A Collective Feeling 1

Music for a new start

Hey, I’m Jay and I ran a newsletter called Listen Up, Nerds that’s dormant for the moment. You’re getting this email because you signed up for emails on that newsletter and if you so choose to unsubscribe from this newsletter, I’ll be sad to see you go but I’ll understand.

My favorite part of the other newsletter was getting playlists from other people and sharing them with more people, and so I’m doing that but on a bigger scale than once a month. I’m aiming for once every week this time, and I’m soliciting playlists from cool people with good taste instead of just inundating you with my own taste. I already have a few cool ones lined up and I’m very excited to share them with you.

I haven’t given anyone a theme other than “A playlist that sparks a very specific feeling in you or a playlist inspired by that feeling. “

For example, this is a playlist inspired by going to the Santa Monica Pier at dawn. It’s a playlist that makes me think of new beginnings, feeling refreshed and anticipating the future while quelling the anxiety rising in my guts.

Apple Music

Spotify

Here’s some thoughts about a few of the songs on the playlist:

“Movement 1” - Floating Points & Pharaoh Sanders
A little on the nose, but I’m not wrong to do it. This song sounds like waking up, walking to the train, to the coffee shop, to the beach, wherever I’m headed. I reach for this record constantly on weekend mornings.

“Now That I Know U” - Joshua Chuquimia Crampton
One day I’m going to know what to call this music. Avant-psych? The tags on bandcamp include “Power Ambient” and that’s not a bad start. I first heard Joshua Chuquimia Crampton as part of Chuquimamani-Condori on their record DJ E in 2023. That record and Suntub by ML Buch give me the same unease I get from watching anything recorded on DV, like Inland Empire (2006). This record does not have the same effect. Easy, heavy, blissful guitars.

“Inside Under” - Stillmotion
Stillmotion were a shoegaze band from outside Rochester, NY, whose discography was reissued on Mutual Skies last year. There’s lots to love on the LP but this song in particular takes me back to looking over railings to see waves hit the pier. It’s the perfect soundtrack for strange bird flight formations and watching guys set up their hat kiosk on the boardwalk before the long walk back to the car.

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Thanks for reading. If you liked this, there’s more with my first guest next week. Take care.