Just Good Bops: April
I like to think I am pretty good at recommending things, but I also know my limits — which is why I will not be the one creating regular playlists for Just Good Shit. My taste in music is what’s known in ~ the biz ~ as “bad.” Anyway, I asked Kiyana — who designed Just Good Shit and its very cute concomitant emoji graphics — to make regular playlists of Good Shit for you (and also for me). Here’s the first one! —Rachel ✨
Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit
I was pretty reluctant to believe that I experienced seasonal mood changes — I like winter! I think snow is cozy and magical! — but my Spotify playlists tell a contradictory story. I definitely use the weather as a cue to soundtrack my mood. When it’s too cold to venture outside, I’m listening to aching folk music, while summer calls for bare arms and island-adjacent pop music.
TBH, it’s hard to make a playlist for April because April is kind of terrible. One minute the sun is out and I feel a BRIEF glimmer of joy, and the next minute it’s freezing and windy and I'm swearing under my breath as I rummage around for my umbrella and winter coat. So a good April playlist is all about slow burn anticipation. I’m as ready for warm weather as everyone, but it’s too early in the season for horny, glittery rap flutes. It has to be above at least, like, 73 degrees for that to be OK. Until then, I’ll be listening to mid-tempo songs that imperceptibly build and swell until they burst.
BTW! Once you’re on Spotify, you should really click through and listen to these albums in full:
Mitski, Be The Cowboy
Mitski’s Puberty 2 soundtracked the entirety of my 2017 and 2018, so when she followed it up with Be The Cowboy, I was ecstatic. Have you ever experienced that feeling where you love something so much you feel incapable of talking about it? Yeah, that’s me right now, trying to write about Mitski. Just listen to this album, I swear it’s good.
Weyes Blood, Titanic Rising
In the same way that Mitski (rightfully!!) dominated 2018 with Be The Cowboy, I think you’re going to hear a lot about Weyes Blood’s Titanic Rising this year. Natalie Mering (aka Weyes Blood) calls herself a “nostalgic futurist” — think Joni Mitchell, but if Joni Mitchell was singing about Tinder instead of environmentalism.
ROSALÍA, El Mal Querer
A buddy of mine described ROSALÍA as having “the most beautiful voice in the entire world” and, yeah, she’s really fucking good. Pitchfork described this album as being an example of “woman-flexing R&B,” which about sums it up. Make sure you listen to “PIENSO EN TU MIRÁ - Cap. 3: Celos” and her sort-of cover of “Cry Me A River,” “BAGDAD - Cap.7: Liturgia.”
Also! I’ve never been good at curating a playlist that ebbs and flows in just the right way, so just throw this shit on shuffle and have a good time. 🎧