First, off Happy New Year to all! It’s a whole new decade, which I’m hoping will wash away the lows of prior years, while bringing new, exciting opportunities and experiences. I’m not going to get into any resolutions, because, quite honestly, I haven’t yet thought it through. I’m in no rush, though. I figure I’ll let the goals establish themselves organically. I’ll take the zen approach, and let things take root and grow at their own pace. Too often, control seems to be the issue, when letting go might be the best solution. Steering things in the right direction, with a nudge here and slight push there isn’t bad either. Just trying to adjust my attitude for the days and years to come.
In that spirit, I’m going to start the year with my monthly tradition of the Big Electric Playlist. These cyclical compilations of the given month’s posts have always been a bit of a random grab bag of goodies, typically all over the map, in terms of style, genre, and era. Sometimes there’s a concentrated few, others have many varied offerings. It’s part of that zen thing I’ve mentioned.
That brings us to December, 2019, the last month of a year and decade. I’d like to say this one measured out with grand style and a cornucopia of selections. But ultimately, it’s mostly modest, when matched against some of the earlier playlists of the blog. As the days go on, the time gets short and the energy tends to wane. So I’ve been seeking to strike a reasonable balance. And this Big Electric Playlist is a step in the right direction.
There’s a healthy selection of material from four shows I attended, a bit of neo-disco from Brooklyn’s Holy Ghost!, some coldwave synth stylings from L.A.’s Drab Majesty, and a couple of shoegaze shimmers, one old, one new, from U.K. vets Seefeel and Philly’s former hardcore outfit Nothing, respectively. There’s also a couple of tracks featured in Bauhaus‘ final reunion performance that I slipped in. But that made the list last month, so I didn’t give it the same prominence this time around.
I’ve also got a few interesting extras interspersed throughout the heftier offerings, including British electro-jazz instrumentalists The Cinematic Orchestra, some classy progressive electronica from Sasha, Kiasmos, Tale of Us, and Bonobo, an incredible ambient track from Swedish composer Solar Fields, and a catchy blister of an indie pop ditty from Nashville-based Twen.
All in all, there’s near four hours of tunes to cycle through, which should make for some decent New Years kick off tunes. I know I’ve said I haven’t worked out any resolutions yet. But I think one I might be leaning towards is to broaden my scope of tastes in the upcoming months. Or at the very least, widening the selections with a more varied quantity, sort of like I used to do in the blog’s earlier days. Like I mentioned, though, it’s tough cranking out the posts with any sort of regularity.
Excuses … I know. That’s why it’s not quite a wholehearted resolution just yet. I’ll give it a think. For now, enjoy this fine selection of the December edition of the Big Electric Playlist.
Until the next round …
