A playlist of songs that intrigued me from Sunday to Saturday. Week of 20 Jun 2021 to 26 Jun 2021.

WILT_2021-25

1. Japon – Etsuko Chida
2. Sangai-bushi, Sado Okesa – Kouta Katsutaro
3. Akita Nikata Bushi – Sanae Yamubuki, Umewaka Asano
4. Ukifune – Japanese Shamisen Jiuta Ensemble
5. 秋の言の葉(抜粋) Aki No Koto No Ha (Ba Sui) – 宮城道雄 (Miyagi Michiyo)
6. Remedy – Anchorsong
7. Get It Right – Latanya Alberto
8. Chivalry Is Not Dead – Hiatus Kaiyote
9. That’s On You – Joyce Wrice
10. Blue – Shay Lia, KAYTRANADA, BADBADNOTGOOD
11. Care Less – Latanya Alberto
12. About To – City Park
13. On II U – Alex Isley
14. 12AM in Bali – SMANDEM., Elena Pinderhughes
15. Feet Don’t Fail Me Now – Joy Crookes
16. The Taste of You – Ritual Howls
17. ANTI-LIFE [Feat. Chino Moreno] – HEALTH, Tyler Bates, Chino Moreno

Hyperlink to Spotify playlist: WILT_2021-25

Notes

We are starting this week’s playlist by featuring the traditional Japanese instrument, the Koto (箏), and some of its associated ensembles. The reason for this is because I started watching an anime called Kono Oto Tamare! Sounds of Life, which is a “slice of life” genre series about high school students and their adventures and coming of age from being in their school’s Koto club.

I think this listening path also put me on another musical exploration journey into different traditional and classical forms of music besides the Western / European styles and systems, and to explore equally rich forms that contribute to musicology as a whole.

Midway through the week, I remember a refocusing of my interests towards the new vanguard of soul and R&B. As always, the rhythms, melodies and textures are futuristic, yet grounded in a foundation of what it is building off. The ideas by the artists featured in the latter half of this playlist are bright, sunny, and hopeful, yet realistic and measured in that it is not a blind exuberance, but rather a chosen one.

Which makes the closing two tracks somewhat out of place. But I did finish the week listening to noise-based bands that are able to deliver crushing performances through their tools and sheer force of will.

Three words come to mind to describe the past week’s choices: Enchantment, Acceptance, Exasperation