Tag Archives: playlist

Finding an artist to late: Nico

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Source: Allmusic.com

My usual routine for a day’s studying is to put my headphones on muse over what to listen too. Often its a playlist recommended by Spotify or Apple. As I listen, a song or artist will come up that I like that I don’t know and I will search out that artist’s discography.

Beach at Second Valley

This is just what happened as I sat with my coffee looking over the sea at Second Valley when my head should have been in the spreadsheet loading my data.

On came a song. What was it?  Who sang it? Why hadn’t I heard it before?  All these thoughts came running through my head. The song was  These Days by Nico a German born singer of the 60s. How had I missed her? She fits perfectly into my favourite music style – solo female vocalist, haunting, strong lyrics, and simple music backdrop.

Nico released 6 solo albums, a collaboration with another of my favourite bands The Velvet Underground and a series of live albums.

 

Finding an old playlist

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Yesterday as I read my draft PHD proposal for what seemed like the thousandth time (I actually think it was), I was getting desperate for something to listen too. It felt like I’d exhausted Spotify and Pandora – was that possible?  

I was starting to think it just might be.  I’d got an email  from Pandora a few days before saying I’d listened to 1244 songs in the last month which  when added to Spotify, iTunes, and  The Sound made my song count for September more than I could bare to think about.

 Then I stumbled upon a playlist from my iPod that I’d transferred to Spotify “Gym4.” It was as the name suggests a playlist for listening to when at the gym and like my going to the gym, it was just a memory.

What an eclectic mix and so refreshening. Songs and  artists I hadn’t listened to for at least a couple of years. It was the breath of fresh air that I needed.

Some of the highlights for me were:

Vampire Weekend – Cape Cos Kwassa Kwassa 

Avril Lavigne – Sk8er Boi – listen to it loud!

Jackson Browne – Just Say Yeah – I’m a sucker for his love songs.

Silversun Pickups – Lazy Eye – I love the guitar in this song.

Kinda Dawson – I like Giants – it seems like fun but it’s got a hard and important edge.

REM – Nightswimming – I don’t think I’ve listened to any REM in the last 2 years which given they were one of my favourite bands was quite astounding.

Letters to Cleo – Cruel to be Kind – from one of my favourite movies 10 Things I Hate About You

British India – Tie up my Hands – a song my son introduced me too. It was British India’ s first hit and is in my opinion one of the best songs by an Australian band. 

The Donnas – Take me to the Backseat – a girls band that just rocks!

It might just tide me over for the next few weeks as I round out the study year and get ready for our trip.