How to Find True Audio Inspiration: Let’s Unpack Our Playlists
What’s in your playlist?
We all have our reasons why we’re in audio, but when you scratch below the surface, it started with the songs that we love.
If you’re like me, you have multiple playlists in your device – including one that’s particularly important. I’m not talking about the playlist where you compile songs for research, or that Zen collection for focus. You know the one I mean: It’s your favorites, the songs you love to listen to the most, for very personal reasons.
Let’s play with the playlist. (Photo credit: David Weiss)
In my Apple Music Playlist, there’s a playlist called “Stuff Me Like.” To date, it contains 1,198 songs covering 83 hours and 33 minutes. That’s almost exactly half a week of uninterrupted listening to the tracks I consider the absolute cream of the crop.
A Stuff Me Like song has to do something for me. It must move me deeply or give me an emotional charge. It must make me feel awesome, think, remember, or want to play the drums. There’s something special in every one of those tracks, or it’s not getting in.
No more keeping it all inside! I’m going public with what’s in Stuff Me Like, and why. Recently I put my playlist on Shuffle and kept track of what popped up. The following is what I heard in one random burst, and how it got there.
None of these vast experiences would have been possible without audio engineers, mixers, and mastering pros. They saw each artist’s vision through, into my ears and straight to my soul. I think this is what audio is really about.
“A Familiar Taste”, by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, from the 2010 soundtrack for The Social Network – I was totally surprised to learn that Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were selected to compose the soundtrack for The Social Network. That was until I heard how brilliantly their analog synths and gritty 8-bit beats expanded on the action.
The low buzzing menace of this track is particularly tense. Hearing it makes me flash back to the film, a terrifically-written drama which I’ve watched at least 10 times.
“Heart and Soul”, by T’Pau, from the 1987 album Bridge of Spies – This song is such a guilty pleasure. An ’80’s gem, it peaked at #4 in the US in 1987 and is a huge hit with me. It has an unusual structure, which I’ve never heard in another song since.
Singer Carol Decker intones a forlorn love poem over that clunky-catchy bass riff to start the first verse. The hair-raising action is when the true lead vocal arrives, a commanding track that explodes over the top. Decker delivers, “Leaving you ain’t easy now/Loving you’s the harder part” with full force, ripping her troubled lover a new one as she drives home the verse and namesake chorus. It’s a uniquely powerful vocal performance that always excites me.
“Band on the Run”, by Paul McCartney & Wings, from the 1973 album Band on the Run – They say that smell is the most evocative memory sense, but songs like this show me what music can do to recall primal experiences.
When this track comes up, I’m immediately transported to the living room of the house where I grew up in Huntington Woods, Michigan. This is one of the vinyl records my parents owned, and I would play it frequently.
I can remember sitting on the living room sofa, transfixed by the album cover, McCartney’s charisma beaming out to me from the picture of that big group caught in the spotlight.
I always assumed that all of those people played on this big-sounding album. Years later it was quite the mental reset to learn that the whole record was performed by just three people – Paul, Linda Eastman, and Denny Laine.
“Talk to Me”, by Run the Jewels, from the 2016 album Run the Jewels 3 (RTJ3) – This song has it all: drama, rhythm, agile rapping, pent-up energy detonating outward. It’s impossible for me to hear this song and not start moving – best case scenario, I’m behind a drumkit and I can play along.
It was a privilege to meet RTJ mixer Joey Raia, who lit up a room full of audio aficionado with his 2017 MixCon Masterclass.
“Lips Like Sugar”, by Echo & the Bunnymen, from the 1987 album Echo & the Bunnymen – As a teenager I began listening to this British New Wave group, not so much to piss off my parents as to perplex them. It wasn’t until years later that I fully tuned in to this stirring song, when I was writing for Drum! magazine and developed a much deeper understanding of my instrument.
Drummer Pete de Freitas lays down such a strong beat in this track, a fierce counterpoint to the fragile beauty that surrounds it — those emotional vocals and layered guitars. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Dave Grohl considered the late de Freitas as a major inspiration –listen to Grohl’s punishing precision on Nevermind, and the connection is clear.
“What’ll It Be?”, Featuring Adam Schlesinger, from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Season 1 (2016) – Anyone who reads SonicScoop knows my deep admiration for Adam Schlesinger, whose passing on April 1, 2020 due to Covid still feels incomprehensible. The actor Santino Fontana did a nice job singing this “Piano Man”-inspired ditty that Schlesinger penned as Executive Music Producer for the CW series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”
Celebrate Adam Schlesinger with some crazy!
However, if you look for the “Season 1” album on Apple Music, you’ll discover an alternate (demo?) version sung by Schlesinger. Considering the huge song library Schlesinger was responsible for in his lifetime, there are relatively few tracks I know of where he sang lead vocals.
I love when this track comes up in my player – hearing his voice here transports me to our many enjoyable interviews together. This three-minute interlude brings Adam Schlesinger back to life for me. That’s an amazing power that audio has, to keep alive the many artists who recorded music and now have left us.
“Cherish”, by Kool & the Gang, from the 1985 album Emergency – Some songs grow beyond simply delivering aural pleasure to develop true utility in our lives. I’ve always loved this gorgeous ballad by Kool & the Gang, a timeless embrace of romantic gratitude. But recently it morphed into something more — a handy communication shortcut with my wife.
Carrot the pigs! Butters, Chewbacca, and Cocoa (photo credit: David Weiss)
If I’m not home around 1 PM, I’ll share this track with her which is code for, “Please give our pet guinea pigs their afternoon carrot.” That’s because I’ve twisted “Cherish”, as with so many other songs, to somehow be about guinea pigs.
I believe guinea pigs are the most amazing animals on the planet. Picture a grown man belting out in falsest falsetto, “Carrot the pigs we have/We should carrot our guinea pigs/Carrot the pigs! Carrot the pigs! Carrot the pigs” and you get the idea.
Why share this utter ridiculousness? To show that enjoying a song doesn’t always have to be so serious. It can unlock something silly inside, and give you an excuse to sing out loud — two of music’s great gifts.
“Fists of Fury”, by Kamasi Washington, from the 2018 album Heaven & Earth – This song by the jazz saxophone adventurer can break me out of a musical malaise. At almost 10 minutes, this is not a quick bite.
It’s a sonic mini-movie, with a storyline I hear playing out through the virtuoso horn musicianship, wonderfully jumbly percussion, and moving groove. There are powerful messages in the lyrics. It’s among the rare tracks that take me on a complete journey.
“Owner of a Lonely Heart”, by Yes, from the 1983 album 90125 – There is something inexplicably mind-bending to me about this Trevor Horn-produced track. While some may see it as a relatively straightforward song, I oddly seem to experience it slightly different every time.
With its fourth-wall-breaking synth stabs and mesmerizing guitar parts, I often compare listening to this track to a viewing of the Stanley Kubrick-directed The Shining, which some devout fans believe contains “impossible architecture.” As a drummer, I’m floored by the 1,000% pro punch of drummer Alan White’s performance (who I finally got to interview for SonicScoop in 2018). Pro audio journalist Bobby Owsinski also wrote an insightful analysis of what makes this Yes hit so intriguing.
When a song doesn’t just stimulate your senses, but constantly amaze you, that’s something to hold on to. “Owner of a Lonely Heart” always takes me on a trip.
“Blackest Eyes”, by Porcupine Tree, from the 2002 album In Absentia – I’ll close with this song because it brings us back to the studio. My introduction to it came via the talented mastering engineer Andy Van Dette.
“Want to hear the best-sounding album I’ve ever worked on?” he said to me almost 20 years ago. He had an excited smile as I entered his very analog suite—complete with standup desk and a Neumann console—at Masterdisk’s 545 W. 45th Street location. Andy pressed “play.”
Porcupine’s “In Absentia” lived up to the hype from mastering engineer Andy Van Dette. (Cover art By Lasse Hoile – porcupinetree.com)
I was immediately floored by the lead track on the album. “Blackest Eyes” has everything I like, fueled by shredding guitars and a monster drum performance by Gavin Harrison. I get a dark charge out of this prog metal track.
From an audio perspective, I can see why Van Dette felt so strongly about the material. It was expertly produced by band frontman Steven Wilson. From the tracking to the mix, and on to Van Dette’s master, “Blackest Eyes” stands out.
How does a track make it into your favorites? Share the story of your songs!
- David Weiss
Please note: When you buy products through links on this page, we may earn an affiliate commission.