feeling pop/dancey songs in Ija, I Can’t Meet You & Irrational. Of note is Shay Lia who samples Junior Senior’s Move Your Feet over a down tempo dancehall track. Really nicely done. Thriftworks takes the playlist down one more level preparing for a release from Chika’s latest EP. Unlike the other two songs I’ve featured by Chika, this is a ballad without the timestamp of a ballad which I am here for. Most songs don’t need to last past 3ish minutes. We have some new Sven Wunder and Max Richter to soothe you into the end. All around good shit. This playlist was a palate cleanser for me. It came together easily and flowed nicely. I hope you enjoy!!