#2 - cities
You can skip to this week’s playlist on Spotify or scroll to the end.
I suspect many of these newsletters will pick themes that are just an excuse for me to include a song I like. This week is an example of that, except I was thinking of a song, realized I could make it a theme, quickly added songs I like to a new playlist, and immediately forgot which of them prompted it. As the name implies, the songs are all named after cities (sort of… San Fermin’s Cairo isn’t actually about my hometown, but is on my “accidentally relatable” playlist). I excluded New York because there’s too many I like, so it’ll probably be its own playlist sometime.
The first song is Chicago by Sufjan Stevens, off his iconic album Illinois. The first time I listened to Illinois I had turned off everything and listened in silence for about an hour in an empty dorm in Abu Dhabi, feeling slightly overwhelmed all throughout. When the album ended I texted a friend something deep and analytical like “wow, I love art so much.” If you haven’t yet, I suggest you do the same (texts to your friends about loving art included).
I know most folks who may read this are familiar with Sufjan Stevens’ work, but for those who aren’t, 2005’s Illinois was his second concept album about a state, after 2003’s Michigan. If you ever feel guilty about getting excited about then promptly abandoning wildly ambitious projects, know that Sufjan had then said he’ll make an album for each of the 50 U.S. states (he ended up with 2). In 2009, he admitted that goal now felt like a joke. Speaking of his existential creative crisis, he said “I no longer knew what a song was and how to write an album,” later commenting on the limitations and arbitrariness of these formats in the internet age, “I no longer really have faith in the album anymore. I no longer have faith in the song.” He has released ~7 albums since 2009. Whenever I’m bothered at feeling over-dramatic, I think of any one of my favorite songwriters and feel better.
In 2020, over 200 artists joined forces to complete Sufjan’s long-abandoned 50 states project, with work ranging from amateur/comical to professional (more info here). I haven’t listened to any of it yet, but I like knowing it exists, because it showcases some of what I love most about the internet: just working on fun projects with old friends and new collaborators, wherever they are, for all of us to see. This is starting to sound like another Multiplicity pitch, and writing about the internet may get me into an NFT rant, so I’ll stop now. Hope you enjoy this week’s songs.
10 songs
(Spotify)
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
San Francisco - Foxygen
Cairo - San Fermin
Los Angeles - HAIM
Shat Eskendereya - Fairuz (‘Alexandria’s Coast’ in Arabic)
Berlin - Fenne Lily
Stockholm - Jason Isbell
Sleepless in Seattle - Noah Gundersen
St. Augustine At Night - Dawes
Tokyo - Julien Baker
Before making this playlist, I really just wanted to write about Little Simz. So some other week I will write about Little Simz. But for now I will continue watching her Tiny Desk (At Home) performance every day. 10/10 would recommend.