You know when you’ve had one of those days?
You know when you’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed?
You know when that idiot has said something really rather stupid and riled you up the wrong way?
You know when you’re feeling down or enraged, or in just a really confused place and you don’t quite know where to turn?
Is this obvious advice? Maybe. But, oh my, does it work:
Turn to your PickMeUp Playlist (and play it LOUD).
Only the most effective pieces go on there, my lovelies. Be brutal, be picky, and if you change your mind every time you listen to it, trust yourself.
Build a really singular list, then add on another two, three or four, with really specific emotions that aren’t flagged in the first list.
Even though Spotify is, of course, evil, like all the other megalithic corporations that suck the living marrow from all artists and creators in the world… it is my evil corporation of choice on this occasion. You do you though, obviously. Apple, YouTube, Cassette Tape, wherever you’re at in time and space…
Cinematic PickMeUps
The essential list. No holds barred thrills, spills, glee and drama, and emotions on one’s sleeve, for those times when you’ve lost your get up and go but you could really do with it in the next hour or so cos you gotta get to work and there’s a deadline looming.
Cinematic Chillout
For those times when I’m feeling a bit low or blue; also works when I’m enraged about stuff and I need to calm tf down.
Dark, Moody, Serious Soundtracks
Hardly ever listen to this, but when I’m in a dark fuming place this one can give me some validation, and help me move it along to somewhere else. Great used as an initial blast for a track or two, then followed up by one of the other playlists. Think Jen in Dead to Me listening to Death Metal full blast in her car (watch it if you haven’t already for a dark but lovely show with some cracking women leads).
Musical Loveliness
This one just grows and grows. Admittedly, it’s not curated particularly well, it’s more that I liked a tune in passing and threw it on there. Where this one shines is with Spotify’s ‘Enhance’ tool, where the AI/Algorithm Overlords make clever suggestions for additions to the list. This is the big bin of surprise, when I feel stuck in a rut, or a bit… sludgy (you know?) and need a prod of the unexpected to wake up my inspiration/motivation engine. Also, because the Enhance suggestions can be a bit hit or miss, it requires more active listening and decisions on whether to keep or chuck a track. That engagement can really pull one out of the deepest of funks, where I can get back in touch with what I like and don’t like in a really active manner.
I guarantee you – you won’t like some of my choices, if not all. So you’re going to have to build your own if you haven’t already.
The important task here is to drill down to what you actually want to listen to – the music that brings chills to your spine, hair stands up on the back of your neck, all that jazz – not what you think you ‘should’ listen to.