This update comes quite slow, but instead of archiving it or merging it into a later one, I choose to post it because the playlist did come together. It wasn’t a very good one, as it came together quickly without edits. Typically, these playlists have songs added and removed as I have time to listen and move things around, but this one was cut short. I went camping on Saturday, September 13th at Assateague Island, a beautiful spot on the Atlantic coast where horses can come up and eat all your food if you’re not on watch.
This playlist opens with one of the top 10 songs of all time: Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat.” The device of writing a letter in the dead of early morning is unspooled by Cohen to devastating levels, so that by the end, a century has passed, and we remain frozen in the letter writer’s world. Does the letter ever arrive?
I have Pedro the Lion’s “Modesto” on here because I am essentially from Modesto. I became who I am there, in its music scene and among its cast of characters. The song is quite average for David Bazan, and I have to imagine its heavy optimism is in tribute to a place he spent playing many living room shows. If he had kept his characteristic honesty, we may not have survived the song.
“To the Dancefloor” by DEBBY FRIDAY is a sick jam. This is followed by a catchy song called “Docket” by Blondshell ft. Bully that was likely written around the incredible opening line: “I said don’t shake my hand it’s wet / he said I’ll kiss it instead.” The rest of the song devolves into the narcissism ostensibly meant to be the object of the song’s critique, but the first line cannot be missed.
“A thousand lies” by Smerz accomplishes the converting of Mario 64’s underwater level synth sound into an acoustic guitar arpeggio, and in this sense is just like the appropriation of found objects into instruments, but also conversely the turning of guitars into objects pace Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of the national anthem.
“Color Decay” by Júníus Meyvant is a triumph of folk arrangement, but I can’t decide if I like it yet. It’s by all accounts a good song, however.