About this playlist
Jorge Writes:
For this list we decided to go the lyrical way, which challenged me because I’m more of an instrumental person. That doesn’t mean I don’t listen to lyrical music, it’s just that I don’t pay attention to the lyrics but rather the tone and movements of a voice.
For the tracks I went the safest path by choosing older rock and similar ones that I remembered had lyrics talking about mad stuff, mental health, or bad memories.
Also something I noticed was that for a lot of tracks I had to think outside the box and go casual; when making a playlist we try to match the original track’s vibe/mood/whatever and it was proving extremely difficult for me to do so here because although we were maintaining a rock-ish vibe the fact about the lyrics and theme was just keeping me from finding the right stuff.
To be completely honest this list threw me a curve ball because I never really felt identified with it musically-speaking. The tracks are good and I’m all for confronting the demons that may screw with your mental health, but I just couldn’t feel it. It was a challenge listening to what Andrew added and trying to think or feel the follow-up track; in the end I just went to my stash of lyrical tracks.
It was a good exercise but not one I’d like doing often, going out of your comfort zone overall is good but many times the shades you’re getting into simply don’t match your own.
Andrew writes:
This was a crazy list to put together – I can relate to Jorge’s experience as I was often going out of my way to change up the musical style and genre but damn if that transition out of Korn into Suzanne Vega doesn’t sound good! 🙂
We both chose to make this list as we have personal experiences dealing with “The Madness” – I’ve written about it several times over the music to grieve to playlist and I know Jorge has touched on it too on mindgaze. What I like about this list is that it does demonstrate that depression and darkness are not purely restricted to dark edgy music – Arlo Park,s Black Dog couldn’t be any fresher and yet is possibly one of the most direct tracks on the playlist.
And in the manner that sometimes the chemistry between two actors that don’t like each other can often be electric – I think there’s something special in this list – it doesn’t follow a typical musical trajectory and I think it is stronger because of it.
Of course in real life Jorge and I work closely together and I’d make another list with him in a heartbeat – maybe we should choose a specific genre – that might be kind of fun!
Link to the Unsplash image
About the Curators
Andrew
The first visual memory I have is that of the white upright piano in Singapore, Hell and the Dark Forces lived at the bottom, Heaven and the Angels at the top, they would play battles through my fingers and I was hooked.
As a psychology graduate I studied how sound affects human performance.
As a musician I compose instrumental music that stimulates your brain but doesn't mess with your language centers, leaving you free to write creatively without distraction.
As a curator I research how music can improve your life and create flow - I can tell you what music to listen to when studying for a test and why listening to sad music can make you feel better.
As a creator / contributor at musicto I believe that music can make the world better.
What I'm doing now
