WILT_2023-35

A playlist of songs that intrigued me from Sunday to Saturday. Week of 27 Aug 2023 to 2 Sep 2023.

1. Alpine Evening – The Orb
2. Please Come Here – Jared Mattson
3. É Preciso Ter Amor – Bruno Berle
4. Darkness, Darkness – Kieran Hebden, William Tyler
5. Take – Westerman
6. Fear of Corners – Dntel
7. Wickedness – Euphone
8. Honeydew – Mr. Scruff, Feebi
9. Nurse! – bar italia
10. F.O.B. – bar italia
11. Skipping Like A Stone (featuring Beck) – The Chemical Brothers, Beck
12. Someone New – Paolo Sandejas, Martti Franca
13. No. 22 – Moderat
14. MORE LOVE (Sylvere Remix) – Moderat, Sylvere
15. O Mexico – Dosh
16. Unveiled – Hibisc
17. Sleep Remedy – Sandra Heigl
18. Drone – Ayala Cola
19. Mind Storm – Leon Baker
20. Mysteries – Art of Fighting
21. Devil’s Tongue – Big Heavy Stuff
22. Sleep Forever – theredsunband
23. Return To The City Of Folded Arms – Bluebottle Kiss
24. Speed Is In, Speed Is Out – Six by Seven
25. Rudder – Bettie Serveert
26. Song for a Kevin Spacey Movie – The Bicycle Thief
27. Metallic Spheres In Colour: Movement 1 (Excerpt) – The Orb, David Gilmour
28. Gary Ashby (Nourished By Time Remix) – Dry Cleaning, Nourished By Time
29. Vento a Favor – Sessa

Hyperlink to Spotify playlist: WILT_2023-35

Notes

I noticed a thumbnail on my Spotify app called “DJ” and clicked on it. A voice appeared and introduced themselves as “Xavier” or “X” and that they were an AI-generated DJ that would be recommending me songs based on how “they” knew me. What was also interesting was that they were also were able to vocalise artist names based off generative AI and the likeness of the voice talent, creating the illusion that a real DJ was on the other end of the programme vocalising their recommendations to you.

Read: Spotify Expands DJ to Now Be Available in 50 Markets Around the World. Here’s How To Find It (8 Aug 2023)

It was bound to happen, and for the moment the AI did introduce some interesting new songs and artists to me. Alpine Evening by The Orb was one great example, as well as Darkness, Darkness by Kieran Hebden and William Tyler, or Moderat’s No. 22. For the first nineteen songs, it was me discovering music that I had no heard before but was entirely in the market for because I was either a fan of the artist, or a fan of the electronic stylings that I was leaning towards. I skipped anything that the AI DJ highlighted as introduced as music that I should revisit from my past listenings. 

The next segment of this playlist starts with Art of Fighting’s Mysteries, a song that I revisited from a Facebook post I made about in 2013, highlighting the bass’s counter melody. From there, it was a straight shot towards an era of Aussie rock that I had glossed over, but what glory it was. The guitar tones and melodies are ripping and unabashedly their own sound, counter to whatever was coming out of American or British music scenes, and the whole thing peels away like another onion layer from the charred ashes of grunge music and alternative rock. A highlight for me is definitely the guitar solo on Song for a Kevin Spacey Movie by The Bicycle Thief, and the the vocal melody to the chorus of Devil’s Tongue by Big Heavy Stuff. 

The playlist closes off with a revisit of The Orb’s intense and purposed brand of house groove featuring David Gilmour’s masterful guitar performance on Metallic Spheres in Colour: Movement 1 (Excerpt), a wonderful no-wave post-punk ditty by Dry Cleaning, and Sessa’s Vento a Favor, a gorgeously-layered Latin-esque sample fest that closes out any afternoon with just the right dose of attitude.