Desert Island XI - QUARANTINE ISLAND - Master List and Discussion Thread

[LemonMelon]

After 18 productive days of quarantine, it's finally here! I want to thank you guys for being so communicative and proactive during this time, even as I know many of you are still working full-time and can only pop in once in a while. This has been an incredibly simple and efficient process. On top of that, the activity in the signup thread was highly encouraging. Let's carry that momentum into the listening threads.

A reminder: this thread is for general discussion about the tournament, rules, voting, etc. Specific comments on the lists themselves belong in the listening threads. Any running diaries go there.

Now, onto our three groups.


Group 1


DaveC

LAST DAY OF LOBSTER SEASON

The melancholy of going ashore.

1. Kendrick Lamar - "Blow My High (Members Only)" - Section.80 (3:36)
2. T. Rex - "Cosmic Dancer" - Electric Warrior (4:30)
3. Bruce Cockburn - "If I Had A Rocket Launcher" - Stealing Fire (4:59)
4. The Joel Plaskett Emergency - "Waiting to Be Discovered" - Down at the Khyber (4:17)
5. Mac Miller - "What's the Use?" - Swimming (4:49)
6. Daft Punk - "Da Funk" - Homework (5:34)
7. Chance the Rapper ft. Noname - "Lost" - Acid Rap (3:05)
8. Pink FLoyd - "Wot's...Uh the Deal" - Obscured by Clouds (5:10)
9. Talking Heads - "Life During Wartime" - Fear of Music (3:41)
10. Madvillain - "Do Not Fire!" - Madvillainy (0:53)
11. Daryl Hall & John Oates - "Out of Touch" - Big Bam Boom (4:10)
12. The Rolling Stones - "Ventilator Blues" - Exile on Main Street (3:25)
13. Thundercat ft. Ty Dolla $ign, Lil B - "Fair Chance" - It Is What It Is (3:58)
14. The Tragically Hip - "Impossibilium" - Day For Night (4:06)
15. J. Dilla ft. Common, D'Angelo - "So Far to Go" - The Shining (5:37)
16. Slade - "How Does it Feel" - Slade in Flame (5:55)

Total runtime: 67:45

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2zHfz5RjGMDuLWU67Hjnqu?si=ONtOX_x2S2e0yjPOSH4lnA


Lazarus

This two-part playlist is divided into "The Phab Dead", a rhythm-based section, and "For The Lonesome", a more rock-based one, much like my original 90s submission from some years ago. There is no overriding theme for either, though the first section does pay tribute to some recently-fallen music heroes, bookended by tracks from two iconic giants, and three tracks featuring production and/or performing by the late, great Walter Becker.

As with my two previous DI submissions, I have attempted to mostly stay away from the more popular tracks from these artists, with a focus on "deep cuts", non-album tracks, etc. And once again, I've included some non-English tracks by international artists on each section to broaden the spectrum.

THE PHAB DEAD
1. Prince - “Alphabet Street (7” edit)” - (single) (2:28)
2. Songhoy Blues - “Soubour” - Music in Exile (3:32)
3. Ace Frehley - “New York Groove” - Ace Frehley (2:59)
4. John Mellencamp - “I Saw You First (Key West Intermezzo)” - Mr. Happy Go Lucky (4:57)
5. Tim Maia - “Over Again” - Nobody Can Live Forever (3:24)
6. Brenda Jones with Groove Holmes - “This is the Me Me (Not the You You)” - The World Needs Changing (3:26)
7. Joni Mitchell - “The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines” - Mingus (3:22)
8. Rickie Lee Jones - “Ghetto of My Mind” - Flying Cowboys (6:16)
9. Steely Dan - “Sign in Stranger” - The Royal Scam (4:24)
10. Rancid - “Coppers” - Life Won’t Wait (5:02)
11. Busy Signal - “Well Prepared” - (single) (3:12)
12. Sinead O’Connor - “Daddy I’m Fine” - Faith & Courage (3:02)
13. Lady Gaga - “Summerboy” - The Fame (4:14)
14. Space - “Dark Clouds” - Spiders (3:50)
15. China Crisis - “Bigger the Punch I’m Feeling” - Flaunt the Imperfection (4:22)
16. Underworld - “Ova Nova” - Barbara, Barbara, We Face A Shining Future (5:33)
17. Tracey Thorn - “Queen” - Record (4:17)
18. La Femme - “SSD” - Mystere (4:31)
19. David Bowie - “Dead Against It” - The Buddha of Suburbia (5:48)
(RT: 1:18:30)

FOR THE LONESOME
1. Buffalo Tom - “For All To See” - No Alternative (3:36)
2. La Rocca - “Sketches (Twenty-Something Life)” - The Truth (3:39)
3. Slaughter and the Dogs - “Situations” - The Slaughterhouse Tapes (2:35)
4. Nikki and the Corvettes - “Boys, Boys, Boys” - Nikki and the Corvettes (2:01)
5. Throwing Muses - “Not Too Soon” - The Real Ramona (3:08)
6. The Wannadies - “Combat Honey” - Bagsy Me (2:30)
7. Shudder to Think ft. Liz Phair - “Erecting a Movie Star” - First Love, Last Rites (2:42)
8. The I Don’t Cares - “King of America” - Wild Stab (3:29)
9. The Jayhawks - “Nothing Left To Borrow” - Tomorrow the Green Grass (3:24)
10. Neil Diamond - “River Runs, New Grown Plums” - Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show (2:00)
11. Van Halen - “Could This Be Magic?” - Women and Children First (3:11)
12. Bob Dylan - “This Evening, So Soon” - Another Self Portrait (4:50)
13. The Jesus & Mary Chain - “Why’d You Want Me?” - The Power of Negative Thinking (3:14)
14. Velocity Girl - “Same Old City” - Gilded Stars and Zealous Hearts (3:49)
15. Françoise Hardy - “Ça a Raté” - Tous les garçons et les filles (2:00)
16. Bettie Serveert - “Don’t Touch That Dial” - Attagirl (3:37)
17. Penguin Villa - “Acrophobia” - (single) (4:29)
18. Ween - “Buckingham Green” - The Mollusk (3:18)
19. Blue Öyster Cult - “Flaming Telepaths” - Secret Treaties (5:20)
20. Deap Vally - “Turn It Off” - Femejism (4:16)
21. Los Planetas - “No Sé Como Te Atreves” - Una Ópera Egipcia (5:46)
22. New Order - “Lonesome Tonight” - Substance (5:12)
(RT: 1:17:59)

Total runtime: 156:29

LINK: Download link sent to PM boxes


LemonMelon

“We can still support each other. All we gotta do is avoid each other.”

My goal for this playlist is not to serve as an escape from the harsh realities of our situation. If anything, I hope to evoke many of the feelings experienced during a prolonged quarantine - loneliness, listlessness, detachment - while using songs that long for something more. These are songs about love, passion, and real human connection. Together they are melancholy, but warm and maybe a tiny bit hopeful. Maybe this list won’t lift your spirits, but I hope that it makes you feel a little closer to the friend who put it together.

1. Susanne Sundfør - “Delirious” - Ten Love Songs (4:55)
2. Björk - “Joga” - Homogenic (5:05)
3. Phantogram - “Fall in Love” - Voices (3:43)
4. Gorillaz - “Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon)” - Plastic Beach (4:43)
5. Jessie Ware - “Running” - Devotion (4:28)
6. Jamie XX - “Loud Places (feat. Romy)” - In Colour (4:33)
7. (Sandy) Alex G - “Sportstar” - Rocket (3:51)
8. Shura - “Flyin’” - Forevher (3:36)
9. Calvin Harris - “Slide (feat. Frank Ocean & Migos)” - Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 (3:50)
10. Caroline Polachek - “Hit Me Where It Hurts” - Pang (3:04)
11. Charli XCX & Christine and the Queens - “Gone” - Charli (4:06)
12. Carly Rae Jepsen - “Julien” - Dedicated (3:54)
13. Robyn - “Ever Again” - Honey (4:24)
14. Grimes - “Flesh Without Blood” - Art Angels(4:24)
15. The Jezabels - Endless Summer - Prisoner (4:11)
16. Jay Som - “Superbike” - Anak Ko (3:53)
17. Alvvays - “In Undertow” - Antisocialites (3:17)
18. The Beths - “Future Me Hates Me” - Future Me Hates Me (4:06)
19. Kero Kero Bonito - “Flyway” - Time ‘n’ Place (1:58)
20. Sweet Trip - “Dsco” - Velocity : Design : Comfort (3:11)
21. Rocketship “I Love You the Way That I Used to Do” - A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness (4:21)
22. Stereolab - “The Flower Called Nowhere” - Dots and Loops (4:55)
23. Tindersticks - “Marbles” - Tindersticks (4:30)
24. Broadcast - “Before We Begin” - Haha Sound (3:22)
25. Beach House - “Master of None” - Beach House (3:19)
26. The Beach Boys - “All I Wanna Do” - Sunflower (2:36)
27. Weyes Blood - “Something to Believe” - Titanic Rising (4:45)
28. Angel Olsen - “Sister” - My Woman (7:45)
29. Timber Timbre - “Hot Dreams” - Hot Dreams (4:53)
30. Saint Etienne - Erica America - Good Humor (4:02)
31. A Girl Called Eddy - “Jody” - Been Around (5:39)
32. Lambchop - “Nashville Parent” - Nixon (5:38)
33. Dusty Springfield - “Just a Little Lovin’” - Dusty in Memphis (2:18)
34. Dionne Warwick - “Anyone Who Had a Heart” - “Anyone Who Had a Heart (3:04)
35. The Ronettes - “How Does It Feel” - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica (2:40)
36. Laura Nyro - “Blackpatch” - Christmas and the Beads of Sweat (3:32)
37. Fiona Apple - “Werewolf” - The Idler Wheel… (3:12)
38. The National - “Exile Vilify” - Exile Vilify (From the Game Portal 2) (4:45)

Total runtime: 154:28

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7hWYUr9bjY9bLuNunvS3mk


Jerry Dunk

Philadelphia Percolating

“The fear, insanity, corruption, filth, despair, and violence in the air was so beautiful to me. Philadelphia is percolating in me.” Thirty songs by artists from Philadelphia. Compiled April 2020, Philadelphia, PA 19146.

1. Marian Anderson – “O What a Beautiful City!” – The Very Best Of (1:56)
2. Vacationer – “Paradise Waiting” – Relief (3:05)
3. Meek Mill – “Dreams and Nightmares” – Dreams and Nightmares (3:51)
4. Lil Uzi Vert – “P2” – Eternal Atake (3:55)
5. Rome Fortune feat. Toro y Moi – “Hoodrich Disco” – Toro Y Rome Vol. 1 (2:53)
6. The Roots – “Thought @ Work” – Phrenology (4:44)
7. Beanie Sigel feat. Freeway and Young Chris – “I Can’t Go on This Way” – The B.Coming (5:04)
8. Todd Rundgren – “Wolfman Jack” – Something/Anything? (2:54)
9. Sheer Mag – “Need to Feel Your Love” – Need to Feel Your Love (4:01)
10. Beach Slang – “Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas” – The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us (3:19)
11. Cayetana – “Dirty Laundry” – Nervous Like Me (2:17)
12. The Wonder Years – “Came Out Swinging” – Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing (4:05)
13. Circa Survive – “The Difference between Medicine and Poison Is in the Dose” – On Letting Go (4:18)
14. Balance and Composure – “Is It So Much to Adore?” – Light We Made (4:12)
15. Waxahatchee – “Hear You” – Out in the Storm (3:01)
16. Modern Baseball – “Revenge of the Nameless Ranger” – MOBO Presents: The Perfect Cast EP (2:33)
17. Ween – “Freedom of ‘76” – Chocolate & Cheese (2:51)
18. Daryl Hall & John Oates – “When the Morning Comes” – Abandoned Luncheonette (3:11)
19. Dr. Dog – “Shadow People” – Shame, Shame (4:13)
20. Tim Heidecker – “Work from Home” – In Glendale (3:38)
21. Purling Hiss – “Follow You Around” – High Bias (3:45)
22. Kurt Vile – “Was All Talk” – Wakin on a Pretty Daze (7:42)
23. Japanese Breakfast – “Everybody Wants to Love You” – Psychopomp (2:13)
24. Queen of Jeans – “Not a Minute Too Soon” – If You’re Not Afraid, I’m Not Afraid (5:08)
25. Man Man – “Head On (Hold on to Your Heart)” – On Oni Pond (4:25)
26. Beach House – “Myth” – Bloom (4:19)
27. The War on Drugs – “An Ocean In Between the Waves” – Lost in the Dream (7:12)
28. Hop Along – “The Fox in Motion” – Bark Your Head Off, Dog (3:59)
29. (Sandy) Alex G – “Hope” – House of Sugar (2:37)
30. The Districts – “Funeral Beds” – Telephone (5:22)

Total Runtime: 1 hour, 56 minutes

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4G4bYd1aW7AbyF6vHV5ZiJ?si=CLuHhVUiQOuRM34ipDeJ8g


Axver

LOSING COUNT OF HOURS TO KEEP

When I began this list, I just threw together tracks that I have been enjoying recently and thought could work nicely in a playlist. As I started to bring order to them, I realised my selections divided into two separate lists: songs that speak to me right now as I try to maintain any semblance of a satisfactory sleeping pattern during self-isolation; and songs that have soundtracked my experiences during the last few years of moving interstate for a dream job in a city I don’t like. I decided to run with the former for this list.

In putting together the tracks, there was one particularly abrupt transition that I chose not to resolve between tracks 19/20, I suppose a side one/two sort of deal. So, if you read no further, please take this as two sides that try to suggest some sort of nocturnal quarantine vibe.

The playlist does break down into some more discrete parts, and a loose story suggested itself to me as I sorted the songs. So, in the spirit of past DIs, I present it to you. You can take it seriously or as a total piss-take; if I’m honest, I didn’t intend it to be serious, but I’m fairly pleased with how it works.

~*~the story~*~

Don’t we all risk becoming nocturnal in self-isolation? Doesn’t our sleep become more fitful; our dreams more unsettled? This is a soundtrack for the hours between yesterday and tomorrow.

Part I: Lightning Without Sound
A year of crisis brings drought, bushfires, floods, and now pestilence. The smoke-choked skyline on New Year’s Day seems a century ago, yet also a harbinger so urgent that nobody grasped it fully. A person is trying to read by a dim light, but the book slips from their hand and they start to doze. Caliginous visions dance through their mind and say: come with me.

1. The Orbweavers—“The Dry”—Deep Leads (4:46)
2. Angel Olsen—“All Mirrors”—All Mirrors (4:42)
3. Woodes—“How Long I’d Wait”—How Long I’d Wait single (3:45)
4. Chromatics—“Time Rider”—Time Rider single (4:43)
5. The Hundred in the Hands—“Come With Me”—Red Night (3:10)
6. Kayo—“Beasts”—Beasts EP (3:54)
7. Marnie—“Alphabet Block”—Strange Words and Weird Wars (4:22)
8. Health and Perturbator—“Body//Prison”—Body//Prison single (2:44)
9. Shana Falana—“Stripped”—Stripped (3:52)

———interlude: nightmares await———
…an ominous feeling wells inside, the dreams become too real…

10. Caspian—“Fire Made Flesh”—Waking Season (7:49)

Part II: I Think I See a Little Terror
The person sleeps restlessly. Their dreams remind them of past failures, half-forgotten sorrows, and lingering regrets. Fears from the past and fears for the future punctuate the night. They try to run between the raindrops; the dreams turn surreal and they wake with a start.

11. Repulsive Woman—“Relief”—Relief (3:37)
12. La Dispute—“Fulton Street I”—Panorama (4:41)
13. Gold—“He Is Not”—Why Aren’t You Laughing? (4:22)
14. Cable Ties—“Sandcastles”—Far Enough (4:18)
15. Press Club—“Separate Houses”—Wasted Energy (4:15)
16. Infinite Void—“Fading Light”—Endless Waves (3:34)
17. Save Ends—“Mr. C’s Amazing Trip”—A Book About Bad Luck (3:24)
18. Major Leagues—“Someone Sometime”—Dream States (4:03)
19. Mermaidens—“Satsuma”—Perfect Body (4:14)

———interlude: nightcap———
They shake themselves off and have a glass of red wine to soothe their nerves.

20. The End of the Ocean—“Desire”—-aire (5:47)

Part III: All These Dreams Were Never Mine
Yawning, the person puts themselves to bed. The night wears on and their dreams become more abstract: feelings not visions. It is hard to shake a sense of loss. So many things have been lost. But a loose sense of hope starts to thread itself into this imagined nocturnal world: this experience is lonely, but it is not singular. The person sleeps more soundly in the hope that other hearts beat with theirs.

21. Suldusk—“Catacombs”—Lunar Falls (4:35)
22. Midas Fall—“Borders”—Wilderness (3:27)
23. Habitants—“Jupiter”—One Self (5:19)
24. Death and the Maiden—“Ooooh Baby in the Chorus”—Wisteria (4:04)
25. Landing—“Second Sight”—Bells in New Towns (5:13)
26. Slowdive—“Sugar for the Pill”—Slowdive (4:31)
27. Beach House—“All Your Yeahs”—Thank Your Lucky Stars (3:48)
28. Purple Pilgrims—“I’m Not Saying”—Purple Pilgrims (4:34)
29. Nadia Reid—“Right on Time”—Preservation (4:23)
30. Erica Freas—“Quinn”—Patient Ones (4:06)

———interlude: the endings that we write———
A memory for when they wake: “you and me, what’s left of the endings that we write? they become the oceans and the sky.”

31. Sleepmakeswaves—“Cascades”—Cascades (5:51)

Part IV: Just Be Where You Are
Morning is approaching. The person feels more reconciled to their predicament. They do not want to live in interesting times, but here they are. They can make do. They can be where they are. Long live the fallen world.

32. Purity Ring—“Stardew”—Womb (4:07)
33. Young Ejecta—“Build a Fire”—Build a Fire (3:48)
34. Bullet Height—“Wild Words”—No Atonement (3:52)
35. Young Galaxy—“Long Live the Fallen World”—Invisible Republic (4:57)

———epilogue: awake?———
Behind me there is yesterday. Tomorrow I will start again.

36. Flyying Colours—“It’s Tomorrow Now”—Mindfullness (3:43)

Total time: 2 hours 36 minutes

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1nzkGj7OEINcioqknbUJWG?si=nsInSt9URqWf4iYWmK_Jfg

 

[LemonMelon]

Group 2


gump

Sheltered in Place in New York

This is the simplest possible concept I can think of: songs about New York City. It’s been done time and again. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of songs that fit the bill. I don’t really care. In this time where I can only see Brooklyn through my window, this playlist makes me remember how much I miss this dang city.

I tried to capture a range of styles that are important to New York – from jazz and hip hop to punk and the CBGB – as well as favorite contemporary artists that were so obviously influenced by what came before them in the city. It’s remarkable how much excellent music there is about NYC. I have a longer playlist which is over 6 hours long. I couldn’t find room for stuff like Visions of Johanna, New York I Love You But You Are Bringing Me Down, Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, New York City Cops, etc etc. But hopefully this provides you with some good thoughts or memories of a city that I came to call home.

Disc 1

1. Clifford Brown, Max Roach Quintet - "Take The A" Train" - Study In Brown (04:15)
2. Beastie Boys - "An Open Letter To NYC" - To The 5 Boroughs (04:18)
3. Wu-Tang Clan - "C.R.E.A.M." - Enter The Wu-Tang (04:12)
4. A Tribe Called Quest - "Electric Relaxation " - The Anthology (03:46)
5. Stevie Wonder - "Living For The City" – Innervisions (07:23)
6. Bobby Womack - "Across 110th Street" - Midnight Mover: The Bobby Womack Story (03:50)
7. Talking Heads - "Psycho Killer" - Talking Heads '77 (04:20)
8. The Velvet Underground & Nico - "I'm Waiting For The Man" - The Velvet Underground & Nico (04:39)
9. Le Tigre - "My My Metrocard" - Le Tigre (02:54)
10. New York Dolls - "Subway Train" - New York Dolls (04:20)
11. Ramones - "Rockaway Beach" – Ramones (02:21)
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Yeah! New York" – Fever to Tell (02:06)

Disc 2

1. Patti Smith - "Piss Factory" - Hey Joe / Piss Factory (04:41)
2. Iggy Pop – "Avenue B" – Avenue B (05:21)
3. Tom Waits - "Downtown Train" - Rain Dogs (03:50)
4. Joni Mitchell - "Chelsea Morning" - Clouds (02:31)
5. Television – "Venus" – Marquee Moon (3:49)
6. Eleanor Friedberger - "Roosevelt Island" - Last Summer (05:20)
7. St. Vincent - "New York" – MASSEDUCTION (02:34)
8. Lana Del Rey - "Brooklyn Baby" – Ultraviolence (05:52)
9. Interpol - "NYC" - Turn On The Bright Lights (04:19)
10. The National - "The Geese of Beverly Road" – Alligator (04:56)
11. Lou Reed - "Walk on the Wild Side" – Transformer (04:14)
12. Bruce Springsteen - "New York City Serenade" - The Wild, the Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (09:58)

Total runtime: 105:00

LINK:


LuckyNumber7

Life by Misadventure

Life By Misadventure is an adventure through time - a coming of age story through the last ten years. Beginning at the age of adulthood and leaving the past behind, topics of sexuality, mental health, unrequited love, and vagabondism. Along the way, major life events reshape the direction of the adventure. Old themes continue to recur, leading into a mishmash of sensory overload, reflection, and reclamation.

1. U2 - "Elvis Presley and America" - The Unforgettable Fire (6:23)
2. The Killers - "This River is Wild" - Sam's Town (4:38)
3. The Airborne Toxic Event - "Innocence" - The Airborne Toxic Event (6:50)
4. Dan Black ft. Kid Cudi - "Symphonies" - The:Hours Recordings - The Debut Years (3:49)
5. Twenty One Pilots - "Holding on to You" - Vessel (4:24)
6. Augustines - "The Instrumental" - Rise Ye Sunken Ships (3:51)
7. The Knife - "Heartbeats" - Deep Cuts (3:52)
8. Twin Shadow - "Beg for the Night" - Confess (3:42)
9. We Were Promised Jetpacks - "Quiet Little Voices" - These Four Walls (4:21)
10. The Walkmen - "The Rat" - Bows + Arrows (4:22)
11. Night Terrors of 1927 ft. Tegan & Sara - "When You Were Mine" - Anything to Anyone (3:55)
12. Bleachers - "Wild Heart" - Strange Desire (3:20)
13. Majical Cloudz - "Downtown" - Are You Alone? (4:09)
14. Wintersleep - "Weighty Ghost" - Welcome to the Night Sky (3:39)
15. Phoenix - "Heatwave" - Heatwave (4:20)
16. Santigold - "Who I Thought You Were" - 99 Cents (3:49)
17. Gordi - "Can We Work it Out" - Can We Work it Out (4:21)
18. CHVRCHES - "Do I Wanna Know?" - triple j Like A Version (4:18)
19. Zola Jesus - "Dangerous Days" - Taiga (4:30)
20. Arcade Fire - "Half Light II (No Celebration)" - The Suburbs (4:27)
21. Eno · Hyde - "Return" - High Life (9:00)
22. Modest Mouse - "Lampshades on Fire" - Strangers to Ourselves (3:08)
23. Simple Minds - "Reel to Real" - Reel to Real Cacophony (2:50)
24. Partenaire Particulier - "Partenaire Particulier" - Le son des années 80 (4:06)
25. Nour Al Zain & Ghazwan Elfhad - "Gaynalk Bhaya" - Gaynalk Bhaya (4:07)
26. Animal Collective - "Summertime Clothes" - Summertime Clothes (4:34)
27. J. Views & Wild Cub - "Into the Light" - (4:31)
28. Future Islands - "Ran" - The Far Field (3:26)
29. Ought - "Desire" - Room Inside the World (5:19)
30. The Horrors - "Something to Remember Me By" - V (6:40)
31. The National - "I Am Easy to Find" - I Am Easy to Find (4:31)

Total runtime: 139:00

SPOTIFY LINK:

YOUTUBE LINK:


the tourist

This is some semi-recent music that I like.

A few short notes:

1. I'm good friends with Moody Bear. You should all check out his album when you have a hot minute.
2. Author is my favorite artist I've discovered in the last five years. You should check out Is It Far Or Is It Close sometime. I mean, you probably won't, but why not throw it out there?
3. I apologize in advance to those that care that this playlist is predominantly male and white.
4. Some of these songs helped me get through the hardest things I've ever been through.
5. Others make me happy and inspire me to make music of my own.
6. This is the first playlist I've made in awhile where I actually tried to make some things flow. Yes, it has some issues, but I'm not really trying to win. I'm just in it for the fun and hopefully you'll like some of the things on this list.
7. Through another forum, I'm friends with a guy who recently has become the touring lead guitarist for lovelytheband. He actually has had a big impact on my music production thanks to some of his recording techniques which he has shown me. I tried to tell him they should make "emotion" a single, but he really had no say.
8. I never thought I'd be making another Desert Island playlist. If this is the last, I hope this is the best Desert Island ever. But I hope it's not the last.
9. Even though sometimes I've had bad interactions with some or all of you, I love you all and just wanted to let you know that.
10. If we do another Desert Island next year, one of my songs will for sure be in my list. Self serving? Sure. That alone might be a reason that no one wants to do another one. Ha ha!

Now for the list:

01. Strange Names - "Ricochet" - Use Your Time Wisely [4:16]
02. Family of the Year - "St. Croix" - Loma Vista [3:36]
03. Sports - "Panama" - Naked All The Time [3:19]
04. Panama Wedding - "All of the People" - Parallel Play [3:36]
05. Craft Spells - "After The Moment" - Idle Labor [4:01]
06. St. Lucia - "Elevate" - When The Night [5:08]
07. Walk The Moon - "Aquaman" - Talking Is Hard [4:00]
08. lovelytheband - "emotion" - finding it hard to smile [3:39]
09. The Griswolds - "Beware The Dog" - Be Impressive [3:21]
10. Magic Man - "Paris" - Before the Waves [3:53]
11. The Wombats - "Headspace" - Glitterbug [3:54]
12. Generationals - "Gold Silver Diamond" - Alix [3:25]
13. Penguin Prison - "Calling Out" - Lost In New York [3:59]
14. Mutemath - "Light Up" - Vitals [3:42]
15. Author - "Calm And Clear" - Is It Far Or Is It Close [4:20]
16. Post Animal - "When I Get Home" - The Garden Series [5:23]
17. Tame Impala - "Lost In Yesterday" - The Slow Rush [4:10]
18. BØRNS - "Fool" - Dopamine [3:38]
19. Carly Rae Jepsen - "Everything He Needs" - Dedicated [3:39]
20. Childish Gambino - "Feels Like Summer" - Summer Pack [4:57]
21. Swimming With Bears - "French Girls" - French Girls [3:42]
22. The Colourist - "Little Games" - The Colourist [2:42]
23. Wild Cub - "Thunder Clatter" - Youth [4:31]
24. Small Black - "Canoe" - Limits of Desire [3:17]
25. Wild Nothing - "Only Heather" - Nocturne [3:21]
26. Scuba Dvala - "Soy Boy" - Soy Boy [3:34]
27. The Undercover Dream Lovers - "Soon Enough" - It's All in Your Head [4:02]
28. Deep Sea Diver - "Juno Song" - Always Waiting EP [4:20]
29. Twin Shadow - "Five Seconds" - Confess [4:20]
30. Marble Arch - "Gold" - Children of the Slump [4:51]
31. Alvvays - "Archie, Marry Me" - Alvvays [3:17]
32. Moody Bear - "The Mississippi" - Mood Swings [4:20]

Total Runtime: 2 hours, 6 minutes.

LINK:


namkcuR

The Great Escape

It is a truism that people turn to the warm haze of nostalgia in difficult times. We are living through a difficult time now as this pandemic has forced much of society to shut down, and so it is no surprise that people are craving nostalgia. That is what my playlist(s) is about. It is divided into two parts, intentionally, and extremely, disparate in tone and duration. Part II should feel like an emotional relief after Part I.

Part I: Spring, 2020

LINK:

This is the (much) shorter of the two parts. Clocking in at 50 minutes, this list is a dark, moody piece that seeks to evoke the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty associated with what is going on. The emotional spectrum here runs from the melancholic(Floyd) to the mournful(Sigur Ros) to the brooding(Ryan Adams, Tomasz Stanko) to the existentially soul-crushing(Nick Cave). With the exception of the Floyd track, all the tracks here are from 2009 and later.

I'm proud of the cohesion of mood here - it's pretty relentlessly bleak.

A couple of notes on some individual tracks...

I've never been good at making lists that offer a large amount of stuff that a lot of people would be hearing for the first time, but I do try to always have at least a few things that could be 'new' discoveries. I think the two tracks that's most likely to be true of here are the Frusciante and Stanko tracks.

Frusciante is a legend - there's a reason it was such big news in the music world when it was announced that he was rejoining RHCP. His solo work, however, is eclectic, often far removed from what he's done with RHCP, and largely unknown to a lot of people(most people, probably). This is a track called "Cinch", and the whole thing is basically a guitar solo with a synthesizer/drum machine backdrop. It is captivating, evocative, beautifully melancholic imo. He's done several tracks like this, but this was the one that fit best in terms of mood and length.

I admittedly don't know much at all about Tomasz Stanko, but this jazz piece, "Terminal 7", was used as one of the themes of the U.S. TV series "Homeland" in its earlier seasons. I liked it so much watching the show that I looked it up to find out what it was. It's stuck with me for years, and it fit this list like a glove. It's just this great, brooding, ominous jazz number.

You're probably familiar with the rest, but briefly:

Everyday Life is imo the best album Coldplay have put out, maybe since Rush Of Blood. "When I Need A Friend" closes the first part of the album, but I felt it was a fitting opener here. "Holy, holy, god defend/shield me, show me/when I need a friend". Also, I loved the segue with the wave sounds at the end going into the wave sounds at the beginning of...

Marooned is one of the highlights of the last Gilmour-led era of Pink Floyd. This is just Gilmour being Gilmour, and it's so good.

From the first time I heard it, I always thought "Varuo" was one of the most beautiful Sigur Ros tracks.

I'm bummed about what happened with Ryan Adams, but I hope we can separate art from artists. "I Just Might" is my favorite track of his. It has this stop-start, almost manic, kinetic energy to it that just builds and builds. It kind of reminds me of U2's "Exit" in the way. There aren't all that many lyrics in this list, but here they seem fitting: "Everything is broken in my mind/ain't no place to run/ain't no place to hide/don't wanna lose control/baby I just might".

I've only recently finally gotten into Nick Cave, but the whole time I was making this list, I felt like "Hollywood" would be a perfect way to end. Absolutely devastating in its atmosphere and delivery, and the lyrics are apt: "It's a long way to find/peace of mind/peace of mind"; "And I'm just waiting now, for my time to come"; "Everybody's losing someone".

1. Coldplay - "When I Need A Friend" - Everyday Life - 2019 (2:35)
2. Pink Floyd - "Marooned" - The Division Bell - 1994 (5:30)
3. John Frusciante - "Cinch" - Enclosure - 2014 (6:26)
4. Royksopp - "Coup De Grace" - The Inevitable End - 2014 (3:20)
5. Sigur Ros - "Varuo" - Valtari - 2012 (6:37)
6. Thom Yorke - "Open Again" - Suspiria(Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film) - 2018 (2:50)
7. Ryan Adams - "I Just Might" - Ryan Adams - 2014 (3:29)
8. Tomasz Stanko Quintet - "Terminal 7" - Dark Eyes - 2009 (5:30)
9. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - "Hollywood" - Ghosteen - 2019 (14:12)
Total: 50:29

Part II: Summer, The Good Old Days

LINK: DIXI-2

So, after the heaviness of part I, we make the great escape into nostalgia.

But nostalgia can mean different things to different people, so I must define what nostalgia meant to me as I put this list together. It might simply look like a 90s list, but it's not just that. I had a very specific idea in mind. The 90s are often remembered as a peaceful, happy time, at least in the U.S. and the west. We talk about the "Clinton era optimism", the booming post-Cold War economy as the world wide web was born, the freshness of the alternative rock and other music scenes, the excitement of the big technological advances that were being made at breakneck speed, etc. It is remembered as a time of optimism, prosperity, and peace.

Now, of course the 90s weren't a perfect utopia of positivity. Of course bad stuff happened. There's no decade where bad shit didn't happen. This is the nature of nostalgia, to romanticize the good and forget about the bad.

So I've attempted to create a list that captures the spirit of that happy, optimistic, fresh, peaceful period of time that a lot of us grew up in - as its nostalgically remembered - between the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and 9/11 in 2001(with an extra year added on either side because I wanted to use certain songs) - that romanticizes said period of time, but that is also self-aware about what it is. I've bookended it with two tracks that basically spell it out.

Fastball was one of the better of all the pop-rock acts that made it big in the mid-late 90s, having big success with the singles "The Way" and "Outta My Head". This list starts with a deeper cut from the same album - "G.O.D. (Good Old Days)". The very first lyric of the song, and therefore the list, is "I've been thinking 'bout the good old days/decorated in a candy glaze", which is essentially implying memories viewed through rose-colored glasses.

On the other end, the list closes with "The Sunscreen Song", a surprise spoken-word hit from the late 90s that ends, and thus ends the list, by indirectly describing nostalgia as "a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth".

Using these two tracks as a sort of prologue and epilogue works, I think, to place this "Part II" in the context of the larger two-part work.

In between prologue and epilogue, the edict I gave myself was that all of the songs must be musically upbeat, 'bright', warm, breezy - in order to reflect the happy, optimistic 90s of nostalgia - and with only a few exceptions, I think I did a good job adhering to that. Lyrically, some songs fit the theme, but it was more important to me that they all fit with the theme, and together, musically.

I hadn't intended it from the start, but I ended up loosely structuring this trip through this time period as one sunny day, divided into several sections as denoted by dotted lines on the tracklisting below.

Picture a warm, sunny summer day in one of the last years of this time period, sometime between 1999 and 2001. A group of, say, 21-22 year olds who are about to graduate college. They go out to spend the day together at the beach. They don't know it, but they're nearing the end of an era. Columbine happened in 1999, introducing the notion of public mass shootings into the American psyche. The dot-com bubble will soon burst. Y2K panic is rising. And on a sunny Tuesday in September 2001, an unimaginable horror will befall the country. But for now, they're just having a good time and enjoying their youth in a time of prosperity.

The first section - tracks 2-10 - represents driving down the highway to the beach on this beautiful day. You can imagine singing along to these tracks with the windows rolled down.

This is probably the most lyrically relevant section to the theme of nostalgia.

I started with "The Bends" because it's a big, warm, feel-good way to start, and yes, because "I wish it was the 60s" loosely fits.

In "In My Tree", Eddie Vedder blissfully says "Up here in my tree/newspapers meant enough to me/no more crowbars to my head/I'm trading stories with the leaves instead", drawing a picture of a temporary escape from reality, which jives here. Later, he states "Had my eyes peeled both wide open/and I got a glimpse/of my innocence". Isn't that often what we're searching for in nostalgia?

Petty's "Into The Great Wide Open" is directly about looking back on a time when "the future was wide open".

When it comes to Barenaked Ladies, I've always been partial to Steven Page fare - "Brian Wilson", "It's All Been Done", and this track "The Old Apartment", among them. Here Page belts out "Only memories/fading memories/blending into dull tableaux/I want them back(this is where we used to live)".

Next are a couple of, what you might term one-hit-wonders. Del Amitri's "Roll To Me" is a breezy earworm, and Tal Bachman's "She's So High" is belter.

Few songs sound more like a highway drive than "Learn To Fly".

I know most of you probably aren't psyched to see Lit here. Give it a chance. I haven't included any of the singles they had back then - "My Own Worst Enemy", "Ziplock", "Miserable" - but rather a deep cut from the same album called "Lovely Day". It's a sunny song with sweet harmonies in the chorus. I'm sure this wasn't the intention of the lyric, but I feel like "It's another world/but it's something more than ordinary/such a lovely day/and it's nothing more than ordinary" fits very well here, as it could easily describe the duality of nostalgia.

The section concludes with "Torn". This is one track I need to explain the inclusion of in depth. Natalie Imbruglia's version was obviously one of the biggest pop singles of the 90s, but I feel like a lot of people don't know that it was a cover. As the story goes, the LA-based band Edna Swap, led by singer-songwriter Anne Previn, wrote the song in 1993. The lyrics are Previn's, presumably based on her own experiences. They first gave the song to the Danish singer Lis Sorenson, who recorded it that year in her own language. You can find it on YT.

Edna Swap recorded it themselves for their debut self-titled album in 1995. Evidently this album didn't get a 'wide' release, as Wiki states that their follow-up album in 1997, "Wacko Magento" was their first wide-release. They re-recorded the song for that album, and that is what is included on this list. Around the same time, they had given the song to Imbruglia, apparently never thinking it would become what it became. "Torn" was supposed to be the second single from "Wacko Magento", but before that could happen, Imbruglia's version had been released and become huge, so they aborted that plan.

Like I said in part one, I've never been good at making lists with lots of new discoveries for people, but I'm hopeful this might be new for some of you. It's a very different performance from Imbruglia's. Imbruglia's version is a polished, pretty pop song with a timeless sound. This version is a pained, raw, rock song that sounds unmistakably 90s. There is something poignant, imo, about hearing it sung by the woman who wrote it, whose name hardly anyone knows. To be honest, lyrically it has nothing to do with the theme, and musically, it's not bright, but it helps the first section flow into the second section better, and I wanted to include it.

The second section - tracks 11-17 - represents arriving at the beach, swimming, surfing, kicking a ball around, whatever, just being active and having fun.

It is also, in a micro sense, an attempt to capture the energy of the alternative rock thing when it was first becoming huge, between 1988 and 1994, when it was still alternative but becoming mainstream, before the saturation started in the mid-90s. It's a bit harder-edged than the first section.

Lyrically, these tracks have little to nothing to do with any of the themes of the list - though "I love you/swim through me/good feelings/come to me" from then RHCP deep cut "The Greeting Song" does a good job of capturing the vibe I'm going for - but musically they all fit.

I didn't want to use any of the many ubiquitous Nirvana tracks, so I went with "About A Girl". Not nearly as overexposed as many of the Nevermind and In Utero tracks, but imo it's one of the best songs Cobain ever wrote, imo

I'm afraid I resorted to a bunch of obvious choices in the rest of the section though. "Cherub Rock" is an obvious SP choice, and one that others have used before, but it was too good a fit to ignore. "Kenneth" is also a perhaps too-obvious R.E.M. choice, but it fit the bill. Same for "She Don't Use Jelly", though I'm personally getting into it for the first time(Soft Bulletin/Yoshimi-era FL fan here). And same for Cannonball.

The Pixies track is from 1988, so before the Berlin Wall fell, but they were ahead of their time anyway. This functions as a good bridge into the next section.

The third section - tracks 18-23 - represents chilling later in the afternoon, sunbathing, having a drink, making conversation, enjoying the scenery, etc.

Accordingly, these tracks are mellower in nature, in some cases mildly psychedelic.

It starts with Blind Melon's musically neo-hippy-flavored "No Rain" - this sunny musical disposition overrides the fact that it is lyrically about depression - and Neutral Milk Hotel's buoyant and poetic title track of their 1998 opus. "But for now we are young/let us lay in the sun/and count every beautiful thing we can see" captures the spirit of this list as well as any lyric in it.

"Island In The Sun" is the only track here that I've used before. That was in a mini-DI though - the Best Of 2000s - so this is the first time I'm using it in a full DI. Also, it's one of two tracks here released post-90s. It was recorded in late 2000 and released in the Spring of 2001.

Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up The Sun" is even later than that, released post 9/11 in Spring 2002, but Wiki says the album was recorded in 2001-2002, so I'm willing to bet the song was at least written before 9/11. At least that's what I'm telling myself to justify its inclusion.

I admittedly don't have a very deep knowledge of Stone Temple Pilots' catalogue, but I've always thought that "Sour Girl" was one of those perfect pop songs; beautiful harmonies, warm, psychedelic, simple, catchy.

Jennifer Paige's "Crush" was her only hit. It was all over the place in 1998, but if you weren't old enough or in the right place then, it's possible you may have missed it. I always liked her sultry vocal.

The final section - tracks 24-27 - represents the early evening, and they're just partying now, dancing and drinking on the beach as the sun starts going down on this day.

I'm not a huge Madonna fan, but I've always liked "Beautiful Stranger" a lot. Its 60s pastiche makes it feel right at home on a list about nostalgia.

"Then The Morning Comes" continues the 60s pastiche theme. I know Smashmouth gets made fun of, but I think they had a small handful of genuinely fun singles. I at least only went with their third most well-known single instead of either of the two big ones that you've heard too many times. Lyrically it fits; "the end is near" because the end of the list is literally near; "then the morning comes" because this nostalgia trip is coming to an end and the "morning" of real life is coming.

"Steal My Sunshine" was 100% not in my head when I started making this list - I had not listened to it or even thought about it for probably 20 years, but I was trying to think of all the 'sunny' 90s songs I could, and it popped in my head like a long-forgotten memory. As a one-hit wonder that embodies so much of what this list is about, I couldn't resist it.

"Loaded" is an absolute classic, and I loved the idea of it being the big finale, like the soundtrack of these kids just dancing the night away. "We're gonna have a good time/we're gonna have a party".

As I said before, closing with "Everybody's Free(To Wear Sunscreen)" as an epilogue seemed apt. There's some good life advice there, the closing stanza about nostalgia ties the whole thing together nicely, and the bit about how the real problems in life are apt to be the kind that "blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday" struck a chord, because covid has blindsided all of us. The track is like a bridge back to the reality that part I of my list represented.

I have written far too much here, but I really wanted to explain myself, because I know this Part II of my list isn't going to be for everybody. Some of you are probably seeing Lit and Smashmouth and Len and rolling your eyes. I'm more concerned about the list working as a whole as opposed to everyone loving every single track.

I hope at least some of you get something from it.

1. Fastball - "G.O.D. (Good Old Days)" - All The Pain Money Can Buy - 1998 (3:31)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Radiohead - "The Bends" - The Bends - 1995 (4:06)
3. Pearl Jam - "In My Tree" - No Code - 1996 (3:59)
4. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Into The Great Wide Open" - Into The Great Wide Open - 1991 (3:43)
5. Barenaked Ladies - "The Old Apartment(Radio Remix)" - The Old Apartment Single - 1997 (3:34)
6. Del Amitri - "Roll To Me" - Twisted - 1995 (2:12)
7. Tal Bachman - "She's So High" - Tal Bachman - 1999 (3:45)
8. Foo Fighters - "Learn To Fly" - There Is Nothing Left To Lose - 1999 (3:55)
9. Lit - "Lovely Day" - A Place In The Sun - 1999 (4:07)
10. Edna Swap - "Torn" - Wacko Magneto - 1997 (3:59)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Nirvana - "About A Girl" - Bleach - 1989 (2:48)
12. R.E.M. - "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" - Monster - 1994 (4:00)
13. Smashing Pumpkins - "Cherub Rock" - Siamese Dream - 1993 (4:58)
14. Flaming Lips - "She Don't Use Jelly" - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 - 2018(originally 1993) (3:20)
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "The Greeting Song" - Blood Sugar Sex Magik - 1991 (3:14)
16. Breeders - "Cannonball" - Last Splash - 1993 (3:34)
17. Pixies - "Where Is My Mind" - Surfer Rosa - 1988 (3:57)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Blind Melon - "No Rain" - Blind Melon - 1992 (3:37)
19. Neutral Milk Hotel - "In The Aeroplane Under The Sea" - In The Aeroplane Under The Sea - 1998 (3:22)
20. Sheryl Crow - "Soak Up The Sun" - C'Mon C'Mon - 2002 (4:52)
21. Weezer - "Island In The Sun" - The Green Album - 2001 (3:20)
22. Stone Temple Pilots - "Sour Girl" - No. 4 - 1999 (4:16)
23. Jennifer Paige - "Crush" - Jennifer Paige - 1998 (3:20)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
24. Madonna - "Beautiful Stranger" - Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me: Music from the Motion Picture - 1999 (4:22)
25. Smashmouth - "Then The Morning Comes" - Astro Lounge - 1999 (3:02)
26. L.E.N. - "Steal My Sunshine" - L.E.N. - 1999 (4:26)
27. Primal Scream - "Loaded" - Screamadelica - 1991 (7:03)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
28. Baz Luhrmann(feat. Lee Perry delivering the speech) - "Everybody's Free(To Wear Sunscreen)" AKA "The Sunscreen Song" - Everybody's Free(To Wear Sunscreen) - 1997 (5:09)

Total:1:49:31 / 109:31

Grand Total: 160:00


GirlsAloudFan

A Bunch of Good Songs

1. The Cure - "Catch - 2006 Remaster" - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me - (2:44)
2. R.E.M. - "Fall On Me - 2011 Remaster" - Lifes Rich Pageant (Deluxe Edition) - (2:50)
3. Big Star - "September Gurls" - Radio CIty - (2:48)
4. XTC - "Earn Enough For Us - Remastered 2001" - Skylarking (2:54)
5. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "Listen To Her Heart" - The Best of Everything - (3:02)
6. Spoon - "Sister Jack" - Gimme Fiction (2015 Remaster) - (3:35)
7. The New Pornographers - "Mass Romantic" - Mass Romantic (Remastered) - (4:04)
8. Blondie - "Hanging On The Telephone" - Parallel Lines - (2:25)
9. Prince - "Starfish and Coffee" - Sing "O" The Times - (2:51)
10. Squeeze - "Up The Junction" - Cool Cats - (3:11)
11. Blur - "Parklife - 2012 Remaster" - Parklife (Special Edition) - (3:05)
12. Arctic Monkeys - "Black Treacle" - Suck It And See - (3:37)
13. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "Accidents Will Happen" - Armed Forces - (3:01)
14. The Replacements - "Alex Chilton - 2008 Remaster" - Pleased To Meet Me (Expanded Edition) - (3:14)
15. The Clash - "Stay Free - Remastered" - Give 'Em Enough Rope (Remastered) - (3:41)
16. Manic Street Preachers - "Enola/Alone - Remastered Version" - Everything Must Go 10th Anniversary Edition - (4:08)
17. Brian Eno - "Needles In The Camel's Eye - 2004 Digital Remaster" - Here Come The Warm Jets - (3:11)
18. David Bowie - "Ziggy Stardust - 2012 Remaster" - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (2012 Remaster) - (3:14)
19. The Who - "The Seeker - Edit" - Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy - (3:10)
20. The 13th Floor Elevators - "You're Gonna Miss Me (2008 Remastered Original Mono LP Version)" - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (2008 Remaster) - (2:27)
21. Buzzcocks - "Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Should'nt've?) - 1996 Remastered Version" - Love Bites - (2:44)
22. The White Stripes - "Fell In Love With A Girl" - White Blood Cells - (1:50)
23. The Dead Milkmen - "Punk Rock Girl" - Beelzebubba - (2:38)
24. Camper Van Beethoven - "Take the Skinheads Bowling" - Telephone Free Landslide Victory - (2:38)
25. Ramones - "Needles and Pins - 2002 Remaster" - Road to Ruin (Expanded 2005 Remaster) - (2:22)
26. The Rolling Stones - "Tumbling Dice" - Exile On Main Street (2010 Re-Mastered) - (3:46)
27. Stevie Wonder - "We Can Work It Out" - Signed, Sealed And Delivered - (3:20)
28. The Beatles - "The Ballad Of John And Yoko - Remastered 2015" - 1 (Remastered) - (2:59)
29. ABBA - "Ring Ring - English Version" - Ring Ring - Deluxe Edition - (3:05)
30. Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run" - Born To Run - (4:30)

Total Runtime: 92 minutes

LINK: A Bunch of Good Songs

 

[LemonMelon]

Group 3


Joey788

Embrace the Contrast

We’re all an amalgamation of conflicts that we not only learn to live with, but come to accept. My playlist focuses on making peace with my personal contradictions over the last decade. It’s rage and tranquility, hope and frustration, unrequited love and letting go, or as seen in the cover image, the pull of nature and my city life upbringing. These songs have helped with my personal growth, or were there for key moments in my life. I still turn to them often and hope you all find some new favorites as well.

1. The National – “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” – Sleep Well Beast (3:57)
2. St. Vincent – “Cruel” – Strange Mercy (3:35)
3. PJ Harvey – “The Sky Lit Up” – Is This Desire? (1:53)
4. Mitski – “Townie” - Bury Me At Makeout Creek (3:25)
5. Sharon Van Etten – “Serpents” – Tramp (3:02)
6. Lucy Dacus – “Timefighter” – Historian (5:49)
7. Porcupine Tree – “Mellotron Scratch” – Deadwing (6:57)
8. Angel Olsen – “All Mirrors” – All Mirrors (4:42)
9. Radiohead – “Daydreaming” – A Moon Shaped Pool (6:24)
10. David Bowie – “Blackstar” – Blackstar (9:58)
11. Nine Inch Nails – “Dear World,” – Not The Actual Events (4:07)
12. Savages – “Husbands” – Silence Yourself (2:50)
13. Priests – “Pink White House” – Nothing Feels Natural (4:05)
14. TORRES – “Sprinter” – Sprinter (4:45)
15. Big Thief – “Not” – Two Hands (6:07)
16. Gustavo Santaolalla – “The Last of Us” – The Last of Us (3:04)
17. Opeth – “Isolation Years” – Ghost Reveries (3:51)
18. Porridge Radio – “Lilac” – Every Bad (5:28)
19. The Decemberists – “Rusalka, Rusalka / Wild Rushes” – I’ll Be Your Girl (8:16)
20. R.E.M. – “Discoverer” – Collapse Into Now (3:31)
21. U2 – “A Sort Of Homecoming” – The Unforgettable Fire (5:28)
22. Waxahatchee – “Silver” – Out in the Storm (3:24)
23. Courtney Barnett – “City Looks Pretty” - Tell Me How You Really Feel (4:42)
24. Arcade Fire – “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” – The Suburbs (5:26)
25. Florence + The Machine – “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (5:35)
26. Jenny Lewis – “The Voyager” – The Voyager (3:31)
27. Braids – “Warm Like Summer” – Deep in the Iris (4:24)
28. Astronautalis – “Measure the Globe” – This Is Our Science (2:59)
29. Laura Stevenson – “Living Room, NY” – The Big Freeze (3:23)
30. Julien Baker – “Claws in Your Back” – Turn Out the Lights (4:39)
31. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Push the Sky Away” – Push the Sky Away (4:07)
32. Steven Wilson – “The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories)” –The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) (7:57)

Total runtime: 2:31:21

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0gFZRfXbImEpdO2CBRgtKY?si=32mXIt03QHm4WeJncfSUPg


bono_212

To Live and Die In L.A.

The idea for this playlist started shortly after I moved to Los Angeles, almost exactly six years ago. There were two radio stations, in particular, that I was ecstatic to have discovered, 93.5 KDAY, which still exists and 92.3 KHHT, which left me in 2015 not long after I arrived. 93.5 and 92.3 were both 90s-centric stations, The former hip-hop, the latter R&B. Almost overnight, I fell in love with West Coast Hip Hop and the song "Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan.

Not very long after I moved here, I started to get this feel of songs that made me feel pretty good while I was driving, or stuck in traffic. Then there started to be these other songs that I strongly associated with driving around at night. That was the original idea for the list: Day and Night driving in Los Angeles. Over time, though, it became pretty obvious this playlist is more like a sunset to sunrise sort of adventure.

So, that's what I want you to take from this. Think of it as a Saturday afternoon into a 3:00 AM quiet drive home Sunday morning. From the perspective of someone from Indiana who's lived in the city for a pretty OK amount of time at this point, but still associates Sunset Boulevard with 80s post-punk instead of hair metal, for whatever reason...

(Only :20s kept me from this being two standard discs. I couldn't bare to cut anymore from the first part, though, so it's staying like this, OCD be damned)

I Live. I Die:
1. 2Pac - "To Live & Die In L.A." - Greatest Hits (4:33)
2. Tony! Toni! Tone! - "It Never Rains (In Southern California) - The Revival (5:04)
3. Suga Free - "Dip Da" - Street Gospel (4:33)
4. Ice Cube - "It Was A Good Day" - The Predator (4:20)
5. Warren G., Nate Dogg "Regulate" - Regulate...G Funk Era (4:09)
6. The Pharcyde - "Runnin'" - Labcabincalifornia (4:56)
7. Souls of Mischief - "93 'Til Infinity" - 93 'til Infinity (4:46)
8. Dred Scott - "Duck Ya Head" - Breakin' Combs (4:49)
9. The Lady of Rage - "Afro Puffs" - Above The Rim (4:48)
10. Snoop Dogg - "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" - Doggystyle (4:06)
11. Grace Jones - "Pull Up To The Bumper" - Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions (4:33)
12. Prince - "I Wanna Be Your Lover" - Prince (5:48)
13. Chaka Khan - "Ain't Nobody" - Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan, Vol. 1 (4:41)
14. Laura Branigan - "Self Control" - Self Control (4:06)
15. The Who - "Eminence Front" - It's Hard (5:39)
16. Glenn Frey - "You Belong To The City" - Above The Clouds - The Collection (5:53)
17. Jan Hammer - "Crockett's Theme" - Miami Vice: Special Edition (3:36)
TRT: 1:20:20

I Live Again:
1. Wang Chung - "To Live And Die In L.A." - To Live & Die In L.A. (4:54)
2. Fleetwood Mac - "Big Love" - Greatest Hits (3:39)
3. Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Cities In Dust" - Tinderbox (3:52)
4. Gene Loves Jezebel - "Desire (Come and Get It)" - The Best of Gene Loves Jezebel - Voodoo Dollies (3:20)
5. Sisters of Mercy - "Lucretia My Reflection" - Floodland (4:57)
6. The Plimsouls - "A Million Miles Away" - Everywhere At Once (3:35)
7. The Go-Go's - "This Town" - Beauty And The Beat (3:20)
8. X - "The World's a Mess, It's in My Kiss" - Los Angeles (4:29)
9. Josie Cotton - "He Could Be the One" - Convertible Music (2:49)
10. Missing Persons - "Destination Unknown" - Spring Session M. (3:37)
11. Talking Heads - "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" - Speaking in Tongues (4:56)
12. The Motels - "Only The Lonely" - All Four One (3:16)
13. Billy Idol - "Sweet Sixteen" - Whiplash Smile (4:18)
14. David & David - "Welcome To The Boomtown" - Boomtown (5:31)
15. The War On Drugs - "Red Eyes" - Lost In The Dream (4:59)
16. Bruce Springsteen - "Night" - Born To Run (3:00)
17. Tom Petter and the Heartbreakers - "American Girl" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (3:35)
18. Bob Seger - "Hollywood Nights" - Stranger In Town (5:05)
19. Tom Waits - "(Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night" - The Heart Of Saturday Night (3:53)

Total runtime: 2:37:25

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3WWFOiW5uyPv6AsXghsMrM?si=jHqD5E5XT12L0iEV3Mylww


LJT

No Man is an Island

This is just an expression of how I am feeling in the current situation. There is a tension to most of the music but it is also contemplative of my role as a nurse working through these weird times we are living in, with the simple recognition that I am not an island in this situation but a collection of colleagues supporting and working together to get through it. Some tracks are bit on the nose than others (Keep the Streets Empty for Me *ahem*) and some are just there because of the general feeling they provide more through the music than lyrics. Some tracks touch on the politics of it from the Fontaines track to the Everything Everything track (yes, No Reptiles is political, I’m sure I will get to explain!). It is maybe a touch sadder than I wanted it to be but interspersed with moments of hope.

1. Félix Blume - "Funeral Procession “AMI FIDÈLE ET TENDRE” - Death in Haiti: Funeral Brass bands and Sounds from Port Au Prince (2:47)
2. Obongjayar - "Dreaming in Transit" – Which Way is Forward (4:09)
3. TV On the Radio – "DLZ" – Dear Science (3:49)
4. Leonard Cohen - "You Want It Darker" – You Want it Darker (4:44)
5. Susanna - "Death and the Miser" – Garden of Earthly Delights (4:13)
6. TORRES - "Good Grief" – Silver Tongue (5:03)
7. Fontaines D.C. - "The Lotts" – Dogrel (4:57)
8. Screaming Females – "Hopeless" – Rose Mountain (2:43)
9. This Is the Kit – "Spinney" – Wriggle Out the Restless (2:49)
10. A Hawk and A Hacksaw - "The Way the Wind Blows" – The Way the Wind Blows (4:18)
11. Frankie Rose - "The Fall" – Interstellar (3:27)
12. Wild Beasts - "Loop the Loop" – Smother (4:07)
13. Grumbling Fur - "The Ballad of Roy Batty" – Glynnaestra (3:39)
14. FKA twigs - "Two Weeks" – LP1 (4:08)
15. Agnes Obel - "Island of Doom" – Island of Doom (5:29)
16. Fever Ray - "Keep the Streets Empty for Me" – Fever Ray (5:37)
17. Austra - "I Love You More Than You Love Yourself" – Future Politics (4:59)
18. Another Sky - "The Cracks" – The Cracks (3:47)
19. Everything Everything - "No Reptiles" – Get to Heaven (4:43)
20. Brandt Brauer Frick - "Broken Pieces feat. Jamie Lidell" – Miami (4:26)
21. Nujabes - "Feather (feat. Cise Starr & Akin from CYNE)" – Modal Soul (2:55)
22. Lantlôs - "Melting Sun I: Azure Chimes" – Melting Sun (7:11)
23. Zola Jesus – "Exhumed" – Okovi (3:45)
24. Burial – "Archangel" – Untrue (4:00)
25. The Black Twig Pickers - "I Can't Stay Here by Myself" – Rough Carpenters (4:34)

Total runtime: 1:46:19

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/52FTbxiE1HYNBXsFvNvu4D?si=St15HUohRpeHY-RH3DM5Bw


cobl04

Two Become One

I wanted to do two playlists. One with just Australian music, the other with just electronic music (a very wide breadth falls under) that. Since we may never do this again, I decided to put the two together. It is one whole playlist, and the transition point is a blend of the two ideas.

1. Camp Cope - "I've Got You" - How to Socialise and Make Friends (5:24)
2. Kelso - "Oh God There's So Much Love in Me" - Always a Godmother, Never a God (3:26)
3. Jen Cloher - "Regional Echo" - Jen Cloher (5:42)
4. David Bridie - "Delegate" - Wake (5:09)
5. Ali Barter - "The Captain" - A Suitable Girl (4:03)
6. The Drones - "To Think That I Once Loved You" - Feelin Kinda Free - (6:14)
7. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Higgs Boson Blues" - Push the Sky Away (7:51)
8. Stella Donnelly - "Allergies" - Beware of the Dogs (2:56)
9, Something for Kate - "Twenty Years" - Echolalia (3:51)
10. Rolling Blackouts C.F. - "An Air Conditioned Man" - Hope Downs (4:52)
11. Gang of Youths - "Native Tongue" - Let Me Be Clear (4:15)
12. Kev Carmody & Paul Kelly - "From Little Things Big Things Grow" - Bloodlines (5:49)
13. Kardajala Kirridarra - "Ngurra" - Kardajala Kirridarra (3:16)
14. Yothu Yindi - "Treaty (Radio Mix)" - Tribal Voice (4:04)
15. Moodymann - "I'll Provide" - Sinner (6:05)
16. Against All Logic - "Some Kind of Game" - 2012-2017 (6:47)
17. LCD Soundsystem - "i used to" - american dream (5:32)
18. Mr. Fingers - "Can You Feel It" - Can You Feel It (5:31)
19. Bonobo - "Cirrus" - North Borders (5:52)
20. Pachanga Boys - "Time" - Girlcatcher (15:13)
21. RÜFÜS DU SOL - "Innerbloom" - Bloom (9:38)
22. Radiohead - "I Am Citizen Insane" - Com Lag (3:33)
23. The National - "Sleep Well Beast" - Sleep Well Beast (6:33)
24. Visible Cloaks - "Terrazzo (ft. Motion Graphics)" - Reassemblage (3:41)
25. Mount Kimbie - "Before I Move Off" - Crooks & Lovers (4:10)
26. John Frusciante - "Glowe" - Letur-Lefr (1:28)
27. 808 State - "Pacific 707" - 808:88:98 (3:54)
28. Black Thought - "Thank You (ft. KIRBY)" - Streams of Thought vol.1 (3:54)
29. DJ Koze - "Seeing Aliens" - Knock Knock (4:52)

total runtime: 149:29

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4w1DNALRdsSX42tiNZBOAG?si=VjStvQtfSTKhrnVqJh0g2Q


iron yuppie

Shavasana

The idea behind this playlist began as a joke. My sister and I were sitting outside talking about yoga. Her greyhound, Sal, was laying motionless in the sun in the middle of the yard. I made the comment that Sal’s entire yoga routine is Shavasana, which is the final resting pose. It stuck in my head and I started making a playlist based on the idea.

Despite the name meaning “corpse” in Sanskrit, Shavasana is intended to be a restorative, reflective state. In this playlist, I tried to create a feeling of moods and states of awareness washing over the mind as one lays in the pose.

1. Low - “Quorum” - Double Negative (3:42)
2. Tim Hecker - “Virginal II” - Virgins (5:23)
3. Jesu - “Your Path to Divinity” - Jesu (9:14)
4. Oliver Coates - “The Clouds Flew ‘Round with the Clouds” - Towards the Blessed Islands (5:38)
5. Slowdive - “Trellisaze” - Pygmalion (6:21)
6. Skee Mask - “Session Add” - Compro (6:20)
7. Visible Cloaks - “Terrazzo” - Reassemblage (3:40)
8. Satsuki Shibano - “Rayures Venitiennes” - Rendez-vous (3:24)
9. Four Tet - “Angel Echoes” - There Is Love in You (4:00)
10. John Talabot - “Destiny” - Fin (4:53)
11. Ibeyi ft Kamasi Washington - “Deathless” - Ash (3:11)
12. Mulatu Astatke - “Mulatu” - New York Addis London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 (5:01)
13. Fela Kuti - “Gentleman” - Gentleman (14:41)
14. Duke Pearson - “The Phantom” - The Phantom (10:19)
15. Yusef Lateef - “Like It Is” - The Blue Yusef Lateef (7:32)
16. Junius Paul - “Bowl Hit” - Ism (3:38)
17. Ben LaMar Gay - “I Ain’t Never Seent No…” - East of the Ryan (7:22)
18. Laurel Halo - “Raw Silk Uncut Wood” - Raw Silk Uncut Wood (10:00)
19. Bjork - “Unravel” - Homogenic (3:17)
20. Perfume Genius - “Die 4 You” - No Shape (3:33)
21. Wild Beasts - “A Dog’s Life” - Present Tense (3:21)
22. David Bowie - “Bring Me the Disco King” - Reality (7:45)

Total runtime: 2hr 13min

LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ncFpattxbIrZOJ837V2qL

 

[iron yuppie]

What an incredibly random song for Cobbs and I both to use.

 

[LemonMelon]

Three things:

1. If you were not able to access Laz's download link for one reason or another, please let me know. I sent out a mass PM, but not everybody checks their PMs or has open space in their PM box.

2. If you are participant and want to be ranked, you have to submit a ballot at the end of the competition. This has always been the rule and it usually does its job to promote activity. If you do not submit a ballot, you will not be ranked at the end. Please do not ignore this.

3. If you are not a participant but still want to join in and submit a ballot at the end, be active throughout the competition, post running diaries, etc. It's frowned upon to submit a ballot without listening to everything, so make yourself known!

 

[DaveC]

only two U2 songs were used across all these playlists

 

[LuckyNumber7]

only two U2 songs were used across all these playlists

I very intentionally led off with U2.

 

[the tourist]

Hm. My picture didn’t show up in my email?

 

[phanan]

Damn, these look great. Well done everyone.

 

[DaveC]

I very intentionally led off with U2.

i'm hella impressed that you included wintersleep in your playlist. i didn't think anybody outside of the maritimes still knew of them.

 

[LemonMelon]

Hm. My picture didn’t show up in my email?

Thanks for pointing that out before I couldn't edit anymore.

 

[gump]

I have a picture in the playlist itself on Spotify, but didn't add it to my submission.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

i'm hella impressed that you included wintersleep in your playlist. i didn't think anybody outside of the maritimes still knew of them.

I was worried that everyone would know every single song on my playlist.

 

[DaveC]

looks like there's about a half-dozen songs across all the playlists that are grayed out for me, presumably because i'm in canada. i figure i can probably find a youtube replacement for those.

if any of mine are unavailable to anyone let me know and i'll send youtube links or some other format.

 

[LJT]

Oh these look good.

I am also pleased to see that everyone has the same level of artwork design as myself

 

[gump]

I went back and forth between Life During Wartime and Psycho Killer on my list, glad I chose the latter seeing that DaveC went for the former.

Also, cheers to Ashley and PFan, my city-themed list brethren.

 

[gump]

looks like there's about a half-dozen songs across all the playlists that are grayed out for me, presumably because i'm in canada. i figure i can probably find a youtube replacement for those.

if any of mine are unavailable to anyone let me know and i'll send youtube links or some other format.

They all work - getting started on your list now.

 

[DaveC]

looks like there's about a half-dozen songs across all the playlists that are grayed out for me, presumably because i'm in canada. i figure i can probably find a youtube replacement for those.

if any of mine are unavailable to anyone let me know and i'll send youtube links or some other format.

the songs that were greyed out in google chrome work just fine in the spotify app.

 

[LemonMelon]

At the risk of sounding like I rigged the groupings, I have already heard three lists in group 1 (mine, Dave, Ax) so I only have some light listening to do this week. The other list I've listened to is Ashley's in group 3.

I'll post my thoughts on the group 1 lists I've heard in the next day or so.

 

[the tourist]

Thanks Travis!

 

[namkcuR]

Sorry for the novel guys. I started writing and I couldn't stop. I feel like I overdid it.

Also, I was sure I'd be the only person to use a John Frusciante solo track, but glad to see Cobbler digs him too.

only two U2 songs were used across all these playlists

I tried like eight different U2 songs making my list, but ultimately none of them fit satisfactorily, plus I felt like everyone here has heard them all a zillion times, etc.

 

[DaveC]

Sorry for the novel guys. I started writing and I couldn't stop. I feel like I overdid it.

if everyone on interference still had a signature, this would be yours

 

[Joey788]

I very intentionally led off with U2.

And you and I both opted for Unforgettable Fire tracks!

Looking through all these lists, I can't wait to listen to every one of them. Nice mix of songs I know and love, artists I've wanted to dive deeper into, and many I've never heard of and am anticipating discovering.

 

[lazarus]

Hm. My picture didn’t show up in my email?

Yeah, El Mel there should have been a jpg inside each folder for the 2 parts.

Apologies to everyone about my old-fashioned interface. Me and El Mel tried to reconstruct my list in both YouTube Music and Spotify in order to stream it but both had tracks that couldn’t be found.

 

[Axver]

I have often remarked that there are so many fucking songs about NYC and California that if no artist ever wrote on either of them again, it would still be too soon.

And now look what Ashley and gump have done.

Sorry for the novel guys. I started writing and I couldn't stop. I feel like I overdid it.

I'm just relieved somebody wrote more than I did.

I considered cutting the story and just submitting the list in two parts but it was more fun this way.

 

[Hewson]

As soon as I read Ashley's title coupled with the earlier comment about being mainly 80's & 80's tunes, I figured Missing Persons would be on the list, but expected a different song. Also love the GLJ track, one of my faves from the 80's.

Kudos laz for Buffalo Tom and Throwing Muses on the same "disc" A nod to your BU days I gather.

Look like a bunch of good lists, nice work folks, enjoy.

 

[gump]

I have often remarked that there are so many fucking songs about NYC and California that if no artist ever wrote on either of them again, it would still be too soon.

And now look what Ashley and gump have done. .

I hear you, Ax. I have kept a list of NYC songs I like since moving here 11 years ago, but would never think of doing a DI with this theme. But the current situation - being stuck at home for the last 6 weeks, and seeing everything that makes NYC a great place basically disappear with the likelihood that most of it will not come back - has made me quite emotional about it.

Then there's the fact that the NYC music scene has been so interesting and progressive for most of its history - jazz and soul in Harlem (and then in the midtown and downtown clubs so that rick white people could see it), Dylan-era folk in the Village, punk and funk in the Lower East Side/CBGB era, hip hop in Queens and Brooklyn, and (more immediately relevant to me) the indie rock explosion in Brooklyn/LES in the early to mid aughts. And in general you can pretty much make direct lines from one of these movements to the next as far as musical influences are concerned, which made me think it's pretty good stuff for a playlist.

But I agree, the list of NYC songs is incredibly long, especially if you include jazz standards. It's hilarious that there are probably more than 100 songs that start with street/avenue numbers. Four songs for 14th street alone!

 

[cobl04]

Really excited. Started Dave's now!

Just want to clear something with everyone - and probably should have done this earlier - can we all try and be accountable with sticking this through. I know I'm in the third group but I'd say this even if I was in the first. Historically, participation (the listening and the running diary threads) fall off as the competition goes on and people get burnt out / lose interest / get busy with other shit. It would be a shame for people in groups two and three to suffer from lost interest. Obviously, life happens, so I would just ask that we all try to be open and honest and say hey, I am struggling to get through these lists, or I'm struggling to find the time to write out my thoughts etc.

If you all behave I might even share something exciting and enticing to you all.

LETS DO IT

 

[lazarus]

Kudos laz for Buffalo Tom and Throwing Muses on the same "disc" A nod to your BU days I gather.

I had some even smaller Boston bands on my first submission, Helium and Boy Wonder.

 

[the tourist]

Yes, I agree with you Cobbler. I’ve never petered out but it happens all the time. I love all the comments about people’s lists. It’s the best part of the whole competition in my opinion.