Weekly Playlist 5/29
Every Friday, I share the highlights of what I’ve been listening to over the course of the week, from old favorites to new discoveries. Playlist best enjoyed in order.
Even in (mostly) lockdown, “In Your Eyes” by The Weeknd with Doja Cat is a fun start to the weekend, with shimmery ’80s synths and saxophones that makes it a great dance track rather than a cheesy throwback — The Weeknd’s smooth vocals help, too. It’s a style that works well for him.
Lady Gaga’s Chromatica previews have been solid — both “Stupid Love” and “Rain on Me” are great, catchy dance tracks, and though Ariana Grande’s style usually isn’t it for me, she’s great here. It’s a nice duet from the two women.
And from there, it’s all throwbacks, starting with The Cure’s “Close to Me” remix taken form remix album Mixed Up. The original “Close to Me” was always quirky and fun, and the remix makes it a little jazzier and a little more chill. Mixed Up is well worth the listen, by the way — much of the material from Disintegration, like “Lullaby” and “Lovesong,” gets a little darker, while lighter far like “In Between Days” nearly becomes an all-out dance track.
We throw in more guitars next with the fuzzy guitars of Radiohead’s “You,” then throw back to Tom Petty’s “The Waiting.” We close with one of The Beatles’ most psychedelic tracks, “Within You Without You” mostly because, well, where else could it possibly go here?
For your weekend reading, enjoy The New Yorker’s praise for the wonderful Pittsburgh symphony and its director, Manfred Honeck, and his meticulous, insightful love of music.
For the most part, the classical-music world is in need of conductors with broad horizons, who can guide audiences from a passive worship of the past to an active awareness of the present. The rote repetition of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Mahler ultimately does those composers no favors. But we also need conductors who know how to revitalize the grand tradition — and orchestras that can respond in kind. At the moment, Pittsburgh is one of the few places on the international scene where that alchemy regularly happens.
