Episode 49 - Originals
This past June (of 2025), I attended a conference in Boston. I lived in Boston for 19 years (and terribly miss it which is ironic, but that's not a discussion for this site) and I make it a point to meet up with people whenever I visit. Durng one dinner with friends and spouses, this website came up and I explained how it came about to the spouses. Afterwards, I was told I should give a listen to Disturbed's version of "The Sounds of Silence" and honestly, it was really good (I do love getting music recommendations from people I know).
If you look at past playlists, you'll see that I do episodes around cover songs as I'm really, really fascinated by covers. I love seeing what inspires other artists and seeing how their interpretation sometimes completely alters the personal meaning and feeling of a song. Look at Gary Jules' cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" and how it transformed a song that in the 80s was a relatively poppy alternative dance track into something that made you actually take notice of the lyrics and go "oh shit, this is dark".
So for this month, I'm doing another covers playlist, but this time I'm including the original versions and it starts with this episode.
The Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
Where is My Mind? - The Pixies
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
Cruel Summer - Bananarama
Crucified - Army of Lovers
Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins
Nothing Else Matters - Metallica
Bullet with Butterfly Wings - The Smashing Pumpkins
Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Episode 48
I listen to music each night for a few hours. Sometimes I'll listen to a full album, other times I'll listen to a playlist that I or someone else made, and other times I'll explore a playlist that Tidal recommends. Earlier this week, I decided to listen to Tidal's "My Daily Discovery" playlist, which is a mix of songs that are in my collection as well as new songs that the algorithm thinks that I should give a chance. The first song in that daily playlist was "Let Me Go" by Heaven 17 and it opened up a flood of memories for me.
I used to work in radio and not only did I love it, but I miss it terribly. During my time there, the radio station hosted a Saturday Night Dance Party (SNDP) at a club on Long Island called Malibu. While working at the radio station I was still under 21, so I had to stay in the DJ booth with the host (at the time, she went by AJ Mistress of Modern Rock but now goes by Amy Paige doing country radio in Nashville) and the DJ (an older goth who's name I forgot). The SNDP mainly played more obscure 80's New Wave songs and that's what this playlist features. What's personally fun about this playlist is that listening to this at 50 and being more into critical listening, I'm amazed at the passion put into the audio engineering of some of these songs.
Let Me Go - Heaven 17
Talk Talk - Talk Talk
Promised You a Miracle - Simple Minds
What is Love? - Howard Jones
Lies - Thompson Twins
Too Shy - Kajagoogoo
Love Plus One - Haircut 100
The Look of Love - ABC
Johnny Come Home - Fine Young Cannibals
I Melt with You - Modern English
Episode 47 - Audio Test
For this episode, I felt like listing some of the songs that I use to test audio equipment. I was going to write the reason why I chose each song, but I think it'll be best if I limit the explanations to a select few.
Beastie Boys "Brass Monkey": This is all about the bass and if a pair of speakers can reproduce the rich and deep bass, then I can personally go without a subwoofer.
The Cure "A Forest": I originally put this on a playlist when I started looking for speakers a few years ago as a way to include my wife. She's a huge Robert Smith fan (literally has a little shrine to him in the corner of a room) and if she was going to sit and listen to speakers at stores with me, there should be something for her. What's surprising is that this song actually became the song I rely on the most. When the drums start, there is this really fast and consistent cymbal tap that I never really noticed until listening to the song on a pair Bowers and Wilkins speakers. On those speakers, not only did I notice the cymbal taps, but I was annoyed by them big time. When we got back to the car, we played "A Forest" again and we noticed that the same cymbal tap that annoyed us in the store was barely audible in the car. How a speaker or pair of headphones handles that cymbal tap is what I look for.
Dead Can Dance "Persephone (The Gathering of Flowers)": This song gets the biggest emotional reaction from me. I don't know why or when it happened, but without fail, on a good system, this song will make me tear up. If I don't water up when I hear this, then it's not a system I want to listen to.
The Kinks "Lola": It's all about the vocals here. I'll try to explain as best as I can. When the three male singers are performing the chorus, you get a strong sense of where everyone is standing. Not only that, but there is a layering effect where the center singer feels a few steps forward of the singers flanking him. I'm looking to feel and hear that sense of space between the singers.
There are a lot of songs that 'audiophiles' will tell people are absolute must listens and I spent a lot of time listening to what they suggested. In the end, I think the best songs are the ones that you're the most familar with. See if you can start hearing subtle differences. Look for moments where you think to yourself "wait a minute, was that always in the song?" When you start to experience those moments, you build up a collection of things you'll look for. And if you're lucky, you'll find yourself enjoying a song a little more than you used to.
Brass Monkey - Beastie Boys
A Forest - The Cure
Love & Hate - Michael Kiwanuka
Want - Recoil
Ken Tavr - Ishome
Vogue - Madonna
Bubble - Yosi Horikawa
Birds - Dominique Fils-Aimé
Persephone (The Gathering of Flowers) - Dead Can Dance
Lola - The Kinks
Episode 46 - New Music
Here's a sampling of new music that Tidal thought I'd be interested in. I can't even explain how happy the new Saint Etienne song made me. I've been hearing their old hits from over 30 years ago in Starbucks and other places recently and it just warms my heart that they're still putting out new music. New music from Pulp is always appreciated. I do want to see their reunion tour but sadly the place where they're performing in Atlanta is probably my least favorite music venue in all of Atlanta. We will probably go and see Garbage as we pretty much see them whenever they're in town, usually as an supporting band. This time around, they're headlining, so it'll be nice to see an extended set. I never expected to be putting Barbara Streisand on any playlist, but here we are, mainly because this new song features Laufey. Lastly, while I'm glad that The Ting Tings are still putting out music, this isn't my favorite song from them. This new song does have a slightly country music sound and I think I've made it clear that I can do without country music. I've actually started working on the July 1st playlist and I'm pretty excited for that one.
Glad - Saint Etienne
Got to Have Love - Pulp
Sound & Light - Alison Goldfrapp
Beautiful People - David Guetta with Sia
Taratata - Anyma featuring Grimes
Get Out My Face AKA Bad Kitty - Garbage
Messy - Lola Young
Letter to My 13 Year Old Self - Barbara Streisand featuring Laufey
Bad Intelligence - Mogwai
Winning - The Ting Tings
Episode 45 - Röyksopp
I'm struggling to write something here because there is a lot to cover. To start, for the last few months, I've been listening to Röyksopp's latest album "Nebulous Nights (An Ambient Excursion into Profound Mysteries)". It's a great album; it's almost 2.5 hours long, meant to be experienced with headphones, and it's one of the best things to listen to each night to unwind. I'm not including any songs from that album on this playlist because it's a concept album that should be experienced as a whole. Given how much I've been listening to the album, I felt it was a good time to cover them here.
I've been a fan of Röyksopp right before their first album was released. How is that possible? Thanks to the magical time that is the early days of the internet. I can't recall how (I think it was via IRC and if you don't know what IRC is, it's basically Slack before Slack existed with a higher barrier of entry), but I befriended someone online that is from Bergen, Norway and she sent me some MP3s of a local band that she was really into, and that band was Drum Island.
You were expecting me to say Röyksopp? That's the thing, they started out as Drum Island but then they went to a duo and the name changed to Röyksopp. Now during this time (late 90s/early 00s), Nu-Metal was the stuff that most radio stations were playing and that just wasn't my scene. Röyksopp was a breath of fresh air for me. There was a playfulness to their music that really drew me in. And when their first album, "Melody A.M." was released, it was just amazing. Add to the fact that a few months before their release, another friend of mine introduced me to another Norwegian band from the same town called Kings of Convenience and one of its singers did the vocals on two of Röyksopp's songs; "Poor Leno" and "Remind Me".
That also started a trend for the band; using guest vocalists. Besides Erland Øye of Kings of Convenience, they've featured Karin Dreijer of The Knife, Lykke Li, and probably their most successful collaborator in my opinion, Robyn.
Another thing that really drew me into the band was when I saw their concert in Boston at The Paradise. They are one of the best bands to see live, hands down. To this day, that concert tops my list of the most fun I've ever had at a concert. Their playfulness and shoot from the hip demeanor just gave the audience a certain energy that I can't describe other than infectious.
For this playlist, I tried to avoid their purely instrumental songs because I do want to make another instrumental playlist to feature here and they will be featured pretty extensively on that one. The 11 songs here I think cover a decent spectrum, showcasing their playful pop focused side, the more chill/ambient stylings, and even their more aggressive tone that they sometimes show.
If you ever have a chance to check them out, I highly recommend going.
Eple - Röyksopp
What Else is There? - Röyksopp
The Girl and The Robot - Röyksopp
Monument - Röyksopp with Robyn
Sparks - Röyksopp
This Must Be It - Röyksopp
Do It Again - Röyksopp with Robyn
Someone Like Me - Röyksopp
Poor Leno - Röyksopp
Only This Moment - Röyksopp
The Night - Röyksopp (featuring Alison Goldfrapp)