“Without music, life would be a mistake.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
I thought it would be fun, at least for me, to share some music in case your YouTube algorithm is not recommending anything new. Music is my first love. Even now, I dedicate time where I just sit and listen to music doing nothing else. Nothing but listen and let myself drift about two centimeters off the ground. It's not that difficult to find new music, and Spotify has some neat tricks to get you around music that is hard to come by. The feeling of a dusty old vinyl shop is still there but without the smell or the feeling of old prints and textures.
Back in elementary, I hated doing homework but listening to music while doing it, made this activity bearable and sometimes fun. I was born in ’92 therefore I grew up listening to Modern Talking, Mr. President, C-Block, 2 Unlimited, Dr. Alban, Queen, A-HA, Sandra, and so on, along with Romanian bands and songs. I still love that music as much as I did back then and I still have old cassettes mixed by recording radio songs. Ah yes, the good old cassette. I can’t decide which bands or singers are my favorite but I think I know all the lyrics from Modern Talking songs and I still jam along on songs from E-Type and Gala when I’m working nowadays.
Great songs from my childhood:
GALA · Let a boy cry
E-Type · I Just Wanna Be With You
Pandera · In My Dreams
Beat System · What's Going On
Charles & Eddie · Would I Lie To You
Bonus Romanian Pop Songs:
Ca$$a Loco · Eterna si fascinanta Romanie
N&D · Nu e vina mea
. . .
Going to high school we used to share songs with our peer via Bluetooth and Infrared. I know, It's been a while since we did that. Drum and Bass, rock, and hip-hop were the main genres and I discovered bands such as Nightwish, Ramstein, Disturbed, HIM, System of A Down, and even older rock bands which I came to love a lot such as Pink Floyd, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and more. So many MORE, I think puberty unlocks a part of your brain which makes music so much more powerful than before. Hip Hop was marked by Eminem, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan, and A Tribe Called Quest and I can say I still have their albums and I listen to while driving in my car. For driving my motorcycle I have Spotify playlists specially made for chilling on long roads.
Great songs from high school stage:
Mt Eden Dubstep · Sierra Leone
Nightwish · The Siren
System Of A Down · Radio/Video
Pink Floyd · Time
Yann Tiersen · La valse d'Amélie
Bonus Romanian Songs:
DJ Project · Lumea Ta
Timpuri Noi · Perfect
. . .
Then came along college where most of the music was picked by trends, clubs and festivals. We used to listen and discover music on wesbites such as 8tracks and Soundcloud. I’ve started to love trance, techno, deep house, folk, and so many more genres. All the while my playlists were getting bigger and bigger. I still had mp3 folders but it was a mess and my mp3 player might jump from Metallica to Chopin and then straight up to DJ Aphrodite followed by DJ Alligator. What a lovely mess. If you ask me, that’s the only way to listen to music. I also had the opportunity to go to music festivals where I enjoyed live performances by some of my favorite artists like Die Antwoord, Scooter, Chase and Status, Tiesto, Parov Stelar, Armin Van Buuren, Pendulum and so many other wonderful and talented people.
Songs that marked college years:
Emancipator · First Snow
MAD ! · All Gods Love (Feat. Antranita)
AWOLNATION · "Sail"
Age of Dub · Ed Solo
The Knife · 'Pass This On
Röyksopp · So Easy
Bonus Romanian Songs:
Suie Paparude · Soundcheck
Grupul Stereo · Plopi Impari [ Andu Simion & Chasindub Edit ]
. . .
In the present, I’m listening to anything from Orthodox Chants to Bollywood soundtracks of Lata Mangeshkar and SPB. Movies Soundtrack always had a special place in my heart, Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, Vangelis, Howard Shore, and Thomas Newman are but the tip of the iceberg, and for that I have a special playlist that I revisit every couple of weeks. The newest addition is the Dune soundtrack called “A Time of Quiet Between the Storms” which I’ve been listening on repeat for the past two weeks. I feel the same way about the Video Game soundtracks as well. I truly believe that you must be crazy not to listen to music of any genre and culture. The world is not only in the songs of YouTube Trends, Is everywhere. People are singing in the streets, unknown artists, and entire traditions. I will share some songs you might never heard of but maybe you will get to love them.
Soundtracks:
Hans Zimmer · A Time of Quiet Between the Storms
Howard Shore · Twilight and Shadow (feat. Renee Fleming)
Guillaume David · Children of the Omnissiah
Ennio Morricone · Il tramonto
Vangelis · Rachel's Song
Susumu Hirasawa · Gats
Susumu Hirasawa · Parade
Song you might never heard of:
Hermanos Gutiérrez (featuring Dan Auerbach) · "Tres Hermanos"
Hamid El Shaeri · Reet (my most listened song in 2023)
Monkey Safari · Safe
Afterclapp · Sonho de Vidro
Gasoline · The Hardest
Afous d'Afous · Tarhanine Tegla
Romanian Traditional Folk
Învârtita Oilor
Ion Lăceanu · Cimpoi(Bagpipes)
Liubomir Iorga · Fă Ileană (song performed on an actual leaf)
Gheorghe Zamfir · Cintec De Nunta
Music being the great equalizer, pun intended, I think brings people together. Let’s not forget how to dance. I also have a Spotify playlist dedicated to design work which is more mellow and relaxed so you can get in the flow state.
I want to close this article by quoting Kurt Vonnegut.
“No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
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I write on this blog almost weekly and you can find details about my graphic design work and get in touch on this website.