BY EYLÜL DOĞANAY (TRIN/III)
eylul.doganay@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Today, if we like a song that happens to be playing in the environment we’re in, we Shazam it (maybe even take a screenshot, even if it’s listed in My Shazams); and perhaps we don’t think about it much afterward until we check Shazam weeks later to go through our findings and see if anything is “worth” adding to our Spotify library. If your music discovery process is different from this, I congratulate you, because it’s likely that you’re not often bored with your playlists.
To make a change, I sat down with my boyfriend’s laptop and dug into his Spotify. Just to pay homage to his diverse taste in music, before sharing some other items I loved myself, I’ll name two pieces listed in his “Songs”: the first movement (Allegro con brio) of Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G minor, played by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields; and (a couple of songs later in the playlist) “Land of tha Heartless” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. To clarify, I like them both, but added neither to my library.
“Superfriends” by ZHU: Among the tracks I’ve collected, this one would be the furthest from my usual choice of music, being almost a fancy-club-type song (I’ll not embarrass myself by trying to name this genre, because techno, trans, electronic and lounge all came to mind, alongside the possibility that it can’t be classified as any of the above); however, it’s really easy to listen to, and leaves you with a good feeling when it ends.
“Dance of the Knights” by Sergei Prokofiev, performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden: I thought this was epic, and when I did some research, I found that it was meant to be so. It’s from the composer’s “Romeo and Juliet” ballet score, and it’s truly striking.
“Can’t Be Touched” (ft. Mr. Magic & Trouble) by Roy Jones: Well, a quick decision. Yes please. I spent a lot of time back at my parents’ house during the break (some days not walking further than the bathroom, even), and I need to reestablish my gym routine. This one will definitely help.
“Where’s The Love?” by Black Eyed Peas: A forgotten song asking the right questions. Its lyrics are for all, the sound is for all, and isn’t music for all?
“Day and Night” by Lo Air: Lovely. Think of a ride later in the day, with a happy purpose. An adventure that you’re aware is approaching. The excitement of expectation. I’ll take that, thank you.
“Symphony” (ft. Zara Larsson) by Clean Bandit: Clean Bandit has come up with a couple of hit songs, and I have to give them credit for catchiness. Who wouldn’t want to scream this song in the shower? You can say that songs aren’t meant to trick us into liking them by getting stuck in our heads for days, yet ideology aside, if it makes me happy, if it makes me feel anything at all, the song in question has a place in life.
“Soldier Side” by System of a Down: The thing I love most about System of a Down is that they are very fruitful as band, and whenever I listen to one of their songs, I know that in the future I’ll find another one I love. It’s like they’ll never run out of songs I enjoy. I don’t want to devour all of their music, but I like finding gems by simply going through their albums. This happened in our case here.
“Love Mode” by Joakim Karud: This one would have definitely been on my list when I wrote my piece on art and music, had I known about it back then. It’s a very well-put-together jazzy tune. (Which also gives an example of what my jazz limit is. Too much jazz is bad for my skin.)