Friday Playlist

The new music really started flowing again this week. At one point my folder of songs to review was crammed with more than 40 tracks. Trying to work through those means a lot of songs got only one play instead of several. As I type this nothing is really planned out for where this playlist will go, so I guess we’ll find out together.

“DESIGNED TO LOSE” – The Twilight Sad
As you would expect from The Twilight Sad, this is a profoundly deep and dark track, written by lead singer James Graham as he attempted to balance the joys in his life with his mother’s long battle with dementia.

“Efficiency” – Konradsen featuring Beharie
I was not surprised that this song came from a score lead singer Jenny Marie Sabel was writing for a short film. It definitely has that film soundtrack vibe.

“Chasin’ Luv” – GUV
If I play enough songs that sound warm and springy maybe winter will pass faster? (Checks forecast) Well, not in the next 10 days isn’t.

“HAVE A HEART” – TURNSPIT
ALL CAPS FTW!!!! This duo sounds like an English Phantogram.

“Straight Drop” – cootie catcher
I would not be surprised if this had been a deep track on the soundtrack for a mid–90s movies about wacky kids in high school.

“The House That Doesn’t Exist” – Melody’s Echo Chamber
So glad that Melody Prochet is fully recovered from the serious car accident she was in nearly 10 years ago, and is again making wonderful songs like this.

“Nightshade” – Delaney Bailey
Downcast music for a downcast time of year.

“Nothing Yet” – TOLEDO
Seriously, a lot of CAPS in titles and band names this week. This track also fits the bummer mood of the moment. Seriously, why did S have to be from Indiana and we have to endure these craptastic winters?

“Heroes” – David Bowie
Last weekend I read several pieces about the 10th anniversary of Bowie’s death, followed by a day of listening to a lot of his music. I think my reaction to the news he passed was like a lot of the world’s: I didn’t believe it, since he had just released a new album three days earlier. Dying people don’t release new music!

It took me a while to really process his death, as the day after Bowie passed, my stepdad died. While I drove to central Missouri all the SiriusXM stations were working Bowie into their playlists, and the obligatory All Bowie channel popped up. Still, it more glanced off me than hit.

Eventually I was able to acknowledge what Bowie meant to so many artists who came after him. Whether in sound, in look, or in how they managed their careers, you can argue as many artists were directly influenced by Bowie as any other act this side of the Beatles. At least in the kinds of music I mostly listen to. No one was as daring, as willing to push boundaries, as willing to reinvent themselves and trust their audience to eventually catch up as David Robert Jones.

As tends to happen even with legendary artists, Bowie’s catalog has been somewhat elevated in his absence. This is a perfect example. I don’t know that this was one of my five favorite Bowie songs 10 years ago. Now I think it is a perfect, absolute classic. I don’t like it more simply because he is gone. Rather I took a moment to listen to it more closely, read up on its backstory, and came to better understand all that was wound up inside of it. And as will any all time classic, while centered on a specific incident, “Heroes” remains broad enough that it can be applied to nearly any moment and scenario. Thus, this has become an anthem for so many causes that seem to be teetering on the brink between success and failure. We can beat them, just for one day…