Special Issue: Summer Playlist
A fresh playlist to kick off the summer! With geeky annotations!
Well, the news is horrible today. It’s a dark day for a lot of people in this country. I almost didn’t want to send this out today but, I don’t know, maybe there’s room for a little joy in the middle of all of this horribleness. I hope so. I need it. Maybe you need it, too. Here’s a list of abortion funds that you can donate to. Please do so, if you can. There are people on the ground still working hard for reproductive rights all across the country. There are shreds of hope. *sigh*
I want to share my summer playlist with you. Each season I make a playlist to capture its spirit and create a little time capsule of what I love at the moment. I’ve sent them to family and friends before and—now that I have this newsletter—I’m sharing them with you. They are highly-curated, multi-genre ~2 hour playlists of only my very favorite songs that I’ve been listening to this year (with occasional throwbacks).
My spring playlist was more of a balance between lightness and heaviness, but this playlist is full of energy and breeziness. Heaviness, be gone! The vibe I had in mind while making this was “summer road trip” or “cruising around in your car on a sunny day,” but it’s great for any summer occasion. Backyard BBQ’s! Workouts! Being stuck at work while everyone else is on PTO! There are songs to sing to, songs to vibe to, and some breaths of fresh air.
My summer playlists are the most pop-heavy out of them all so, if you don’t like pop, you’ll hate it. (Come back for the fall and winter playlists—I have your dark soul covered.) For everyone else, you get to enjoy a mix of mainly pop and alternative bangers that I love—and I hope that you’ll love, too. If you want to listen to it now, the links are below. If you want to keep reading, I wrote about my very geeky playlist-making process, and a little bit about some of my favorite tracks on this playlist—in case that’s of interest to anyone besides me. I’ll be back to my regularly-ish scheduled reviews in the next issue…coming soon! Enjoy!
Or listen on Apple Music
(P.S. It contains explicit lyrics.)
My über-geeky playlist methodology
I don’t think anyone makes playlists the way I do. I’m a tad obsessive about them. They take me weeks or even months to make. For my seasonal playlists, I have running master playlists labeled spring, summer, etc. where I drop songs throughout the year that sound like they fit in a specific season. As it gets closer to the start of each season, I start whittling them down to my favorites. Then, at around 3 hours of material or so I start my geeky process. This playlist started with six hours of songs that I refined down to a two hour playlist.
Once I have my three hours of starting material, I map out an overview on a whiteboard and pull out some notecards. My map for this playlist was mainly just a list of possible openers, closers, high energy songs, and so forth. But, here’s a bananas one that I made for a friend’s playlist in which I plotted out possible songs along a soul/rhythm axis. The idea was to try to hone in on a specific sound and feel.
Then come the notecards! I like to mix my playlists harmonically. That means they flow in a way that avoids key clashes and make the songs sound really good next to each other—even if they are different styles. To do this, I use the Camelot Wheel coding system (pictured below), which helps me determine which keys sound best next to each other. And then I use Tunebat to find the data—like the key and tempo—for songs.
Now, there is software that does what I do but I am a visual and tactile person, so I like to make notecards. For each song in my master list I take a notecard and write out the song name, tempo (bpm), energy level, duration, and Camelot number (all based on Tunebat data). Then I start to arrange them so that there’s a good flow of ups and downs in energy, and try to order them in a loop that follows the Camelot Wheel. This playlist starts with and 11B song then more or less makes its way clockwise around the wheel, looping its way to a 9B song at the end. It’s just a few steps shy of a perfect loop. The hoped-for effect is that the transitions sound really smooth and the playlist feels like it keeps building until the end. If you notice a moment where two songs sound really good next to each other, it’s probably because they’re in the same key and/or tempo—or a nearby key on the wheel.
This was my final lineup for this playlist. You’ll see a card for each song in the playlist in the two rows and then a bunch that didn’t make the cut in the discard pile. I color code the energy levels with highlighters so I can easily see the flow like a heat map. (Yellow, orange, and pink are high energy; blues and purples are low.) I tape the cards in place once I’ve found the final spot for them. Folks! I told you this was nerdy! Judge not!
I spend days or weeks playing around with configurations, listening over and over, adding things, taking things out, adding them back in, but ultimately the playlist becomes what it wants to become. They have a mind of their own.
I obsess over details like, “does this song make the next song seem slow or sad”? Some good songs don’t make it in because they don’t have a good spot where they won’t clash with another song’s key or the beginning of the song makes for an awkward transition. I always have to be prepared to cut what doesn’t work. I try to hold a few songs as absolutes and avoid getting attached to the rest. It’s all about what makes the playlist sound good overall.
There are a few essentials that I live by in making a playlist. It’s got to have a strong opener—one that immediately hooks you, a strong closer, and I like to include a really good cover song, if possible. I also try not to repeat artists within a playlist—variety is key. Also—always and forever—bangers only. Meaning: no fluff or “filler” songs. I want every song to sound so good you forget what just came before it.
Now, you may be wondering: does all of this effort make it sound any better than something that was thrown together? Who knows! It sounds better to me because I’m a person who loves details. Playlists are my art and I love making them. They’re not just a collection of songs to me, they are stories with acts and a beginning, middle, and end. I love how this one turned out, and I hope you enjoy it. Read on for a little bit about my favorite songs and moments on the playlist.
The annotated playlist
The first few songs are meant to give a sample of overall vibe of playlist. They cover a lot of ground. It’s a big stretch with a lot of energy (a risk!) and only a quick low with “Velcro”, but I wanted to kick things off strong.
The playlist opens with the turbo-charged pop-punk song “Better Each Day” from NOBRO. The album that it’s off of is simply immaculate—perfect from beginning to end (highly recommend). While the beginning of the song gives church service vibes—fear not!—it’s about to shred.
One of my favorite details in the playlist: “Carefree” ends with the line “fuck em” and smoothly transitions into Lizzo (faintly) saying “anyway…” at the beginning of “About Damn Time”. It’s almost like a little call and response.
Another favorite moment is the transition from “up at night” to “Dreaming of the Past.” The last word in the first song is “dreams” and it jumps straight into the next song with the line “I was dreaming of the past.” It was fated to be.
“Put You On” is a spicy collab between Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA, AND Girl Talk off of their joint album “Full Court Press”. I can’t even handle it. Mind blown emoji. I also love SZA’s voice in the next song in contrast to “Put You On.” It’s a literal breath of fresh air when she sings “hi”.
“Mystery” is where we start to build up the energy again and start a new section. I try to find the right “lead-in” tracks for each section that sound like new beginnings.
I like to include a really great cover whenever I can. This is such a nice, crisp version of Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place”. I love that it ended up right in the middle of the playlist.
“Faking Love” is the start of my favorite section of the playlist. It leads into perhaps its biggest energy burst.
“This Hell” has key changes all over the place. To keep it from clashing with anything, I knew that the only way to follow it was with a song of the same key (A minor) and “Here’s What I Need To Know” is soooo good behind it. The transition is silky smooth because they have almost identical bpms.
My love for !!! continues. Back in college I definitely blasted !!!’s “Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard” all summer long, so this song off of their new album is a nod to my college years.
“July” is a track I poached it from a friend’s playlist because I really love it. I think it’s the perfect breath after the energy of HWINTK. Plus, the title is “July”.
“Inappropriate” is my favorite song on the playlist. I wanted to make it as close to a centerpiece as possible. I hope this is my “High Fidelity” “Beta Band” moment and that it gets you to listen to River’s album. It’s another favorite album from this year. So solid. Definitely worth a listen.
“Breathe Deeper”: I try to be careful with longer songs back to back. “Breathe Deeper” to “California” is kind of the cruising stretch but each song has their own vibe and feels immersive, so I think it works.
“California” was almost the opener for the playlist, but I wanted something more spunky. Follow Petey on TikTok—he’s hilarious.
“Happy Accident” is the longest song but you won’t notice it because it’s good storytelling. I almost ended the playlist here but I wanted one last nugget of pop to bring it full circle. Also, the album it’s off of is Such. A. Good. Album. Go listen.
The closing section is an inverse of the beginning. I wanted to get two last big pop songs in and then end with a pop song and a pop-punk song that have the low energy, compared to the high energy pop-punk and pop opening.
“Little Bother”: I’ve been trying to get this song on a playlist all year! I was determined to get it on this one and I found it’s perfect spot. Phew.
“Boyfriends” is a response to “Pager” and “Little Bother”. It’s in what I like to call the “bad boyfriends” section. It’s also a nice little wind-down leading into the final song.
“Evening”: I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the right ending for the playlist and I think this song is perfect in theme and sound (it even features the buzzing of cicadas). I think it makes the playlist feel like a complete story. I hope it feels satisfying but also makes you want to go back and listen to the playlist all over again.
Thanks for reading! If you listen to the playlist and enjoy it, let me know in the comments. The next issue of the newsletter is back to reviews. I’ve listened to albums from Bartees Strange, Perfume Genius, and Drake so far and have albums from Soccer Mommy, Lupe Fiasco and more scheduled ahead. Find out what my favorite(s) are!
Much needed today, Beebs. Already listening and appreciating your good taste and artistry.
I always love the physical cards you use! So fun