WILT_2022-50

A playlist of songs that intrigued me from Sunday to Saturday. Week of 11 Dec 2022 to 17 Dec 2022.

1. Too Late Now (Soulwax Remix) – Wet Leg, Soulwax
2. Pua – Dengue Dengue Dengue, Penya
3. Yodeller – Dengue Dengue Dengue
4. El Cavilante – Dengue Dengue Dengue, Mikongo, Sara Van
5. Parque de Bugambilias – Palmasur, Dengue Dengue Dengue
6. Pa’ Bravo Yo (Dengue Dengue Dengue Remix) – Justo Betancourt, Dengue Dengue Dengue
7. Shu Swamp – Thornato
8. Hiperbórea – DNGDNGDNG, Dengue Dengue Dengue
9. Liquid Portraits – Clap! Clap!, Piero Spitilli
10. Dileke – Dengue Dengue Dengue
11. Ciudad de Papel – Iván Rosa
12. Lofi Recuerdame – Palmasur, Dream Better
13. Guajira Sicodélica – Los Destellos
14. Llamar La Atención – Jiony

Hyperlink to Spotify playlist: WILT_2022-50

Notes

This post is coming out a bit late because I got hit with a bout of gastric flu last night, and I spent the majority of my weekend sleeping instead of carving out the time to write. But after all that rest, I am starting to feel a lot better. So here are my ramblings on this past week of music listening.

I explored a little bit more of Mr. Ho because I really enjoyed the music from last week. From there, I found Yu Su’s track ID playlist, which I immediately checked out because there was a Soulwax remix of Too Late Now. 

I thought that the rest of the playlist would continue down a path of electronic music, but there was a slight detour. The rest of this list is still electronic in nature, but with a twist. You see, I saw the album artwork for Dengue Dengue Dengue’s Semillero and clicked on it out of curiosity. From there, it’s been love at first listen to Dengue Dengue Dengue’s brand of Peruvian electronic dance music. 

Pua starts off strong with percussions and rhythms that I was not familiar with being in this part of the world. Still, the channeling of an intimate energy is prevalent in the beats and arrangements of this brand of music.

The rest of the playlist continues as an extension of Semillero. Yodeller sheds more light into the rhythmic explorations of Dengue Dengue Dengue.

El Cavilante‘s starts with a gorgeous beat that is soon accompanied by Sara Van’s smoking and impassioned vocal melody. This song slithers like an incense of longingness and panging for a gentle touch.

Parque de Bugambilias chills things down a little. The synth bass is a bit busy, but it adds to the gentle charm of the rest of the song. The melody is also easy to get lost in.

Pa’ Bravo Yo is an intense celebration of traditional folk instruments and arrangements with some contemporary twists, particularly how the beats work against that trumpet part. Highly addictive.

By the time we arrive at Shu Swamp, the recommendations came from a continuation of the playlist thus far. So there’s a slight evolution in the musical choices as the algorithm becomes more self-searching. I added Shu Swamp because I love the interplay between the flute and the beats.

There’s something dark going on with Hiperbórea. There are some elements that remind me of hip hop, but all it does is accumulate into a very chilling beat experience.

The vibe continues with Liquid Portraits as the first part of the song starts off like an interlude cross-fading between radio stations. That rimshot is pretty tight, and you think the song is going to stay in one place throughout. But somewhere in the middle when you don’t expect it, a flurry of bass notes come on, some beautiful samples layer slightly atop it, and in that brief instant, it’s almost done. This here is a shot of inspiration, of everything coalescing into one moment.

I dare you to not groove along to Dileke. It’s not so much as an arrangement, but so much as a beat.

Ciudad de Papel is a short ditty that lets its piano notes ring out slightly longer than usual, just to give it that tension that comes from a midnight that’s not too quiet in the city, but also quiet enough.

Lofi Recuerdame is another little ditty that presents a dreamy warm guitar being played while tape warbles go off in the background. It might actually be a theremin come to think of it. 

Guitar work continues to be celebrated in Guajira Sicodélica. To some extent I’ve bored myself a lot playing bass lines like on the song, but man, that guitar playing is so impassioned, I’d actually play bass on this song just to hear it live. 

And finally we end with ‌Llamar La Atención. Now this is a bass line I can get behind. It sounds simple enough, but man that pocket is tight. Particularly when it’s laying the foundation for a sick steady beat, and a Rhodes line that is just groovy enough to make a face.

And there we go! I am quite pleased that I am still uncovering new music fifty weeks into 2022, and it gives me some confidence as to what I’ll uncover in 2023. If I am being honest though, I am quite tired of the rigour that this project has put me through. I might change the writing format in the new year, in a way that is a bit more sustainable.

Maybe.