A Playlist For Sad People

Sep. 28, 2012

By Ryan O'Connell info

I write and edit Thought Catalog. I'm a brat. Send me fun things at ryan@thoughtcatalog.com

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Listen, I really only like to listen to sad music. Is that weird? It’s not because I’m some depressed person. I just think sad music is more interesting and nuanced than happy pop songs. It’s capable of extracting more feelings from my brain and we all know that I’m a feelings junkie. Can’t get enough of those emotions, babe! Gimme, gimme more. (JK, please stop. I can’t take it anymore!)

It makes sense then that I would be so attracted to the musical genre, shoegaze. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, shoegaze came into vogue in the late 80s and early 90s with the seminal albums Loveless by My Bloody Valentine and Souvlaki by Slowdive. The sound was mostly defined by ethereal muted vocals layered over loud fuzzy guitars. The end result is a whole mess of dreaminess and beauty. They called it shoegaze because, while listening to it, you become so catatonic that you can’t do anything but stare at your shoe. Sounds awesome, huh?!

Not all of the songs on this playlist could be classified as shoegaze but they all evoke the same kind of haziness, which is what I’m so attracted to. I take you through the early roots of shoegaze by including tracks by Ride, Slowdive, and the Cocteau Twins, and then we graduate to a more modern sound with bands like No Joy, Weekend, and Tamaryn. Peppered on top of that are some pretty songs by obscure(ish) bands like The Telescopes, Galaxie 500, and Orange Juice. Listen to this playlist and let the music swallow you up. By the end of it, you’ll feel drugged. I promise.

Here’s the playlist on 8tracks, or you can subscribe to it on Spotify here. TC Mark

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image – My Bloody Valentine

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  • http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/the-best-band-you-arent-listening-to/ The Best Band You Aren’t Listening To | Thought Catalog

    [...] When I first heard Tamaryn’s music, I was an intern at Interview magazine and part of my job description was to find new bands for the magazine to cover in their Agenda section. I loved it because I would just spend my days scouring websites for new music, which is something I did in my spare time anyway. When I came across Tamaryn, I was immediately drawn to them. In my gut, I knew this band was special before I even pressed play. After I fell down a very long k-hole with their music, I harassed my boss to cover them for the next issue but she was like, “Um, their music is too sad.” Too sad? TOO SAD? Honey, there is no such thing. [...]

  • http://www.itmakesmestronger.com/2012/10/the-best-band-you-aren%e2%80%99t-listening-to/ Only L<3Ve @ ItMakesMeStronger.com

    [...] When I first heard Tamaryn’s music, I was an intern at Interview magazine and part of my job description was to find new bands for the magazine to cover in their Agenda section. I loved it because I would just spend my days scouring websites for new music, which is something I did in my spare time anyway. When I came across Tamaryn, I was immediately drawn to them. In my gut, I knew this band was special before I even pressed play. After I fell down a very long k-hole with their music, I harassed my boss to cover them for the next issue but she was like, “Um, their music is too sad.” Too sad? TOO SAD? Honey, there is no such thing. [...]

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