one of my favourite messages to get is when a friend tells me they are listening to a playlist I made. it makes me smile everytime I get a message like that <3 <3
here is a collection of my playlists
and a bit on how they came about
My co-host Hailley thought we should make a playlist for our podcast listeners. She put together a few songs she liked and I took a cue from those what vibe she was going for. I believe it's best described as 'happy chill good vibes'.
What I love about this playlist is that it's not trying to impress you or be cool, the purpose is just to make listening through delightful. Some familiar songs, some new, but all accessible and safe to put on in an office or to listen to as you're perhaps commuting and want a bit of spring in your step.
It was a few years ago I realised when the end of year lists and the award season nominations rolled around there was a significant amount of the work I had never even heard. Like not even the albums and songs in the biggest categories at the Grammys or the Best Album of the Year deemed by someone worthy like Rolling Stone magazine or NME.
In all fairness there is so much that gets released in a year it's hard to keep up. That's when I realised all these lists and nominations were in fact a great pre-filtered selection of the best music from that year, and by the industry itself. To see what I found most interesting, why not compile all the nominations and end-of-year lists into one playlist with just all of it in an attempt to explore the work.
Then, obviously, just because something is nominated or critically acclaimed doesn't necessarily mean it’s my jam. So here's where the fun part begins, I'd viciously cut down the monstrosity of the playlist to maybe 80 songs or about 5 hours of listening. So published under the work brand, Promogogo, we've now released playlists for Best of 2017, Best of 2018, and Best of 2019.
These have become one of my favourite things to put together out of the whole year, and I often just put them on when I have people over in my house. I can't tell you how often, normal people and industry people alike at some point comment on it and go like dammn, what is this we're listening to? It's really good. To which of course, one can only give a coy smile and say, right? Well, now you can too, but without all the trouble.
Here are the other two. Those embeds should allow you to find the playlist on Spotify of course (my playlist platform of choice) but also Apple Music, YouTube and whatever other service.
The tynPie playlist was inspired by a conversation on Twitter with one of our MakeWorkWork listeners. As I was doing the end of year playlist for 2018 I asked the people on Twitter what had been their musical highlights of the year. The question ended up being put back on me, what my picks were. As I was sharing names of songs on Twitter I got frustrated by what an ineffective way of sharing music this was. So I pulled all my recommended favourites into what became this playlist.
The idea behind this playlist is imagining I had one chance to get someone who's in a bit of a music-rut to break out from it, what would I put on that playlist. It's upbeat and happy and also because I was not constrained in any way (by release dates etc.) I ended up including a lot of personal favourites. As I write this, I'm realising now that the tynPie playlist is probably what sparked the idea for us to have a playlist for our podcast listeners since this is kind of an unofficial one.
for some reason, I love a good juxtaposition. Happy music in the winter and sad music in the summer, cos why not. The winter one is my most followed on Apple Music, so clearly I'm not the only one on this.
And then my all time favourite I think of them all is Pumpkin Spice Latte which is so named just to annoy people. I hope someone sees that and just gets pointlessly angry. Anyway, this one is not juxtaposed at all, this is literally if the brief was "fall but make it a playlist" this would be it.
It's nostalgic and slightly melancholic but almost in this way were you're kinda in to it. Like that day when it's raining and you kind of smile because it means you can just stay at home and snuggle up.
I'm a person who appreciates happy music in general and love summer so of course there's also a happy summer playlist.
The reason the other one came about was because the summer of 2017 was depressing af in the UK. I was completely mortified after the Manchester bombings at Ariana's concert, it just felt so close, and it was dawning on at least some of us that we were now living in an era of Trump and Brexit, like for real. I know I wasn't the only one who felt like the assumptions we'd made about the world were kinda being pulled out from under us. That playlist totally acknowledges that darkness but tries to find some kind of hope or brightness in the midst of it all.
This one however, Fresh SummerRealness 2.0 is going for a completely different energy. The setting I imagine for this one is like an adorably hipster-couple in an East-London park having a picnic with some prosecco and like, grapes. They are of course cool and have to make sure to listen to cool things, but they also just love joy and good pop-tunes so this is the perfect blend of modern pop / indie / rock but make it joy and happy and sunshine but still like trendy and kinda sexy.
...parties!
Everyone who knows me, knows there's nothing I love more than throwing a giant party for my friends and family. And no party is perfect without a good soundtrack. This is when no one cares about being cool and everyone's just all about fun, cliché, throwbacks, and lots and lots of Rihanna.
LMK what you like if you want, or send me what you’re into ATM