SLP #20: The Mercury Collection

[mickilennial]

Spotify URL
You can also find it on my Spotify profile, should be public.

Tracklist:
“Intern” by Angel Olsen
“Faded” by Clare Maguire
“I'll Never Love” by Michael Kiwanuka
“Fink” by Brooke Waggoner
“Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)” by Sturgill Simpson
“Georgia Stars” by Case / Lang / Veirs
“Lets Hit One More Place” by Richmond Fontaine
“Walrus” by Damien Jurado
“Dark Skies” by Emma Pollock
“Falcons” by Amanda Bergman
“First Light of Winter” by Miranda Lee Richards
“You Look Like a Sad Painting on Both Sides of the Sky” by Money
“Rupturing” by Emily Jane White
“Everything Moves Towards the Sun” by Cat Eyes
“Wrap Your Arms Around Me” by Britta Phillips

This is about a day and a half early, but there is no current SLP and I thought kicking it off on Sunday has a nice feel to it.

This one is a little longer than my original SLP, though it maintains a sort of downbeat mood. And yes, the title is a light-hearted joke at the expense of one of my friends onsite as it is filled with a lot of 2016’s more emotional and introspective songs within the framework of a few genres. The idea with this is to give people a sampler of 2016 with a fluid theme. What does the community think though, I wonder?

[undefined]

[mickilennial]

[SquishypuffDave]

This is a gorgeous playlist. First Light Of Winter was pretty cool.

[mickilennial]

[Hayden]

Lurvley.

[Kool Keith Sweat]

Thanks for giving this a bit of a jumpstart. Considering that I've only been revisiting about a dozen albums with voice from 2016, and even less with lyrics, this was a refreshing take on the year. I was surprised at how well it appeared to flow as well, given that all these songs are from a six month period. And it was also nice to finally be exposed to names I had seen and not heard, like Jurado, Bergman, Cat Eyes, and Richards. Will revisit this at least one more time but on first listen the standouts were Pollock and the first two tracks. Thanks again.

[mickilennial]

[mickilennial]

[RoundTheBend]

My boring thoughts and feelings:

“Intern” by Angel Olsen
Reminds me of my sisters somehow... something they would have listened to from the late 80s/early 90s. Her voice is quite memorizing and emotionally captivating.

“Faded” by Clare Maguire
Really liked this rhythm. She also has quite the captivating voice, but has a nice smokiness.


“I'll Never Love” by Michael Kiwanuka
Solemn as F***. Very cool transition from intro to verse, almost this soft funk thing going on in the verse, yet the intro had a totally different vibe for me, yet it masterfully goes well together tied together with an almost ambient thing. Very cool.

“Fink” by Brooke Waggoner
Electric piano? Cool sounds. Strangely reminds me of some later REM I like, yet somehow I felt distant in this song.

“Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)” by Sturgill Simpson
For some reason I can't take this guy's voice seriously. It's totally me. Reminds me of Neil Diamond or something. His arrangements are fantastic though.

“Georgia Stars” by Case / Lang / Veirs
Beautiful.

“Lets Hit One More Place” by Richmond Fontaine
Reminded me a bit of that heartland rock sound... never got into it. I like stuff like Grateful Dead Americana stuff, but haven't been in able to get into the former.

“Walrus” by Damien Jurado
Possibly the best track on the list so far... I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. Oh it has a solid bass line? Hook-line and sinker.

“Dark Skies” by Emma Pollock
It was an enjoyable listen.

“Falcons” by Amanda Bergman
Also enjoyable.

“First Light of Winter” by Miranda Lee Richards
At first I really liked the old blues rock feel to it, but then it somehow got quickly old. The chorus/turnaround was nice to have a female vocal belt like that though.

“You Look Like a Sad Painting on Both Sides of the Sky” by Money
I liked his voice.

“Rupturing” by Emily Jane White
Somehow reminded me of Enya... I know that's wrong, but that's the reaction I had.

“Everything Moves Towards the Sun” by Cat Eyes
Interesting arrangement. Vocals were both interesting and boring at the same time to me somehow.

“Wrap Your Arms Around Me” by Britta Phillips
Possibly my least favorite track on the playlist. There wasn't really anything I liked about this except for maybe the lyrics (wasn't too keen on the vocal tone, and instrumentation was near terrible for my tastes).

Overall:
Peaceful and serene, yet solemn and melancholic. I don't think I was in the right mood for this right now, but I imagine this is what I'll listen to next time I want a Zooropa feel - (staring into space in my living room only have contemplating WTF, but mostly meditating).