August Collaborative Blog: Songs to Calm You Down

Need to take a breather? For the August collaborative blog, the collective curated a playlist of ambient, indie and hip hop tracks to show that calming music doesn't have to be elevator music. 

The playlist is generally structured from ambient and electronic towards
​ mellow hip hop, indie and rock.

With streaming algorithms constantly pushing generic lo-fi playlists, it's unfortunate that many people's connotation of instrumental beats is computer-generated or just otherwise cookie-cutter melodies. The track "Bus Ride" is a great example of a contemporary instrumental hip hop track that shows ~vibey~ music can still be emotionally and sonically dynamic.  It's a harmoniously blend of Karriem Riggins' live drumming with melancholic synthy beats. 

​Similarly, Apollo Brown's new album, This Must Be The Place, was intentionally created as background music. While background music is generally thought of as bland or boring, he created a thoughtful and introspective mood for people to create their own memories with. It's an interesting take on beat making, and you can stay tuned on T&E for an interview I did with Apollo Brown about the album in the next few weeks. -- Parisa (on her track selections)

​

JD Twitch · Tranquilty mixes

For a lot of gigging DJs, not being able to connect with other music lovers in-person during the pandemic felt crushing. JD Twitch (of the legendary Optimo club) channeled some of his lockdown frustration and unspent energies into making a series of calming hour-long mixes that I now carry with me everywhere. Better than diazepam but possibly more addictive. -- Kurt B. Reighley