Whether it’s on Spotify, Bandcamp, or Soundcloud, almost everybody listens to music. 

 If you’re reading this article as you walk through the Wilson atrium or between class, there’s a decent chance that you have your earbuds in, or you’ve just recently put them into your bag. Hopefully whatever you are or were listening to is relatively enjoyable, but if not, here are a couple of suggestions of what you could listen to in the future.

Ryan (R): Lana Coulon (Spotify name is lnc99) recently told me about two new playlists that she’s compiled: 

Lana (L): Before a few months ago, all of the music I was listening to on Spotify was generic. Just stuff that I semi-enjoyed but didn’t really have too much substance. One day, some people suggested to me some songs by a band called Neck Deep.  I enjoyed the songs not only because they were good, but because they were from a genre of music that I had never really listened to that much. After hearing these songs, I started doing some exploring and found music from bands I never would have listened to and added them to two playlists titled “ : ) < :(“ and “:( > :)”, one for happy and one for sad songs.

R: What makes these playlists inherently different from the ones you have made before?

L: For all of these songs, I feel like I need to listen to them with earbuds in and give them my full undivided attention. With my other music, I never really had to think about the lyrics and didn’t really ever appreciate the musical components of the songs.

R: Which playlist do you prefer?

L: Actually, I like my sad playlist significantly more. A lot of the time, when I’m listening to a song that I’m really into, I get this feeling that I’m like…holding my breath. I feel like whatever I’m listening to kinda becomes the only thing I can pay attention to and I forget everything else. For my sad playlist, almost all of the songs have given me that feeling at one time or another.

If you’re interested in branching out your musical taste to avoid stagnation, feel free to pay these two playlists a visit. If it’s not for you, that’s fine! Recommend them to a friend and look elsewhere for new tunes and artists to obsess over.