Hello hello, welcome back to this week's edition of Sunday Chillin'! My window here has a perfect view to a play area for dogs so every evening I get to see a bunch of dogs running around excitedly. I hope you too have a view like that on the daily.
The Journey Continues
We have finally returned to an actual music-focused newsletter this week and for the next 3 weeks. As I described with the last Genre Exploration series, I really enjoy listening to music from different cultures and sharing my findings with friends. Each region of the world has its own unique soundscape and choices that are greatly influenced by the country's traditions and there are infinite paths to wander down.
Now, with that being said, in the same way as last time, the "genres" I'll share may not necessarily be tied together by anything other than language or nationality. You won't be able to classify all the songs for a given week into one musical category for some of the weeks, but they will all be related in some way, shape, or form.
The music for the next few weeks will be taken from the following musical collections:
Week 1: Drill (US/UK/Aussie)
We'll start off with pretty aggressive hip-hop music beloved by ruffians and goons the world over. Drill started in Chicago (probably back in the late 1700s) and has since expanded to the UK and Australia, evolving lots along the way. The genre is characterized by high bpm, violent lyrics (most songs are about having beef with one group or another), and the power of friendship. As much as I like to dunk on the UK – and I really do – the fellows do a pretty good job on this one. Here's a song that falls into this category from our brethren in The Southern Reaches that I've listened to way too many times:
Street Guide Pt. 1 - ONEFOUR
Spotify | YouTube
We'll start off with pretty aggressive hip-hop music beloved by ruffians and goons the world over. Drill started in Chicago (probably back in the late 1700s) and has since expanded to the UK and Australia, evolving lots along the way. The genre is characterized by high bpm, violent lyrics (most songs are about having beef with one group or another), and the power of friendship. As much as I like to dunk on the UK – and I really do – the fellows do a pretty good job on this one. Here's a song that falls into this category from our brethren in The Southern Reaches that I've listened to way too many times:
Street Guide Pt. 1 - ONEFOUR
Spotify | YouTube
Week 2: French RnB/Hip-Hop/Whatever Else
Not sure where I heard my first French song, but I think the language just flows so nicely with music. In some ways, I would describe it as a very "fluid" sound and it works really well with synthy, reverby instrumentals. This class of music is also quite popular with dancers recently, though I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps not really understanding the words leaves choreographers more creative freedom to just interpret the sounds and phrases rather than going for wordplay? Whatever the reasons may be, very enjoyable to listen to all around. This is going to be one of those newsletters where every song is strikingly different from the next, but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless. Here's a song that I heard for the first time in an Uber and Shazamed immediately:
Malheur, malheur - GIMS
Spotify | YouTube
Not sure where I heard my first French song, but I think the language just flows so nicely with music. In some ways, I would describe it as a very "fluid" sound and it works really well with synthy, reverby instrumentals. This class of music is also quite popular with dancers recently, though I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps not really understanding the words leaves choreographers more creative freedom to just interpret the sounds and phrases rather than going for wordplay? Whatever the reasons may be, very enjoyable to listen to all around. This is going to be one of those newsletters where every song is strikingly different from the next, but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless. Here's a song that I heard for the first time in an Uber and Shazamed immediately:
Malheur, malheur - GIMS
Spotify | YouTube
Week 3: Anime soundtracks
Perhaps the most controversial week of all since everyone has such strong opinions on anime. I haven't seen that many anime shows relative to some of my friends, but I think I've seen enough to be able to share some notable songs from soundtracks. Soundtracks have a deep connection to the general vibe of the whole show/movie and the state of mind that you were in when watching it so this is probably the most subjective out of all the others. The songs that I'll be sharing will also be radically different from one another since they come from different shows and different moments, but they're all lots of fun to revisit. I'll also indicate which anime the song is from (obviously), and who I think the show might be good for. To get us started, here's a dubstep remix of a song from Attack on Titan that I found like 9 years ago when I was but a wee lad:
Guren no Yumiya (dj-Jo remix) - Linked Horizon
Spotify | YouTube
Hopefully this newsletter whets your appetite for the weeks ahead. It seems only fitting that a newsletter initially started with the intention of sharing music should focus a bit more on the songs and genres that I've delved into, so here we are. Here's to music discovery and exploration!
Guren no Yumiya (dj-Jo remix) - Linked Horizon
Spotify | YouTube
Hopefully this newsletter whets your appetite for the weeks ahead. It seems only fitting that a newsletter initially started with the intention of sharing music should focus a bit more on the songs and genres that I've delved into, so here we are. Here's to music discovery and exploration!
See you all next Sunday!
suhaas
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If you'd like to share this newsletter with your friends, please direct them to this link.
Here are Spotify and YouTube playlists with all the songs so far.
[0] Don't worry, footnotes will be back next week. There are always more thoughts to be shared in the margin.