To be honest, I'm not sure I trust someone who doesn't keep a stable of curated playlists on hand filled with the music that made them who they are.
As Morrissey once advised:
Don't forget the songs that made you cry
And the songs that saved your life.
Yes, you're older now and you're a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you.
That's some serious gospel Moz laid down and it's one that sustains me. It's important for all kinds of reasons and can be practiced whether you're 21 or 81.
But this playlist isn't about that kind of listening.
"How Does It Feel to Feel?," The Creation (and later Ride) once asked, and it's not an easy question to answer. I would suggest that the bliss of new music discovery comes close, the first blush of a new song or artist or scene showing what can't necessarily be told.
Hey, falling in love is falling in love and it's as if new music has the ability to alter consciousness and make one’s waking life more like one’s dream life. Is this what The Clean was getting at when they insisted “In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul”?
Here then, is a monthly smattering of new music that’s making the rounds of my brain as of late, the outcome of which is often a multitude — emotional, intellectual, biological, psychological — even for the big dumb jams (playback setting = SHUFFLE). Audio remnants of waking life.
Listen to Jeremy Petersen's latest playlist of his favorite new music below.
