You have to try this new playlist: “This Week In Eclectic” — plus, the Art of Song Transitions & Staying in Flow; meet Obongjayar, Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes, La Fine Equipe, Sandollar & more
Musings on world-class music curation while making the Eclectic Experience even better for you 👏
Happy Monday evening, fellow music lovers, and thanks for following along!
I wanted to ask you some questions this week.
1/2 (if you make playlists)
Do you organize your playlists in a specific order?
What I aim to do (and am learning quickly) with this Eclectic project is an exercise in the art of maintaining a listener’s flow—while you work, play, drive, etc. Each song must be carefully weighted against its precursor and successor to craft the optimal listening experience that doesn’t “jar” you out of your flow.
For example, this week I moved Lina & Raül Refree’s gentle A Mulher que já foi tua to sit between the complex songs Sorgen and Insane Realms in order to give our ears a nice break. The song sat well after Sorgen, but didn’t transition super well into Insane Realms. So, I inserted a new find (Thomas Dybdahl’s Fever) and voilà! We have a much better transition between the four songs.
Similarly, blurblur’s extremely flowy Confluence was getting jarred by Flox’s Coming Out, but I wanted a reggae sound in that spot. So, I swapped Coming Out for Marcus Gad’s Leggo Your Ego, another new find this week, and followed it up with three more new finds (Still Sun, Still Thinkin, What Kinda Music) which flow well together and spit you out perfectly into the funky, theatrical Hadestown title track.
I’ll spare you more examples, but all this to say—order matters, and playlist curation is an art for which I have a newfound respect thanks to you, my fellow listeners! I love doing it and your feedback so far is creating something truly valuable. 🌟
2/2
What if each Eclectic edition were a show in itself?
Until now, I’ve been inserting new features into the playlist in specific places, but I wonder if that makes it harder for you to find them. The idea is, what if instead each week is wiped clean & refilled with exquisite new finds in a perfect listening order?
I’d really love your answer to this. Let’s test it out.
Cultivated weekly for your listening pleasure.
Start listening now on YouTube • Spotify • where else? Hit reply & let me know.
This Week in Eclectic…
Obongjayar sings about the Still Sun
“Otherworldly Spirituals for the Modern Soul”
This is a highly enjoyable African-sounding piece injecting hope into 2020, the first single off the highly anticipated Which Way is Forward?
Steven Umoh grew up in Nigeria to the tune of early 2000s hip-hop. Now, he’s producing part-time in London.
There’s no straightforward way to describe his current sound, which folds in elements of spoken word, electronic, and Afrobeat. “I’ve been called a soul singer,” he says, sounding not entirely convinced. – Pitchfork.com
Marcus Gad wants you to Leggo Your Ego
“Singing In The Name of the Earth”
You may have heard Marcus Gad’s uplifting, spiritual reggae tones in his widely popular River (if not, a must-listen), a collaboration with French producer Tamal reviewed by ReggaeVille.com as “one of those rare perfect matches that astonish the world with the sheer beauty of their music” that “will immerse you into a whole new dimension of sound.”
Coming straight out of the multicultural lands of New Caledonia, Marcus Gad embodies the renewal of a meditative and committed roots Reggae bringing forward the unique culture of this small island in the South Pacific ocean... — marcus-gad.com
Gad’s 2020 album Rhythm of Serenity is a much-needed source of peace and joy during this roller coaster of a year, and I’ve added its first single Leggo Your Ego just under Confluence.
My Morning Jacket is back and Still Thinkin
Another winning track off The Waterfall II album, and incredibly enjoyable folksy/rock sort of vibe. It was originally going to be a double-album in 2015, but the band decided to split it up.
Jordan Rakei remixes Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes’ while wondering What Kinda Music?
A gentle trance that twists & lifts
Sandollar pumps up Party People
Pumping some uplifting energy into your day! Their sound is very pop-reggae and earned them “San Diego’s best unsigned band” in 2013.
Party People is their second released single off an upcoming album!
Thomas Dybdahl has a Fever
The thunderously rockin’ title track of this Norwegian singer/songwriter’s 2020 release FEVER.
La Fine Equipe + Gaël Faye rock the Pemmican
A bone-shaking ambient trip-hop / spoken word drawing reference to the world’s original ultimate survival food.
🇫🇷 J’ai des visions de fin du monde / J’ai des visions d’un nouveau monde
🇬🇧 I’ve got visions of the end of the world / I’ve got visions of a new world
Surfaces also have the Remedy
Super pleasant guitar lickin’ and surrounding vocals.
Energy, got good energy.
Let it be, what’s in front of me.
This is all I need. Melodies, memories, that’s the remedy.
Emancipator tames an Alligator
“A refreshingly authentic brand of electronic music”
In college I went through a trip-hop phase (thanks Kris 😉) and among the many artists I discovered was Portland-based instrumental beatmaker Emancipator. His 2020 Mountain of Memory is perhaps his best work yet, thanks to an “incredibly diverse range of instruments” including “Persian dilruba, cimbaloms, finger snaps, symphonic strings, bubbling water, Latin and African hand drumming, music boxes, Baroque flutes and opera singers. Wow!”
That’s all, folks!
Thanks for tuning in.
Start listening now on Spotify and YouTube ⤵️ & let me know if you like the Weekly format better!
Enjoy.
-jtc
Cultivated weekly for your listening pleasure.