I hope you all had lovely Christmases by the way. I haven't stayed at home for over a week in a long time; it was a really needed break and peng to have some proper family time, fights included. I was actually given a vinyl player, amp and speakers by my rents, something I've wanted for a couple years now and I'm majorly hyped for. I've been shopping about to start to build up a collection. Peggy Gou's 'Once' EP I felt was a good start, then I found Burial's 'Untrue' and Basement Jaxx's 'Rooty' for some throwback feels. A nice mix, but it's really made me think about the logistics of album content; there's been an ongoing discussion for a while of whether it's a dying art form, but I really don't think it's going anywhere. There's such a beauty to how you have to consider the general atmosphere an album will create if you pop a vinyl on rather than just picking the best songs to queue. It's a different experience but the outcome can be even more effective, especially when that one song does come on halfway through and everyone gets gassed together. I think albums define the direction an artist is going in when they release their latest music, and even as playlists are becoming ever more popular, I don't reckon they're going anywhere.
On that note, how do you build a playlist? I always used to just base everything off the first song I put in it and then over time it wouldn't make much sense - everything would somehow link to that first song in a way, but as a whole it wouldn't really gel. To break out of that cycle I've done two things; I've started playlists based on a few of my friends, so that way I know what I need to share with them and people with similar taste, and also I get this peng side effect where if I miss them, I can just listen to it and feel closer to them!! Awww, cringe I know, but it does work. Anyway, the other thing I've started doing is giving playlists names that in my head I really relate to a certain feeling music might give me. For example 'oi oi' for when a tune is pure YES no matter where/when it comes on, or I have one called 'boo' for those songs that are cool and interesting but always seem to be a bit spooky or west to put on in most contexts. Honestly, it genuinely seems to be forming more cohesive sets as a whole, so by all means follow my (slightly west) lead.
Spotify's 'Wrapped' playlists have been interesting too. I'm baffled by how much my music taste changes over the year - not just from beginning to end, but even each couple of months, and so the 'most listened to' playlist has been jokes. My top song is 'Let Me Go' by Branko which will come as a surprise to absolutely no one who knows me, I don't think I'm ever going to get over that banger. I've even gotten into the remixes of it again recently, and then re-listened to the original and it's like it's fresh and new again once more. Looking back over it, it's weird to see so many memories that I'd sort of forgotten because I had stopped listening to those songs after a while. In some ways, you can really define who you were at points in your life by what you were listening to, but I didn't realise the accuracy of that could come down to different sections of a year. How certain songs are perfect in just the right moment is something else that struck me scrolling through. Shy FX's 'Gold Dust' edit was the absolute faultless choice at the point it came on during Rudimental's Bestival set and I haven't been able to forget it since. 'Flowers' is always the perfect moment at a house party, no matter what, and nothing bangs better than Jamie XX's 'All Under One Roof Raving' during a long, rainy bus ride, trust me. On a similar train of thought, 'Evening Side' works best in the morning and 'Morning Side' at the end of the night, in my humble opinion.
So, there's just a quick few things I wanted to spill before the clock strikes twelve. Have fun tonight everyone! Be safe and dance well - by your own standards, not other people's. Oh, by the way, I've been listening to my Discover Weekly during this, so check out Misty Cold, Endless, Lit, Soak It Up and Induction when you get the chance. Lots of love xx
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