Vibes 2021 Playlist - Song Selections 4

And we’re back for some more song selections. Again, we’ll be looking at five artists and breaking down how I picked their two songs for the vibes playlist, sometimes with too much explanation, sometimes with too little explanation. We’re back in the EDM sphere after last times dive into hip hop. If you haven’t seen the overall explanation/rules of the Vibes Playlist, check it out here.

1) Mura Masa - New Addition

So Mura Masa was not on the Vibes 2020 playlist and that was a huge oversight on my point. His album R.Y.C. came out in early January last year. I listened to it when it came out and wasn’t particularly drawn to it, so upon making the original vibes playlist, I forgot to go back and add songs from it. Totally my bad. Going to make up for it this year though. Unfortunately, Mura Masa only has two tracks that aren’t remixes released this year (although he will be having an album coming out soon, as he has teased on social media). The two tracks are 2gether and She Abunai. However, after listening to She Abunai a few times, it is a little too all over the place to make the cut, so we’ve reached our first person to only have one track added to the playlist. 2gether is a great track which reminds me of Petit Biscuit, Whethan, Louis the Child and DROELOE all in one. Definitely check it out, the more acoustic intro slowly builds to a weird glitchy electronic drop that is perfect. The unrefined percussion elements tie the two together perfectly and the vocal performance from Mura Masa is amazing. This is a very emotional track and you can feel it.

2) BAYNK - Returning Artist

I’ve gushed about BAYNK multiple times on twitter and I am going to do it again. Right now, BAYNK is one of the best and least recognized producers. Every track he releases is fresh as hell, his sound is somehow both completely unique at the same time as being familiar, and he commits himself to making every track both an audio and visual experience. For his releases this year, BAYNK has included visualizers for each one. While they are pretty basic from a visual perspective, the fact that they are VR experiences shows how BAYNK is on the cutting edge of music and technology, attempting to tie them both together. BAYNK has put out a total of 6 tracks this year, which are Esther, Touch Me (Hold My Hand), Mine, What If He Put His Hands on You, When I’m Alone and How Does It Feel?. The immediate no-brainer for me was Esther. This was his first release of the year and I was hooked immediately. While it does lose just a few points for the drops essentially being the same, the thick synths, powerful vocal performances, and random percussive elements make this one of my top tracks of the year. It’s so damn catchy and you have to bounce your foot to it. Touch Me is a very subdued track but really conveys a lot of emotion when the synths kick in. The percussion really carries a sort of quiet energy throughout the whole track. Mine has a very similar vibe to Touch Me, haunting/ethereal lyrics over a pretty subdued beat that picks up a lot of energy with the percussion and synths. Mine has more piano and some great vocal harmonies that stand out as well. What If He Put His Hands on You is more upbeat than the last two and I really enjoy the vocal chops that make the title of the song barely intelligible as the lyrics. When I’m Alone has some warm synths and what sounds like plucky strings. How Does It Feel? has a more indie rock sound, it reminded me a lot of Phoenix. There are some great vocal layers in here and the guitar and drums are simple but very effective and catchy. This is a song I could see myself listening to with the windows down in the summer. I struggled a lot picking between Mine and How Does It Feel? for the second track after Esther. I decided to go with How Does It Feel? because it was pretty simplistic but effectual and has a very indie feel that will fit perfectly in the playlist.

3) Elohim - Returning Artist

Elohim has had a great year for her music. She has released 3 EPs: Journey to the Center of Myself, Vol. 1-3 and has some killer features with Griz, Ookay, Flux Pavilion, Lights, and Party Favor. While all of her releases this year are great, I gravitated more to the Journey to the Center of Myself EPs to pick the two tracks. Each EP has 5 tracks each and after multiple listen throughs, I cut the list down of 15 total tracks down to about 5 serious considerations: Nice, Jammy Coco, Treat You Better, Little Idiot, and I Need a Doctor. Nice starts with a really subdued vocal part from El and then the beat just kicks in out of nowhere settling in a nice groove with some sweeping drum fills. The message of the song is top notch, reminding us to be patient with ourselves and work on loving ourselves. Jammy Coco has an acoustic feel with the two layered guitar parts and really unconventional structure with what feels like two separate choruses but they each feel like half a chorus. Treat You Better is a great house-sounding track that hooks you in with the bassline and more of El’s dreamy lyrics. Little Idiot has a stronger vocal performance from El with a lot of really interesting vocal chops and layering that really standouts out. Other than the lyrics, it’s just a simple yet effective bass riff and percussion loop. I Need a Doctor has a really dreamy feel with really airy lyrics from El, really long drawn out synths and light percussion loops. The atmosphere of the song is really strong and well established, despite how seemingly simple it is. I was really impressed with all of these tracks and how much idea and emotion gets across with seemingly not a lot going on or moving pieces. Like I’ve said a million times before, I had a hard time cutting it down, but in the end I decided to go with I Need a Doctor and Little Idiot. Jammy Coco never really settled into a groove that really stuck with me. I don’t have any crazy reasons against Treat You Better, I just thought the other tracks were just a bit more vibey. I nearly put Nice on the playlist above I Need a Doctor because I just love the message and the disco feel of the drop a lot, but it just doesn’t top the ethereal atmosphere of I Need a Doctor. I thought the vocal chops and layering in Little Idiot along with the bass groove were great, so it is the other track.

4) Joey Pecoraro - Returning Artist

Fun little back story, I used to listen to lofi stations on Spotify to help me study/ get homework done in college, but after a few months, I got way too into the music and wasn’t able to study to it anymore. That’s how I found one of my favorite lofi artists, Joey Pecoraro, and I’ve been a fan ever since; he was actually in my top 5 artists in 2019. This year he released the album Old Time Radio which got back more to his lofi sound after he went a bit more in the house root for 2020 album Sea Monster. I’m listening to this album for the first time in months after it came out, and funnily enough, I picked out the two songs I had previously had selected without realizing it, so if I found them good fits on two separate occasions, then I’m sticking with them. The first song is You Never Told Me That which has a ton of very different layers that all come in and out of the track in a really complex but great way. A few layers of vocal chops, an acoustic guitar, horns, a few xylophone layers, all over a simple drum beat, it’s perfect. The way each element is mixed in so smoothly is really great. The other track is Train, Cold, Snow, which has some great sweeping piano and strings that come in. It really creates the atmosphere of the title, of a cold winter day staring out of a train window thinking about it all. I love when an artist is able to exactly create the sound for what they are describing and this is a prime example of that. Some other songs that were close in the running were ;) (with it’s strong piano chords, what sounds like a bassoon, and vocal chops) and The Museum (with it’s muted horn, really drawn out strings and open atmosphere).

5) DROELOE - Returning Artist

Lucky for me, DROELOE only had one release in 2021 and it’s the song Strangers. It combines a lot of familiar DROELOE sounds: rhythmic synths, drumline-esque percussion elements, and dreamy vocals. And like familiar DROELOE songs, Strangers combines these elements to great effect. That being said, it is a total vibe and made it on the playlist.

That wraps up this edition of song selections. Yes, I know it’s late January and the playlist still isn’t done. I’m working on it. Time doesn’t exist. Hopefully another song selection post will be made soonish, we’ll see how fast I can crank out another one. As always, let me know your thoughts on these selections, hit me up on Twitter to give me more suggestions, all of that.

Much love.