Song Diary 2023
An ongoing account of the times in 2023 that certain songs just completely seized my brain for day.
Listen to her here.
21-28/08/2023
okokok - okgiorgio
I CANNOT STOP LISTENING TO THIS SONG HELP.
This song had me from the first fucking moment. It is joie de vivre compressed into 2 minutes and 39 seconds. It invites to dance and hop along under any and all circumstances. And whenever it ends I just want it to start again.
The gentle stringy intro, that builds to the stuttery drop, keeping the same sunny energy throughout, with the choppy vocals carrying happiness the entire way. AH. I just can’t with it. And the bridge with those silly little playful chimes??? HOW ENDEARINGLY WONDERFUL.
It’s been days and I am still not sick of this song.
And okgiorgio literally only has this one song out on Spotify :’) damn it
Soundcloud?
1 remix… only ONE REMIX FUCK. But 1 remix that is just as infectiously ecstatic as his other song., but it doesn’t let me embed it here, whomp whomp
————
Upon further investigation, turns out he’s an Italian song writer. CooCooCool but I need more of this stuff he writes for himself. Please and thank you.
12/08/2023
adore u - Fred again..., Obongjayar
Successful first day of the Brunch Electronik Festival 2023 survived, and Fred has done it again.. (heh, get it?). Released this amazing song just about 4 hours ago and it’s absolutely perfect for the festival come-down.
A beautifully gentle and bright celebration of life and all within it. What a defining song of summer 2023.
09/08/2023
Been Like This - Doja Cat
Today’s been a weird day. And this song has taken on various different meanings and served different purposes in the span of just 12 hours.
Fundamentally, it’s a song about the loss of love, I suppose. How something is changing, perhaps irreparably so.
But its sound, the instrumentation and production, always made me feel like its a very sensual song. That’s how it started today. On repeat, feeling myself.
However, with every play, as the day unfolded and my mood changed, after receiving some pretty disheartening news, the melancholic and dejected tones and messages came to the foreground more and more. So much so, that by the end of the day it served as a sobre soundtrack of my emotional state.
26/07/2023
Le temps fera les choses - Angèle
Trust her.
23/07/2023
You Wish - Flyana Boss
Woke up feeling kinda meh about myself. Knew immediately that this kinda attitude wasn’t going to fly today.
Promptly decided, that instead of laying in bed for another 30 minutes trying to rest, but ultimately feeling sorry for myself, I would be a baddie today.
Listened to this on repeat while solo dancing in front of my mirror for an undetermined amount of time.
And so, I entered the baddie mindset, and became her.
09/07/2023
On My Knees - RÜFÜS DU SOL
Went to a Brunch Electronik, with these guys as a headliner. I was fully excited to go on my own and just vibe out for a couple of hours, but a happy coincidence saw two of my friends buy last minute tickets.
The happiness I felt from dancing together and alone in the crowd, reaffirmed to me that this is something I crave for on a regular basis. Electronic music, flashing lights, and a crowd of people who are all in accordance with each other about enjoying the music.
Being one of their biggest songs, I knew it already, but hearing it live made my appreciation for it run yet deeper. I listen to it as I fall asleep, sinking into the basslines and haunting choirs … and … elephants? Here for it.
05/07/2023
Attention - Doja Cat
Not to brag or anything, but I’m pretty sure I won therapy today.
Just kidding, I intend to be in some degree of therapy for the rest of my life, even if it’s just to pay 75 euros an hour to vent to an impartial 3rd party.
ANYWAY, this song is dope, and it makes me feel hot and empowered today, as I drag myself through the part of my day that has blessed me with a surprise belly ache :D …I think my body is telling me I need sleep and quality nutrition.
03/07/2023
Storiá Storiá - Boddhi Satva, ÉLLÀH
Another Spotify Discover Weekly win: ÉLLÀH. She has like 5 songs out on Spotify, and this one just takes me on a spiritual trip.
Work was not too busy today, so I met up with a friend, walked him to where he needed to go, and then, unsatisfied with simply returning home, I wandered around listening to this song.
Hungry, I decided to say “fuck it” (I think I’ve been saying this a little too often lately), and took myself out to lunch while reading “All about Love” by Bell Hooks, to prepare for my talk at Znak’s Lectorium. All the while, this song accompanied me.
It’s pensive. Melancholic, yet it makes you float. It fits the overcast Barcelona sky today.
22/06/2023
Boys Like You - Tanerélle
Just. I -
20/06/2023
Heute Abend wird es regnen - AnnenMayKantereit
I’ve had a good Tuesday morning of just being able to sit with my feelings and ponder them for a while.
Then I had a sudden urge for the latest AMK album, which I had tried to listen to properly before. But as it usually is with albums, I cannot choose to listen to them, the right time needs to find me, for me to seek them out again and truly pay attention and really feel the songs and their embedded story.
I was proven right once again. I knew the right song would encounter me, and it did, and here it is.
I wrote a short poem based off of its lyrics, my first ever poem in my native German. A language that has gotten rather rusty over the years, so using Henning’s words as a template was quite helpful.
Ich glaube, heute Abend wird es regnen
So wie ich dich kenne
Und kennen tue ich dich kaum
Passt dir das ganz gut
Du willst niemandem begegnen
Du kannst niemandem erzählen, wovor du fliehst
Mein Ausblick von hier oben ist so atemberaubend schön
Doch alleine sind meine Arme
Nicht stark genug
Bitte glaub mir, du kannst alles was du willst bekommen
Wenn du den Kampf gegen dich selbst nicht verlierst
Aber heute Morgen hat es geregnet
Und du hast nach mir gefragt
Du hast dich nach mir gesehnt
Und ich wünsche, dass du wüsstest
Dass ich, immer wenn es regnet
An deiner Seite bleiben würde
14/06/2023
Control Dem - Club Angel
I’ve emerged from my Primavera-Sound/Beyoncé-concert-daze, and finally have the emotional capacity to listen to new music.
This song is the only thing that appears to hold me together at the moment and such a god damn banger.
Listen to it. NOW.
25/05/2023
Charm - Rema
My dance teacher was 100000% correct when she said “this song will stick in your brain for the next week, don’t say I didn’t warn you”, as she demonstrated the smoothest fucking choreo on this track.
The anticipation for Primavera Sound, where Rema will be preforming, is literally killing me. help.
22/05/2023
Sirens - Flume, Caroline Polachek
I was already feeling plenty emotionally raw this morning, but then when I went to get some water from the kitchen I stared out at the view of my apartment which extends over Barcelona’s rooftops all the way to the sea. And the clouds that were delivering some soft Monday-morning-drizzle were lifting to cast sunlight onto the city. And I just -
The first four angelic notes of this song popped into my head out of nowhere, and they accompanied that moment perfectly. So, I ran to get my phone and put it on. And then I listened to it thrice in front of my window and nearly - basically - cried.
I really hope my neighbours can’t hear my atrocious singing 😌
19/05/2023
Fly As Me - Silk Sonic
Today’s gender: this song
I will not be elaborating further
16/05/2023
(really just all of 15/05 - 17/05)
No_se_ve.mp3 - Emilia, LUDMILLA, ZECCA
911 what’s your emergency?
Operator. HELP. I cannot stop listening to this song !!!!!!
Ma’am, there are literally people dying.
YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND
I started my day with this song and I am ending my day with it also.
Spotify forced it upon me yesterday with a not-so-subtle announcement that read something like NEW RELEASE. LOOK. LISTEN. NOW. ENJOY.
But how right it was, this song is a fucking banger. It is a drop on the hot stone of a craving I’ve had for Brazilian Funk music, a genre who’s heavy 808s and “Bum-cha-cha” make me go absolutely feral.
And then then last chorus switches up and you have a more commercial Reggaeton sounding beat. AGH. I cannot contain my enthusiasm about this song.
10/05/2023
Wait For It - salute
An unforeseen scheduling oversight of mine has thrown a spanner into my works and now I’m trying to put out the self-set fires by outrunning my own shadow.
Dramatic? Yes. But that’s also what adulting sometimes feels like.
This song supplies me with happy high energy that lets me dance through the rest of this hectic day, instead of spinning out of control.
The satisfaction of figuring it out, despite the stress and rushing around, makes it a good day after all.
05/05/2023
My My My - Armand Van Helden
I was today years old when I found out that this staple of house and dance music going by the name ARMAND VAN HELDEN, is in fact NOT DUTCH BUT AMERICAN.
I feel cheated and bamboozled.
No matter, I happened upon his track Flowerz today, which now is already over 25 years old (oops, late to the party). And this led me back to this absolute classic. It’s making me hate my life a little less while doing literature review for 5 hours in a row.
26/04/2023
Selecta - Skrillex, BEAM
Running around doing errands and rushing from one thing to the next. This song’s stuck in my head.
Its dub fusion (or whatever the proper term for it is) beat is perfect for this weather and I am so beyond hyped to see Skrillex at Primavera Sound. Never in my life did I think I’d get to see him live, let alone at age 27. What a great time to be alive.
22/04/2023
Fake Magic - Peking Duk, Aluna
I bought a last minute ticket to see Aluna perform in Razz tonight. And I’m almost regretting it, because I am absolutely knackered, hungover for two days in a row, and burdened with an intense desire to retire from life.
But only almost.
Because I am listening to Aluna’s discography and it’s just one danceable cheerful bop after another, and this one stuck in particular. On repeat as I run from one thing to the next.
12/04/2023
CHIRI - ROSALÍA
What a privilege it is to have direct access to the communal rooftop from my apartment, truly.
It’s the perfect place to take a quick break, dance around, take Instagram photos, and watch the sunset, crying for no reason while listening to this song.
07/04/2023
4EVA - KAYTRAMINÉ
About the only thing that has kept me from unaliving myself in these weeks of deadlines upon deadlines is Kaytranada’s famous Montreal Boiler Room set. Its comforting familiarity and undeniable groove maintain my will to live.
Imagine my utter excitement when this week he announced a new collaborative project with Aminé. Fuck. What a vibe. The first song off the upcoming album dropped today and it is simply wonderful. I’m gonna bounce through my apartment, through the streets as I walk, in the metro, wherever else, to the beat of this track all weekend.
31/03/2023
Como Lo Pedí - Bomba Estéreo, Leonel García
I am continuing to avoid my responsibilities, running to a meet up for a free photo session. The sun is out, and if I just blast this song loud enough, I won’t hear my guilty conscience reprimanding me for not spending this time writing my course essays. All is well (:
29/03/2023
Für dich da - Trettmann
On my way to therapy (hooray) listening to the new album of this German rapper who makes mellow-as-fuck-heavily-afrobeat-and-dancehall-influenced music, and I just keep coming back to this song.
Who wants to cry in the club to this while doing a bit of slow wine? Me.
28/03/2023
Baby Don’t Go - Oliver Malcolm
I had to stay up till 3.30am last night to meet an assignment deadline for uni and now I am absolutely destroyed. My own fault really.
In any case, today I’ve given myself the day off, not worrying about the slew of still outstanding deadlines. And though I wish it was sunnier and warmer than it is, this song accompanies me on my way to a friend’s house to do some pickling/fermenting. Manifesting spring.
22/03/2023
CRÈME BRÛLÉE! - spill tab
Excuse me, what the neuk (fuck)?
My Discover sent this my way this week and I’m loosing my mind?!?
The ultra distorted strumming at the start of the song is enough to catch your attention, because what even is going on right now? But then the CHORUS?! Not so much a chorus with lyrics, but an electronic guitar break that takes you by utter and absolute surprise you hear it first. The second chorus is even crazier, layering a bunch of screams and shouts and laser guns and guitar shredding over the already existent chaotic distortion. And finally, after about one and a half minutes of WHIPLASH the song just mellows out and ends after only 2:15 min.
That was insane and I LOVE IT. I’m scared of listening to it too much today, because I don’t wanna ruin it for myself. But I can’t stop, because it’s just so strange and unique and awesome. Another song of hers that just breaks your neck in the chorus is PISTOLWHIP and it’s fucking incredible.
18/03/2023
Show Me The Money - Snakehips, Tkay Maidza
Perfect new release to power walk to my hairdresser’s appointment to, even though I slept far too little and would like to pass out (:
Overall, this track’s dancey, bouncy, groovy energy is the perfect accompaniment for a sunny weekend.
16/03/2023
PANTIES Y BRASIERES - Rauw Alejandro, Daddy Yankee
Look, we are just going to ignore this song is called panties and bras, and also we are going to ignore the rest of the lyrics. Furthermore, we are going to shake our asses to this banger, because mindless ass-shaking is exactly what I need today.
No thoughts, just vibes. There’s been too many thoughts lately for my taste.
14/03/2023
Eat That Up, It’s Good For You - Two Door Cinema Club
I was succumbing to a bout of grief and melancholy this morning. And I allowed myself to douse myself in it for just a little while, an hour or so.
Knowing I couldn’t remain here for the rest of the day, I reached for this song.
Today isn’t the first time its overwhelming instrumental break has made me cry, but today is the time it has felt most appropriate. It’s an eruption of mournful ecstasy as the narrator tries to remind their friend that life goes on, or at least that’s what I’d like to read into the lyrics.
This song was meant to pull me out of the low, however, it may well just be plunging me deeper into it. But perhaps in a cathartic, beautiful way.
Alles Gute - Faber
My day continues in this strange melancholic mood, Two Door Cinema Club didn’t quite do the trick, but I think we are making progress.
Faber’s song is both sad but empowering at the same time. It’s on repeat as I walk through the sunny streets of one of Barcelona’s cutest neighbourhoods and its moodiness is somehow soothing.
At least nobody’s crying anymore.
09/03/2023
Finish Him - Namasenda
I know this thing is titled “Song Diary”, but it seems it is becoming far too biographical and personal 😅
In any case, I forgot about the existence of this song and it’s brilliant. Appropriate energy of today.
TOO BIZARRE (juked) - Skrillex
Wait. There’s more.
A very interesting voice memo from a friend made this song pop into my head. The energy is similar to the song above, in that it is fast-paced, high-energy, and a nervous kind of aggressive.
That’s exactly the vibe… Am I angrily dancing, or truly just shadow boxing?
08/03/2023
Kingslayer - Bring Me The Horizon
It is International Women’s day, and I could not think of better poetic justice even if I tried.
I want to fight. I want to run. I want to scream. I want to burn.
BMTH’s song gives me the perfect mix of incendiary rage and grandiose triumph that I was searching for today.
07/03/2023
Transitional Outerwear - Faster Horses
There is anger brewing beneath my skin.
I need heavy, incessant, unrelenting basses and beats to spur me on. I want to disappear in dark techno bunkers. This track, however, cuts through its darkness with lofty and dreamy melodies that fill me with hope.
01/03/2023
Oscar Winning Tears. - RAYE
Catharsis.
Once again, what divine serendipity brings this song to me on shuffle today?
Simply wonderful.
28/02/2023
god damn feelings - Benjamin Amaru, Wolfkind
Remember when I said I was tired? Yeah, scratch that. Now I am.
Pretty much what it says on the box. But this song is good, it’s not sad or melancholic. It’s optimistic… sort of. At least that’s how I am reading into it today.
24/02/2023
Iwannaspeakdeutsch (Treated Right) - ravedanesa
My friend @ravedanesa released this song today, and it is simply exquisite.
I’m pretty sure he wrote it about him falling in love, and that is exactly what it sounds like. The intro is so tender and beautiful, you can feel the care and affection radiating from each note.
That all builds to the inevitable drop, and my heart leaps every time I hear it.
It seems to perfectly fit my day. It’s my favorite person’s birthday, the sun is shining, and we are surrounded by a lot of love. I am feeling blissful and optimistic.
23/02/2023
54321 - April
Thank you April, for this brilliantly bittersweet D’n’B fusion track. Its fast drum patterns and airy and delicate chorus melody are keeping my motivation up today.
22/02/2023
we’ve been loving in silence - MARO
I am very tired.
19/02/2023
Supersonic (my existence) - Skrillex
I’m not even going to lie to you. I think this song’s drops kind of turn me on.
There, I said it.
The shredding basses bring tears to my eyes repeatedly and kind of make me want to pull the skin off my face (to then end up like the horse on the cover art), because of how hard they are hitting me every. single. time.
06/02/2023
ALL UP IN YOUR MIND - Beyoncé
Bey broke records for the most Grammy-winning artist last night. Seems only appropriate that she might find me now and feed right into today's hypomanic episode.
31/01/2023
Veuve - Paula Hartmann
Excuse me. Who is this 22-year-old, and what type of shit has she seen in her life to write music like this???? It's giving Euphoria set in Berlin.
Her whole debut album is dope trap music that talks about young heartbreak and a generational substance-induced delirium and numbing. But the deep bases of this particular song's chorus combined with her beautiful vocals just do a fucking number on me. I am distraught.
All that heavy emotion and the accounts of a complicated relationship to growing up are juxtaposed with her cover art, which is reminiscent of fairytale cassettes and CDs I listened to as bed time stories as a kid. Damn girl, melancholic nostalgia unlocked.
26/01/2023
From a World to Another - Polo & Pan, Jaques
I made a playlist today titled "I cannot hear the depression over the sound of this playlist". It's meant to be a long list of happy bangers that I can just put on shuffle when I am too tired to consider what I want to listen to. Because in this weird month of January, spending too much time pondering wtf I want and coming up short is just a recipe for bad mental health days.
Anyway, this song made it on the list because it was on my monthly playlists and it is positively incredible. Little did I know that it would come in so handy on my way back from uni, when I felt exceptionally energized from an opportunity that presented itself to me.
Now this song's beat is the perfect speed for stomping ahead, the incredible bass that drops later on making it feel like I could crush the bricks beneath my feet. The melodies are mischievous and spooky, outerwordly. Somehow appropriate for fueling a momentary god complex.
18/01/2023
Am Ende - Kraftklub
So ein verdammter Mist.
I forgot about this song, but it popped back out to me when I was listening to the entirety of Kraftklub's discography on shuffle (cuz what on earth else would I possibly want to do with my life).
Simple lyrics, hence easily relatable. Then the second chorus breaks out in true Kraftklub fashion, into yet another dramatic culmination of angry, nervous energy that only builds as Felix starts singing again.
I need to find a way to inject that part of the song directly in vena. Maybe that would be the antidote for all my own nervous tension.
15/01/2023
Du tust mir nie mehr weh - AnnenMayKantereit
New release alert.
I am happy and giddy and energetic today (god knows why, because I am running on 3 hours of sleep), so I spent most of the day listening to high energy, danceable things.
But upon returning home after dinner, I see that one of the bands closest to my heart brought a new song out, about forgiving somebody who hurt them. But also never giving them the power to hurt you anymore.
It invites to gently sway as the notes and lyrics flow through your body, as if Henning's voice washes you clean of all the resentment and pain you were holding onto.
Now, why do I feel like crying?? Probably just a lot of emotions close to the surface today.
05/01/2023
Flou - Angèle
Escapism. - RAYE
A joint entry today. Listening to both of these songs back to back the entire way back to Barcelona after spending Christmas with family. Leaving is always such an emotionally charged moment and I regularly find myself caught somewhere between relief and deep regret and sadness.
Therefore, I am connecting with these songs today. Flou feels less despairing, a little hopeful, though melancholic. That's the beauty of returning. Whereas Escapism is just straight up pain and failure of coping. Somehow these two go together in my head and are relieving some of my own pain today.
02/01/2023
Scythe Master - Four Tet
I happen upon this melodic beauty as I am searching for lyric-less electronic ambient music to work to. Yesterday was sunny and lovely, but today it's rainy and grim in Germany's most famous harbor town. But it's okay, this song infuses my day with a bright radiance regardless, as I navigate Hamburg's streets armed with my umbrella.
I feel a little heavy these days, but this song lifts some of that weight off my chest and shoulders.