It’s been a crazy week. I had to go out of state on a work trip. I’m a person who relishes routine and consistency. In other words, the disruptions and irregularities of travel don’t bring out the best in me. It doesn’t take much to get me stressed or anxious in these situations. Coffee and quiet spaces help reset me, at least in a small way. And yet, there’s something cathartic about airports, about silently people watching in terminals. Something soothing in the steady hum of an airplane cabin, about being unreachable.
With that being said, this week’s playlist is a little last minute, a little ramshackle, a little haphazard. I'm finishing it off at my gate, waiting to board. But here goes anyway…
like I love you
“Maps” - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I've been bingeing the work of an amazing collage artist I discovered on Instagram. Tom Hogdkinson has an incredible knack for incorporating intricate layers, using images in interesting ways, and utilizing negative space. This was my attempt to try something similar. I'm happy with how it turned out and I'm hoping to experiment with some of these techniques more.
When you're trying something new sometimes it's best to be accompanied by an old friend. That's where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs come in. The first time I heard the song “Maps” I fell in love with it and I've loved it ever since.
I need light
“The Resolution” - Jack’s Mannequin
One of my design heroes is Chris Ashworth. If you've been reading my newsletters for just about any length of time, you'll know I reference him again and again and again. He takes the cleanness and precision of swiss design and turns it into something gritty and different. If art is an elevated form of thievery, then I'm more than happy to try to steal from him.
If you've been following this Collage Paper Playlist series you may also know how much I love Andrew McMahon's songwriting and all of his musical projects and incarnations. “The Resolution” and the entire Glass Passenger album from Jack's Mannequin is at the top of my list.
losing touch
“If you want it” - The Shambolics
Still experimenting and exploring some of the things I'm picking up from Tom Hodgkinson and trying to graft it into Ashworth's Swiss Grit.
Shambolics are a band Spotify recommended after my repeated replays of “Call Me Out” by Sea Girls. Even Spotify got tired of me listening to it over and over again. In one interview Shambolics said that they “wanted to write a real ‘fuck you’, big energy song”. That's what I love about it. That's what I try to incorporate into my art work too.
show me
“Knuckles” - The Snuts
There isn't much to say here really. It's a brash tune, with a catchy chorus. It's got a lot of fight in it, and that's something I could really use more of. It's hard not to make art when you've got a hook-laden anthem of resistance in your head.
Sorry it's a short one this week, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
If you have any song recommendations feel free to send them my way.
I dunno if I'll ever get over how the YYYs was their punk 'joke' band.