The wake-up playlists

[roadrunnertwice]

So I have this running series of short playlists (25m, which is half-sized in my mix CD taxonomy) that feel good to put on at that point in the morning where you're technically "awake" and technically "making coffee" but systems are really not on-line yet.

The name of these things is "Yes Morning" — abysmally dumb, but I've kind of painted myself into a corner with it, so it's staying. (If I remember right, the idea was that the first one was the opposite of a previous playlist called "No Morning," which was meant for shaking out of a completely different headspace that mostly only happens if you're both unemployed and ADHD... but really, who knows why '05/'06 Nick did anything. The past is another country and your past self a foreigner, what can I say.)

Anyway, I've shared one or two on Mastodon, but for the most part I never posted these, and I feel like they 1. hold up well enough to be worth a roundup post and 2. have an interesting common structure where I can't quite define it but I can definitely tell whether it's there or not, and I love that sort of thing.

Yes Morning 1

ca. 2006

The first two of these were originally much flabbier, and I recently went back and trimmed out everything that didn't fit or that I didn't like anymore. Yeah, revisionist history, but whenever I would put these playlists on it was just to hear these five or six transitions, and that under-structure is what the whole common structure of these emerged from, so I don't feel that bad about it.

1. Broken Social Scene — Capture the Flag
2. Buddy Holly — Have You Ever Been Lonely
3. Aberfeldy — Summer's Gone
4. Elvis Costello — Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
5. Belle & Sebastian — Piazza, new York Catcher
6. Jens Lekman — You are the Light

7. Bebel Gilberto — So Nice (DJ Marky & XRS remix)

   • all (zip file)

Yes Morning 2

ca. 2009

Also, back in the '00s I was still a mix CD maximalist, because you didn't want to waste any of those 74 (or 80 if those were on sale) precious minutes, did you?? Now my mix CD theory is "leave while the party's still fun," with a hard cap of 55m.

1. The Mountain Goats — The Boys are Back in Town
2. The Books — The Future, Wouldn't That Be Nice?
3. David Bowie — Diamond Dogs
4. The Ruby Suns — Tane Mahuta
5. Elastica — Stutter
6. Guitar Vader — The Time Slips Away

7. Jill Cunniff — Happy Warriors

   • all (zip file)

Yes Morning 3

ca. 2012

This was the one where the structure really cohered in a permanent way.

1. Bugseed — Break of Dawn
2. Christine Fellows — Roadkill
3. Fort Wilson Riot — The River Song
4. The Kills — Heart is a Beating Drum
5. They Might Be Giants — The Cap'm
6. Fatboy Roberts — Pickin Veggies (interlude)

7. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists — Even Heroes Have to Die

   • all (zip file)

Yes Morning 4

ca. 2015

Sometimes you need one or two openly obnoxious songs to really tie the effect together.

• Spotify link

Yes Morning 5

early 2018

• Spotify link

Yes Morning 6

late 2018

I think this one forms a perfect cube?? Two instrumentals, two Talking Heads covers, and two songs called "Gut Feeling."

• Spotify link

Comments

here from network

[kore]

Oh, nice! (also, love the username)

Re: here from network

[roadrunnertwice]

Hey, thanks! 😄 (I should really use the "network" page more often, I always forget about it.)