The Vibes Playlist: Overview
This is it, the whole reason I made this website in the first place. The Vibes playlist. Last year (2020) was the first iteration of the Vibes playlist which I spent a lot of time putting together. My buddy Burns, shout-out Burns, gave me the idea of starting a blog to walk through how I choose the music. So here we are.
The ultimate goal of the Vibes playlist is to connect with people over some chill music from a variety of great artists. To do this, I put some rules in place so I didn’t just add songs all willy-nilly and put time and care into selecting every single track. Here are the rules:
The song had to be released in the year that the Vibes playlist is covering. That is, all music on the Vibes 2020 playlist was released in 2020, the Vibes 2021 playlist will only have music released in 2021. However, if a song is released as a single in the previous year, and then released as a part of an EP or album in the next year, that is fair game. An example being Something Comforting by Porter Robinson, which was released as a single in 2020, but being on the album Nurture that came out this year, which makes Something Comforting being eligible to appear on this year’s Vibes playlist as well. (I probably won’t choose this song though; I like variety). Another grey area is Deluxe albums, as often times they can come out the year after the original and often have the original tracklist along with some additional tracks and other bonuses. In this case, if I haven’t considered the original album before, then the original tracks from the album are fair game to be selected. Otherwise, only the bonus tracks and extras will be considered. An example of this is for the Vibes 2021 playlist, Glass Animals released their Dreamland deluxe album. As I had already selected songs from the original for the Vibes 2020 playlist, only the additional tracks were considered.
No remixes. I have nothing against remixes, it just opens up way more song possibilities and I just don’t have time for all of that. I typically prefer original versions of songs, as it is the purest version of an artist’s expression and intent. There are some really killer remixes out there, and definitely feel free to send me some, but you will not see any on the Vibes playlist. However, stripped down versions of songs as well as acoustic versions and reprises are eligible. Basically, it is a version of the song from the original artist, not some huge shift from the original.
A maximum of two songs per artist. This is a double edged sword, as I have to find the two most “vibey” songs released by an artist each year, which takes more time, but it really levels the playing field for every artist. No artist is too big or too small to appear on the Vibes playlist and they all get equal respect with two songs. Seeing as this playlist is a way of sharing new artists with people, only having two songs each is a great little introduction to the artists and you can pick and choose who to explore from there. (Now there is one exception on the Vibes 2020 playlist where Shallou has three songs, but one is a 44 second interlude that flows seamlessly from the previous track, so get off my back; and I reserve the right to do so again).
The music has to be on Spotify. No shame to other music to other music streaming services, but Spotify is the service I use personally and I want to keep the Vibes playlist as one cohesive thing in a single spot. You click the link to the playlist and it is there in it’s entirety, donezo. I know this cuts out a lot of smaller artists that are on SoundCloud and I’m sorry, but the cohesion is key. Please still send me links to those songs as well, maybe I will do a smaller showcases here and there.
That’s it for strict rules, but you may be wondering, how do I define a “vibe”. That is extremely subjective, I will admit that, but I will explain a bit of my thought process. If you’ve read some of my other posts, you sort of know my taste in music, but generally, I like slower tempo, fairly melodic songs. It’s all about the tone that the track establishes, mainly relaxing or peaceful. Imagine floating down a river on an innertube with your eyes closed and the sun on your face. That’s what I’m aiming for. Something to put on in the background of a party with your friends but can also dig into and find the complexity when listening on your own. This is not a hype playlist (although some tracks cut it close). Hopefully that makes sense, but at the end of the day it is my opinion.
All genres are game for the playlist. Most of it will be EDM, as that’s what I listen to the most, but it’s all fair game. I would actually love your help in finding more music for it as well, specifically indie rock, hip hop, D&B, and trance. I don’t even care if it ends up on the Vibes playlist, if you think I’ll like it, send it to me!
