LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Please post any commentaries or running diaries in this thread. If you have any general questions or comments about this installment of Desert Island, please refer them to the master list thread.
We can run this thread as long as necessary before starting the next one. The majority seemed to prefer the idea of a one week limit per thread, but we'll see what our progress is like by next Tuesday before moving on.
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
We can run this thread as long as necessary before starting the next one. The majority seemed to prefer the idea of a one week limit per thread, but we'll see what our progress is like by next Tuesday before moving on.
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
) but yeah. I'm really keen to hear more music that sounds like the first minute of that song. Waiting to Be Discovered was fantastic, another one I didn't know, and the Mac Miller track was great to. My fav part of the playlist was definitely these first five songs, and I felt it lost cohesiveness from there, but then picked up again with a great closing run, those last four songs were great. (I'm waiting for my vinyl copy of It Is What It Is to arrive actually!) The J Dilla song was fucking terrific, loved that, and interested in Slade's sound. Not surprised at all to google them and see "English rock band formed in the 60s". Sounded like Beatles pastiche until it started to come alive a bit more. Impossibilium good too. Not a band I know much about, save for them being a beloved band in Canada and the singer dying a couple years ago which made all Canadians grieve. Had some REM vibes to it, that track.
also slade is fucking awesome and one of the most underappreciated bands out there.
