Perfect (feat. Jessie Reyez) – Sam Smith
Will writes:
The song that began the playlist in a chilled, calm note to get you into a relaxation zone. I had this song on repeat for a while when I started making the playlist with Andrew. It really set the tone for some strings and vibes.
Keep Moving – Jungle
Andrew writes:
What an opener – Sam Smith has come such a long way – i love how he is now fully himself – no apologies no hiding and using his voice and platform to tell the truth – certainly sets the stage. What’s kinda tough about the track is how it ends – that orchestrated string finish into the violins that are setting up the next track – I was initially thinking of matching the vibe – maybe something out of Rihanna but I kept thinking about the transition and I knew a track where the string transition would work. Also – Loving In Stereo is a brilliant album and Keep Moving one of my all time favorites
Overnight – Parcels
I love love love Sam Smith! It’s my first time hearing Keep Moving and it’s that type of song that will be stuck in my head the whole week. I love it. The vibe of the song has reminded me of this song called Overnight. Parcels have quite a good catalogue.
Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers) – Daft Punk
Love the Parcels track – and I tried – honestly I did try not to follow it up with Get Lucky – but sometimes – you know – the track just selects itself – it’s that nile Rodgers guitar that just blends the two tracks
Adventure of a Lifetime – Coldplay
Get lucky is amazing. I love the guitar. I also couldn’t help but add Coldplay for this one. The guitar is amazing there too 🙌🏾
Walking Away From Love – Steve Mason
I have a love / Meh relationship with ColdPlay – their first two albums are deep in my psyche – I changed my life at 30 and Parachutes was the soundtrack for the change – yet the band just kept getting bigger and bigger – for which I am in awe of – but the songs got simpler and more accessible and designed for massive stadium shows – again – I’m in awe of their talent but I found the tracks less interesting.
Now with that said – I hadn’t spent a lot of time with A Head Full of Dreams but Adventure of a Lifetime has such a good groove – and is bloody perfect out of Get Lucky – we’re certainly building an energy here – so I’m going keep the foot on the gas – changing the feel perhaps – bringing in more guitars and less of the electronic vibe but I love how the finger snaps transition out of Coldplay – and then the track just builds – see what you think
Tonight – Zonke
Coldplay has that change element in their songs and I’ll check out Parachutes , also please do check out Hymn for the Weekend.
I really love the song the guitar in the song, the snaps started perfect and yesssss! Let’s step on the gas! As I was listening to the this song, a certain song started to ring in my head. The song elements are different but the tempo and the rhythms are a bit similar. This one has more of soul.
Custodian – Piel
I loved the soulful groove from Zonke – the bass line had me immediately reaching for The Supreme’s classic “You Can’t Hurry Love” – which works really well but i wanted to “play” with this a little 😎 – I have my Spotify set to a 5 second cross fade, so I’m always thinking about the transition – not that it has to be perfect but that – when it works well, it makes me grin ;-p So – the out of Tonight really slowed down – those simple piano chords – the percussion and shaker fades out and there’s this silence after the last chord – soooooo – I was thinking – how do we keep the energy up but effect a smooth transition –
I just came across Piel from making another list with Jan – a new curator about to join the community who’s an independent music publisher in LA and this is one of his clients – I’m in love with the underlying groove here – where Tonight blends soul into the groove – this blends more of an EDM vibe into the groove and I’m so here for it!
Little L – Jamiroquai
The song is really good, I like it a lot. One thing am really enjoying is to getting to listen to new songs and get to listen to artists I didn’t know about. This song is great 🔥
I tried to keep the songs on a similar tempo, therefore I have added a song by the band Jamiroquai which has that funk seasoning 🧂 in it!
Blackout – Breathe Carolina
I’ve always loved Jamiroquai – that whole bass line funk of the 90’s and of course JK was a brilliant front man – I have a crazy German friend Schirin who throws brilliant parties – she stuffs all her party lists with Jamiroquai track ;-p. I wanted to keep the energy up high so stole a track from one of her lists – grooving on the bass again ;-p
Starships – Nicki Minaj
So I went with the same energy from breathe Carolina. I almost added another song but this one wouldn’t let me rest so I just had to add it. Starships!
Hot Summer – Heffron Drive
Well hell yeah! – Starships are indeed meant to fly – I was tempted to continue the full on dance floor banger but again decided to tweak it – keep the energy right up there but toughen it up a little – can’t go wrong with guitars and a kick ass beat – also – this song ain’t wrong – the planet’s definitely heating up 😎
Cake By The Ocean – DNCE
Heffron Drive is a ball of energy, I loved the song and it just spurred me on to Cake by the ocean.
New Sensation – INXS
Cake by the Ocean is such a dope track – 1.4 billion views – a pure pop high energy dance classic – just brilliant writing – needed to keep the energy up a little while longer so went back into the decades and pulled an Aussie classic – used to love to dance to this!
Locked out of Heaven – Bruno Mars
New Sensation is a great vibe. I love the feel of the song. It made me think of one of my all time favorite tracks. It sort of takes the tempo up a bit from a New Sensation
Can’t Stand Losing You – The Police
Oh dude – this list is such a journey – the flow – the chill start – building energy – little breaks – but always a vibe – the last 6 or 7 tracks – such energy – I’m kinda digging the transition out of Bruno into The Police ;-p. You’re up!
I Am (feat. Wyclef Jean) – Rock Mafia
You nailed the transition from Bruno to The Police, that was so cool. The end of the song has this Caribbean feel that I like, I just had to go with flow!
Fools In Love – Joe Jackson
Heh! it’s like we’re getting to the end of the evening and beginning to sit and chill a bit – the more reggae driven beat of I Am allowing the slower groove of Fools In lLove but totally driven by the grooving bass line and the scratchy guitars – see what you think
Want You Back – Singing Melody
Had a little trouble coming up with the song that will ke the flow of the playlist. There is a famous song that was a hit and this is the cover of the song. I felt like the vibes were in sync with it
Karma Police – Easy Star All-Stars
dude! that transition – dope! So while I almost resisted – I just couldn’t – had to follow up the dub version of Want you Back with a similar version of Radiohead’s epic Karma Police!!
Kill Bill – SZA
That’s a dope song! It made it easy for me to switch the vibe to some Kill Bill.
You Know I’m No Good – Amy Winehouse
How to follow up the SZA track – how about a classic groove, a similar story line and of course Amy’s incomparable vocals!
Playlist image by Dominik Scythe on Unsplash
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