Desert Island XI - QUARANTINE ISLAND - Group 2 Listening Thread

[bono_212]

Nam, I put your list off for last because I wanted to make sure I had time to read along with each section.

Part I: I really liked the idea of what you were doing and the explanation for your execution. Overall, I loved the selection of songs, and yes, quite a few I didn't know. I feel like there could have possibly been a better place for the Homeland theme, but I'm glad I heard it, as I don't watch that show and probably never would've run into the song otherwise.

The Coldplay song made for a surprise, I must not have heard this album. The Pink Floyd song was fantastic, I also was surprised by enjoying the Frusciante tune, because he's not usually my bag.

Loved the feel and the vibe and a great way to kick off the list.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

That album is killer by Coldplay, I recommend it. Return to goodness.

 

[LJT]

It's been pretty sunny in the UK the past few weeks and tourist's list has been excellent accompaniment. It has also been the playlist with the most artists I am least familiar with but overall the playlist seemed very familiar in sound to lots of artists I like!

It felt a very smooth chilled experience overall and pretty much perfect for the summer.

There was a general shared sound across the whole playlist, but it flowed really well but I guess what it lacked was some natural peaks, like a build to something, no valleys or mountains, and I felt like some of the tracks while perfectly enjoyable on their own got lost in the mix.

There is a lot though that I will be exploring further, Author for a start, if there was a peak in the playlist it was there (and a second one is your mate Moody Bear I thought that was a great closer). I had dismissed the Wombats before but may look again. The Griswolds, Panama Wedding, Penguin Prison and I really loved the Wild Cub song.

Unlike Axver I dug the French Girls track and I am a big fan of Carly Rae, I just think she does really good pop ( and well one of my music crushes!). Archie Marry Me was like my track of the Summer (had to google then was shocked to realise that it came out in 2013) when it came out, always have a soft spot for it.

I feel like the 1975 or Washed Out would fit somewhere really well in this playlist ( I had to double check that some of the bands weren't them).

If I ever get the chance to have a BBQ this Summer I could imagine whacking this playlist on. Its a personal favourite so far.

Just Nams to go, should hopefully be ready to do so tomorrow or Friday.

 

[the tourist]

It's been pretty sunny in the UK the past few weeks and tourist's list has been excellent accompaniment. It has also been the playlist with the most artists I am least familiar with but overall the playlist seemed very familiar in sound to lots of artists I like!

It felt a very smooth chilled experience overall and pretty much perfect for the summer.

There was a general shared sound across the whole playlist, but it flowed really well but I guess what it lacked was some natural peaks, like a build to something, no valleys or mountains, and I felt like some of the tracks while perfectly enjoyable on their own got lost in the mix.

There is a lot though that I will be exploring further, Author for a start, if there was a peak in the playlist it was there (and a second one is your mate Moody Bear I thought that was a great closer). I had dismissed the Wombats before but may look again. The Griswolds, Panama Wedding, Penguin Prison and I really loved the Wild Cub song.

Unlike Axver I dug the French Girls track and I am a big fan of Carly Rae, I just think she does really good pop ( and well one of my music crushes!). Archie Marry Me was like my track of the Summer (had to google then was shocked to realise that it came out in 2013) when it came out, always have a soft spot for it.

I feel like the 1975 or Washed Out would fit somewhere really well in this playlist ( I had to double check that some of the bands weren't them).

If I ever get the chance to have a BBQ this Summer I could imagine whacking this playlist on. Its a personal favourite so far.

Just Nams to go, should hopefully be ready to do so tomorrow or Friday.

Wow! That’s the most positive words I’ve heard yet I think! I didn’t expect many honestly because most of these artists aren’t the usual of B&C.

I feel like a broken record but yes, check that Author album out for sure. The debut is good as well but that second record is fire. Also Caleb just let me know he’s got a few Moody Bear songs on the docket that he’s going to release as singles so I’m personally looking forward to that. Once I finish my record I’m planning on doing a remix or two of his songs, which should be fun. The stems are just sitting on my hard drive collecting proverbial dust.

If you liked Headspace by The Wombats, the first half of Glitterbug is some of the catchiest stuff out there and I love it. And glad someone liked Beware The Dog! Haha! And then to suddenly get super heavy, Archie Marry Me has a different meaning to me than most. It’s kind of a gut punch every time I hear it because we had a stillborn at 24 weeks whose name was Archer (but we were going to call him Archie). So it hits me like a ton of bricks every time.

Also funny you should mention The 1975 - I’m starting my inevitable DIXII list and there’s something by them in my first draft. [emoji28]

Anyway thanks for listening!

 

[cobl04]

- So what’s everyone’s verdict now on MASSEDUCTION? For me, it’s right below Strange Mercy for my favorite St. Vincent record. And I think “New York” is a gorgeous, brilliant song.

I love it and think it got a fair bit of criticism and hate it didn't deserve. Might actually be my fav of hers, but I'd need to re-listed to the whole discography.

seeing old friends for the first time in like 20 years and after a couple hours together realizing you have absolutely nothing in common with each other anymore. But you’re still friends and get along. But you probably won’t be blowing up each other’s phones.

I enjoyed this. happens so often!

Wayne Coyne is clearly one of the worst people in music, fight me Cobbs.

Meh I won't argue. I don't have the love for him I once did.

But yours was more clearly focused on the city as a theme, and that shines through.

Agree. Really got a sense of that theme Gump.

PS I've written lots and lots of songs, performed and recorded only a few of them, and most *are* about places in New Zealand and Australia in one way or another. A few are nostalgia for my hometown, Raumati Beach; one I wrote an ode to the East Brunswick Club when the band room closed in 2012; the lyric I'm most proud of is about the Tangiwai railway disaster.

I'd like to hear or read about these sometime.

Thanks a lot, cobbler. Really glad you enjoyed it and liked reading your comments.



I don't know if I agree with this. I think there are certain cities that really lend themselves to songs. Look at the list of songs about London, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_London. I can think of a couple dozen songs about Rio de Janeiro off the top of my head. And tons of jazz standards are written about Paris - and French songs of course. NYC, like London, benefits from being English-speaking and a key place for the recording industry.

For my list specifically (I know your point was broader), I tried to add a bunch of songs that are pretty critical about the city, how it handles minorities, etc, while recognizing that NYC has been a magnet for people from a lot of places (that whole stretch that begins with Stevie Wonder through Le Tigre is about that).

Yeah I agree. It's just hard to reconcile when I'm from Australia. We are so far away from everything, so there's no cultural melting pots here. It totally makes sense, I just find it interesting to think on and reflect about

And yes, that critical element came across very well.

 

[cobl04]

LM, sorry to hear about New York. I am gonna read this RYM post. I am very interested to hear more about the meditation practice.

 

[Axver]

I'd like to hear or read about these sometime.

Unfortunately, the only performance online has really bad audio quality, but go to YouTube and you'll find the lyrics in the video description when you click "show more":



I should note two other Interferencers are involved in this: U-Wen (major_panic) is on drums, and Alison (Alisaura) filmed it on a phone with a mic not necessarily up to the task!

We are so far away from everything, so there's no cultural melting pots here.

What! Melbourne is one of the world's great melting pots, and, in general, Australia really is one of the great multicultural success stories - it might not feel like it at times, given how toxic our politics can be, but whatever way you cut it we've actually done rather well.

 

[LemonMelon]

LM, sorry to hear about New York. I am gonna read this RYM post. I am very interested to hear more about the meditation practice.

Yeah, I don't even talk about Masseduction that often because the whole album is colored by one of the worst months of my life. It's difficult to judge. I listened to it all the time then, and I still do, but it's rough.

I do think it's a brilliant album, my second favorite by Annie, and I love how close her songwriting brings us to her mindset at the time despite the clinical production that has brought the album completely undeserved criticism for feeling impersonal. The album is actually a startlingly accurate embodiment of bipolar disorder, from its low, depressive periods of vulnerability (Hang on Me, New York, Slow Disco, Smoking Section), to its manic, sensual highs (Masseduction, Los Ageless, Sugarboy, Savior). The presence of Pills (which bridges both sides) early in the album seems to underscore the importance of this theme. The sequencing is terrific, evocative but unpredictable and engaging. And I actually find the production vivid and dynamic, if a little colder than her earlier work. Yeah, fucking great album. I hope more people come to appreciate it in time.

That RYM list is super personal and you'll probably learn a lot about me that you didn't know. This is a good time for reflection and I'm glad I wrote all that down. Took about a week. Now that Bono is writing his letters, it seems unintentionally prescient.

 

[the tourist]

Unfortunately, the only performance online has really bad audio quality, but go to YouTube and you'll find the lyrics in the video description when you click "show more":



I should note two other Interferencers are involved in this: U-Wen (major_panic) is on drums, and Alison (Alisaura) filmed it on a phone with a mic not necessarily up to the task!

Hey that's cool! Man, I miss playing live. It's been forever.

 

[cobl04]

What! Melbourne is one of the world's great melting pots, and, in general, Australia really is one of the great multicultural success stories - it might not feel like it at times, given how toxic our politics can be, but whatever way you cut it we've actually done rather well.

Well duh I know that, but I mean it's not a melting pot of like artists and musicians flying in to record or master records or play gigs, or a major fashion hub etc. Because it's so cut off from the rest of the world.

I do think it's a brilliant album, my second favorite by Annie, and I love how close her songwriting brings us to her mindset at the time despite the clinical production that has brought the album completely undeserved criticism for feeling impersonal. The album is actually a startlingly accurate embodiment of bipolar disorder, from its low, depressive periods of vulnerability (Hang on Me, New York, Slow Disco, Smoking Section), to its manic, sensual highs (Masseduction, Los Ageless, Sugarboy, Savior). The presence of Pills (which bridges both sides) early in the album seems to underscore the importance of this theme. The sequencing is terrific, evocative but unpredictable and engaging. And I actually find the production vivid and dynamic, if a little colder than her earlier work. Yeah, fucking great album. I hope more people come to appreciate it in time.

I suspect that it is in some part due to the presence of Jack Antonoff, and so some people were like oh great she's sold out and is going chart pop, which is ridiculous, as all of the music on the record is far too edgy for the charts. The highs are super fun and the lower moments are breathtaking - Happy Birthday Johnny in particular is heartbreaking and I love Slow Disco, too. It's not a super enjoyable record to listen to front to back because of the stark difference between the styles present, but I love all the parts.

 

[Axver]

Well duh I know that, but I mean it's not a melting pot of like artists and musicians flying in to record or master records or play gigs, or a major fashion hub etc. Because it's so cut off from the rest of the world.

I reckon we kinda under-rate what we get. I do see your point, but Melbourne and Sydney both run huge annual or one-off events the equal of those anywhere else. You want deprived, out of the global network cities, try growing up on the Gold Coast!

 

[cobl04]

I get that, but what I'm saying, or trying to say, is no one's coming here and writing songs or albums all about Sydney, even though it's a massive city with a huge culture known around the world. Whereas Gump's point about NYC being a global hub made it make more sense that there's SO many songs about the city (and London, and Paris)

 

[Axver]

It seems that there are a bunch of cities that, for whatever reason, attract lyricism. NYC, London, Paris, and the state of California are by no means the only places throughout North America and Europe thronged with musicians, but they are sung about to a much greater extent than those other places.

Honestly, I find it boring. Singing about a city thousands of other bands have sung about? Who cares. Write something distinctive. I'm far more interested in the songs about places less known. I only know Hudsonville, Michigan exists because of a great La Dispute song about a tornado.

 

[cobl04]

I agree, which is why I had some reticence about Gump & Peef's lists, and that's the entire point I was trying to make, I think. I find it a bit irksome, but Gump and Peef's responses have helped to shed some light on why songs about big cities are so common.

 

[LemonMelon]

The best songs about a location internalize it in a way that is personal and detailed enough to be universal. Take Sittin on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding; you know exactly where it's taking place and can see the environs in your mind as you listen, but it resonates universally because of what it conveys about depression and futility, as embodied by that particular location.

 

[gump]

I'm a fan of big cities, and I think there's something very unique that happens in these environments. Particularly in big cities that rely heavily on public transportation and public spaces, like NYC or London. That environment forces you to interact with people who you would never come across if you were on a small city, or in the suburbs commuting by car. Both the good and the bad are more clearly visible (and more directly experienced). Objectively, I think there is a wider range of experiences that living in the city provides, which translates well into music. I'm not going to this music to discover more about the cities themselves, but about the experiences that such cities provide.

Of course that is not always true. Take U2's New York, for example, or even Angel of Harlem to a lesser extent, and you hear mostly celebratory platitudes rather than a lived experience (and perhaps there is a place for that). But listen to Visions of Johanna or I'm Waiting for the Man, and you get micro stories that are specific to that urban context, but which resonate more broadly.

The current situation is poignant to me because it has removed most of these experiences from our city living, making it important for me to remember them.

 

[Joey788]

I've lived in New York City my whole life, so I can only speak to that experience. But I think there's a big sense of New York as a character in the lives of the people who live there. Since the city is always changing and evolving, everyone feels like they "discovered" their own version of New York. You can almost trace the history of the city through songs written about it.

I do agree that it's much more effective when an artist can get across New York pride without the rose-colored glasses of a tourist or musicians who just show up for tour dates. There's a lived-in quality you can recognize in the best NYC songs - that's likely true for other cities as well. It's almost a love-hate relationship. (Side note - one of funniest tweets I read about being a true New Yorker is that you mumble "Fucking unbelievable" to yourself at least once a day. Accurate!)

So for me, New York songs are almost like tunes about falling in love or writing about the state of the world. There are countless songs about the subject and it's difficult to get right, but still possible to offer a fresh perspective on a well-worn topic. Still, I absolutely love hearing songs about other places that are unfamiliar to me - it's a great way to see parts of the world I may never visit.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

Honestly, I find it boring. Singing about a city thousands of other bands have sung about? Who cares. Write something distinctive. I'm far more interested in the songs about places less known. I only know Hudsonville, Michigan exists because of a great La Dispute song about a tornado.

I agree, which is why I had some reticence about Gump & Peef's lists, and that's the entire point I was trying to make, I think. I find it a bit irksome, but Gump and Peef's responses have helped to shed some light on why songs about big cities are so common.

Not for nothing, but New York and Los Angeles are the two largest cities in the United States and the two major centers for the entertainment industry. They've been muses/subjects for many, many artists. Philadelphia is in a different category than those two. I'd also add that almost none of the music in my list is about Philadelphia or references it, it's just music by artists who have lived here. I'm sure Cobbler is aware of the latter point since we had the previous exchange, but I just wanted to clarify.

 

[bono_212]

Alright, back to Namkcur.

I am slowly reading along with your list as I get to each section, but doing so spoiled what you used for the closer and I just have to say, overall, I think this is really going to hit the nostalgia nail on the head for me. I already love this first collection of ten songs, but knowing that Sunscreen is coming set me up in a pretty good headspace for what it is you're trying to do (along with reading your overall explanation) and I think it's a noble idea. There is such an interesting blend of positivity and negativity in 90s music. I mean, it's the era of grunge, after all. It's almost like a warning to not take the 90s bubble for granted.

Also, IMO, never apologize for putting anything on these lists (unless it's something like Brokencyde). Someone out there's going to like it, in all likelihood, and I can't express how happy I am that "Rol to Me" is on here. That song means a lot to me and I haven't listened to it in a while.

I'll be back with more summation for this section when it's over.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

Ruckman:

Your list absolutely fulfilled its thematic intention, and is well sequenced and matched for what it is. The first disc defined the mood it was going for very well. And I thought about two thirds of the songs were good songs, mostly the back end of the disc. It's well done. The second disc is also well executed, and the songs are grouped well and sound right together. There is a good mix of pop and rock, and a good mix of classic artists and artists we may have forgotten about over time. The stretch with Radiohead, Pearl Jam, and Tom Petty is a really strong start. The latter two are artists I definitely need to dig into, as I know them only on the surface level. These songs were great examples.

Ultimately, it's not going to be one of my favorites. One part is simply taste; beyond the nostalgia factor, I don't really enjoy 90s music, and this list is obviously very heavy with it. The second is that I disagree with your assessment that the second disc is a relief for the first. I know they are separate discs, but I listened to them back-to-back and the transition from Hollywood to the Fastball song was just jarring. I think this would have worked a lot better if there had been some songs that properly transitioned from the first disc to the second, or if you had just stuck with one concept and saw it the whole way through.

But as I said, I have a lot of respect for the effort that was put in to find songs that worked with one another. It's very well sequenced for sure.

 

[bono_212]

1. Fastball - "G.O.D. (Good Old Days)" - All The Pain Money Can Buy - 1998 (3:31)

I appreciate your attempt to go a little deeper into their catalogue, but man, I really love their hits. I haven't talked about Quiznos radio in a long time, but as some might recall, I worked there for a long time, and the one I worked at didn't have a Muzak radio station, we had a 4 hour CD we'd receive once every two months, and I worked a 5 hour shift, so you do the math. Fastball was frequently present on those CDs, but this song most of all, so whenever I Think of them, I think back to my first job.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
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)

All great stuff here. I've already mentioned how I feel about the Del Amitri track. I also love that Tal Bachman song. It was a hit while my mom and step-father were dating, and he loved it, which was kinda weird because he's a huge Nu-Metal guy. That incongruity always makes me associate the song with him.

9. Lit - "Lovely Day" - A Place In The Sun - 1999 (4:07)

Hey, the opposite of what I said about Fastball, I liked this song! But I like Lit. Wasn't Deadmansparty a friend of theirs?

10. Edna Swap - "Torn" - Wacko Magneto - 1997 (3:59)

I'd known this song was a cover from some YouTube video I watched at 2 o'clock in the morning some time back in the past, but I don't think I ever listened to the whole thing. I love it.


Overall, I love the collection of songs. I kinda get the vibe you were going with with the idea of this summer day drive, but I think it worked a bit better with the first half than the backhalf, which was more just 90s good vibes. I guess probably what someone at the beach during that time would've been listening to, to be fair.

 

[bono_212]

If anything, this second section is all songs I could sing in my sleep, but they're great songs. The interesting thing is I never listened to any of this kind of music then, so I have a hard time associating it with the time period, and more with my time in college in the 00s. Interesting that college radio seems to be timeless.

One thing I do want to say, reading along with your write-up, is to reiterate: Don't apologize so much for liking what you like. This is a friendly sharing of music. Share what you love and be proud of it .

Also, I'm never going to not associate "Where is My Mind?" with Fight Club, so I had to do a double-take when you said it came out in 1988.

 

[LemonMelon]

19. Neutral Milk Hotel - "In The Aeroplane Under The Sea" - In The Aeroplane Under The Sea - 1998 (3:22)

Any relation to Yellow Submarine?

 

[namkcuR]

19. Neutral Milk Hotel - "In The Aeroplane Under The Sea" - In The Aeroplane Under The Sea - 1998 (3:22)

Any relation to Yellow Submarine?

I didn't even realize that typo until right now. I guess no one else did either.

 

[bono_212]

20. Sheryl Crow - "Soak Up The Sun" - C'Mon C'Mon - 2002 (4:52)

23. Jennifer Paige - "Crush" - Jennifer Paige - 1998 (3:20)

Most of this is basically the soundtrack to my adolescence, but specifically I want to call out these songs as very memorable and special to me. The former, my high school band director was working really hard to write music for us to play during Pep band, because buying sheet music for use in school is expensive, and if he could do it himself, he saved a lot of money. He did a pretty good job on this one and it's stuck with me. My high school band teacher and I had a very close relationship, so anything that makes me think of him puts a smile on my face.

Crush was one of the songs I "wasn't allowed" to listen to as a kid . Of course that means I heard it a fuck-ton.

 

[bono_212]

And now we arrive at the end. I have always felt like people actually like Smash Mouth outside of the obnoxious hit, but maybe I'm wrong about that. Whatever, regardless, I really like Then The Morning Comes a lot.

Travis only knows Steal My Sunshine because I play it for him at least once or twice a year, when it pops into my head. Never fails to put a smile on my face, that's one of my all-time favorites.

I don't know if you know the backstory behing Everybody's Free..., but the song is a giant conglomeration of things mixed together, like the 90s itself, really. The lyrics are from an article written to the class of 97. The song is from the early 90s and was remixed for Romeo+Juliet. And with all of that being said, I actually know it from the closing credits of the film Big Kahuna, which I watched the summer I lived with my dad and had a 3-at-a-time subscription at Hollywood Video. It was the summer before I went to college, I was estranged from my step-dad and had "run away" from home and was basically chilling out until I moved to Texas for the next four years. I was feeling EXTREMELY sentimental at that time, obviously, and then I heard this song and was just so floored by it. The internet was pretty prevalent by that point, so I had a pretty entertaining time reading all about the story behind the song and then promptly played it on repeat for most of the rest of the summer.


And that's enough of my nostalgia journey, but please know that you took me on one.

Overall, I honestly wish the list had just been part 2. I liked part 1 and got stuff out of it, without a doubt, but it doesn't fit here and I've already kinda forgotten about it.

I'll keep the second part around for the summer, though. Going to definitely accompany me on some runs in the sun

 

[bono_212]

I'm sorry, though, I couldn't take the Tom Petty song seriously after his rhyme with "played from the heart" was "roadie named Bart", I literally started laughing. I was enjoying its pleasant chords but oh man that lyric is "stop helping god like a little old lady" territory.

For these exact reasons, that song is in the bottom of Tom's singles, for me. It has a FANTASTIC music video, though. Johnny Depp stars in it and they basically turned the song into a short film. Some people asked Tom about adapting it into a movie, but I read somewhere once that he said something along the lines of, "Why? It already exists," but I can't find the exact quote now.

Tourist, that transition between Carly Rae and Childish Gambino is maybe the best I've heard so far.

Yes!

I've realized that going back and trying to comment on Tourist and GAFs lists a week after I listened to them is a tall order, and I apologize for not giving you better feed back .

Tourist, I liked your list a lot, those are no-brainer artists for me overall. I think the only problem I really had was sort of the opposite of what Jerry said in that I thought it almost flowed too well and I was a little less enthused by how similar the artists sounded. As a result, I ended up listening to it in a lot of short listens, that wasn't really as conducive to the whole playlist idea as I would have liked it to be. Thank you for reminding me that The Colourist exist. I heard that album and then it slipped through the cracks, but a few songs are on a playlist of mine, so they come up every now and again, but it had been quite a while since I heard that particular track and it made me really happy.


GAF, this list almost felt like cheating. It's ALL DA HITZ and I love it. These songs are good!

This section was probably my favorite, though:
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)

It was just wonderfully cheeky to bridge the Stones and Beatles with a Wonder cover, and that's my favorite Beatles song he's covering, too.

This playlist is going to join the annals of DI history for me, along with...your DI list from DI V, and Mr. V's list from DI V as well. I have those two lists on CD and listen to them frequently. This one will join the ranks.

 

[cobl04]

I have really been enjoying the discussion about songs and cities.

 

[Axver]

I've lived in New York City my whole life, so I can only speak to that experience. But I think there's a big sense of New York as a character in the lives of the people who live there. Since the city is always changing and evolving, everyone feels like they "discovered" their own version of New York. You can almost trace the history of the city through songs written about it.

Yeah, I get this, especially as I feel like the Melbourne I moved to and lived in for a decade was a very different Melbourne to those some of my friends grew up in or live in even now.

I guess just for me it's partly that the more platitude-heavy songs (see: Bono) feel really dated now that the US has gone from Western desire to global joke, and more broadly that it's such a common subject it feels over-done.

I realise I'm saying this having not yet listened to gump's list, and I want to promise him I'm not going in with a negative predisposition!

Not for nothing, but New York and Los Angeles are the two largest cities in the United States and the two major centers for the entertainment industry. They've been muses/subjects for many, many artists. Philadelphia is in a different category than those two. I'd also add that almost none of the music in my list is about Philadelphia or references it, it's just music by artists who have lived here. I'm sure Cobbler is aware of the latter point since we had the previous exchange, but I just wanted to clarify.

Yeah I was quite interested in your concept because it's not a city I associate with an excess of songs like NYC, and a glimpse at its various scenes was quite enjoyable. Plus, I spent a couple of excellent days there in 2017 and think very fondly of the place.

 

[Axver]

I was going to do LN7 next, but the discussion made it seem fitting to give gump's list a spin. Let's see if I enjoy the actual songs about NYC more than I enjoy the idea of songs about NYC.

The intro at the start actually does seem to get some of the vibe of a train ride, although it's not really my style of instrumental music. Well, I suppose it goes without saying the opening sequence of six songs in general isn't my bag. It's all put together well, though! It's the sort of stuff that I don't mind when other people put it on at their place, so, hey, thanks for having me.

Psycho Killer is always welcome.

I gotta be honest, I only really know Le Tigre for that dumb song they did in 2016 to promote Clinton. Points to them for dragging Giuliani before he was known worldwide as a dunce. The song's a bit grating though, especially the keyboard, which sounds like a child is playing it.

I enjoyed the brief punk selections, and would have enjoyed more of this side of the New York music scene, especially as its style of hardcore punk has formed its own subgenre. I don't know enough about its recent bands despite being a big fan of Turnstile, and have meant to explore further. But I suppose that such music isn't your style!

Ha, the silent track, nice one.

I was a bit unsure what I'd make of the next section, especially as I did not enjoy the Patti Smith track to start. But the Iggy Pop track was not what I expected from him, and Tom Waits more enjoyable than I remember. Perhaps my taste has shifted a little? His voice of gravel doesn't bother me here like I recall it bugging me in the past. I liked this song.

In the end I felt a lot of the second half made for decent listening without eliciting a strong reaction. The songs by Eleanor Friedberger and Lana Del Rey did not interest me, and The National was a bit average too. Television and Interpol were more up my alley. I dunno, I'm sorry, I feel like I haven't much to say. There is a sense of place here, but I'm afraid it's not one that has resonated a whole lot for me.