For Day #4 of the Vocalo Song Challenge, here’s a song that’s best listened to at 3AM.
Really, this whole album (Mind Bomb by The The) is great to listen to at 3AM. In fact, the liner notes even say:
I’m realizing that so far, of the four songs I’ve chosen for this challenge, the youngest one (Day 1: Liz Phair) is 27 years old. I have, in actuality, been very good about taking in (and being influenced by!) new music in the past 4-5 years. There was a ~dark? span of time in which I was living in some sort of mental mirrored cave, where I would listen to the same 7 or 8 albums over and over. I understand that’s just ‘where I was’ at that time in my life, but I learned there was a lot more outside the cave than I had ever anticipated.
There are a few factors that got me out of this sad sonic rut. A big one being my local coffeeshop & tavern, Nighthawk, which opened in 2016. The music there is curated largely by the baristas and bartenders, most of whom are in the 20’s and 30’s and have not fallen into the bullshit “there’s no good music anymore” trap that I see a lot of people my age succumb to. There is indeed great new music, and if you don’t think so, you’re just not looking. I even quizzed lanky, big-hearted barkeep Nate one night about his current fave tracks, and then created a playlist based on his list.
Another factor is that I’ve been listening to CHIRP Radio quite a bit. They’ve got a staff of volunteer DJs from wildly different backgrounds playing cool yet comfortable classics spiced up with new, hip material from independent artists from Chicago and beyond. Through CHIRP programming (and live events!) I learned about amazing acts like Rookie and SuperKnova, among others.
Lastly, when I started marketing my own music on Spotify, we decided it would be a good idea to sign up for a paid account (no pesky commercials). Having 30 million songs in my library is pretty sweet, but what’s also sweet is letting Spotify suggest new music to me. Again, if I were driving around in my car listening only to commercial terrestrial radio, I would also believe there is no new good music. But if you open yourself up, you’ll find it everywhere.
So, during this 15-day song challenge, I have a challenge for you. Go exploring and discover new music! A great place to begin is Bandcamp. Pick a genre, and dive in! I swear, it’ll make you feel like a kid again.
Next up ->
Wed Apr 29: Song discovered in Quarantine
Thurs Apr 30 Song I’ll always know the lyrics to
Fri May 1: Song by a Chicago artist
Sat May 2: Song in a different language
Sun May 3: Song I’ll Karaoke with no shame
Mon May 4: Song I’d listen to on the L
Tues May 5: Song that makes me think of summer
Wed May 6: Song from the last concert I went to
Thurs May 7: Song from my favorite artist
Fri May 8: Song with incredible lyrics
Sat May 9: Song that defined 2019
