Noots Letter: I Got Your Playlist On
November 2021
? ? ?
Happy Spotify Wrapped Day, the most important and also judgmental day of the year! Today, I either get to see what cool songs you listened to this year, or you had one embarrassing track in your top five so you refuse to share it publicly. Or you pretend to be above it all because you have Apple Music (shout out to my siblings and friend James who remind me about this often).
But what is this playlist without its horrifying moments? What was this year without its intermittent horrors?? Whether you’ve got a top 5 of niche bops or exclusively listened to 20,000 hours of white noise, I promise nothing you’re doing is more cringe than the copywriting on the 2021 Spotify Wrapped story, which read something like, “Hey Bestie, here’s what was living in your head rent-free! You passed the vibe check! #MainCharacterEnergy! ~ vaguely intriguing gradient ~ ”
What began as your “Year In Music” back in 2016 has now evolved into one of the primary reasons people subscribe. While this year’s Wrapped identified listeners’ “aura” (whatever the fck that means), previous versions have examined favorite music through the decades, announced if you were a Top Fan, and provided recommendations for what you may have missed. Last year’s introduction of the Instagram interactive feature revealed an infamous intern rip-off, in which a young Black woman was not properly credited for her ideas (a.k.a. all of music history). Thanks to her, this shiny new shareable content has successfully incentivized more competition—listening to more music and for longer, all in the name of social clout. The annual feature also returns to the original purpose of Spotify as a social media application, harking back to the days when you would see friends’ active stream on your Facebook feed. Miss that. Ultimately, it is intended to make non-users experience FOMO, as they well should (so why are you still using Apple Music, James?).
Regardless of how dumb it feels or annoying it seems, I beg you to share yours with me. I care. How else would I know to say Nice! to the friend of mine whose top artist has somehow been the same for the last four years, and another whose top artist was themselves? And to Oops! to a friend whose #1 song was “When Will My Life Begin Reprise 2” from Tangled, and another whose was a singular musical theatre song she binged for an audition one day? And Okay, Gay Rights! to my straight male friend who had ABBA leading his list?? Allyship!!!!
I’ve been loving content by @annika.izora recently, so I must highlight this wholesome post about celebrating music with friends and highly recommend you sign up for their newsletter:
In addition to providing reflective prompts and thoughtful critiques of inequities between streaming platforms and artist payout, they also bring up the absolute delight that is exchanging songs with crushes. My toxic trait is that I make people playlists way too early on in the relationship, and/or in platonic dynamics, just because I am supremely anti-music-gatekeeping. The moment anyone sends me a playlist, however, I immediately see it for what it is (a marriage proposal).
So it only makes sense that I do this, now, professionally, for a bunch of internet semi-strangers. If you’ve been following along this year, you know that this “millennium can have a beer now” playlist features all my favorite new songs of the year (only one per artist, a particularly tough call in some cases). I’ve split them up by mood in the links below, so they’re a little more digestible than all 700 at once. Go ahead and start tuning in now so that your Wrapped doesn’t make you look like a total loser again next year.
After all, you are nothing but a five-song speck of dust floating through space. <3
… … …
booster shots - Remember that one moment this year when we all got vaccinated and could finally see our friends and it felt like a big thrilling exhale? That’s this.
hello fresh - New on the scene and utterly genreless, as it should be. Many handplucked straight out of the internet. AKA these are mostly teens.
semicolon parenthesis - This April, the Noots Letter investigated makeout playlists; the research revealed I have no idea what people listen to in these settings. So we’ll refer to this as R&B/late night vibes that could be dreamy and/or steamy.
the big SAD - For those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Sadness. Disclaimer: if your number one artist of the year was Adele, please seek professional help.
getting by - Kind of a catch-all for everything else. Mostly folk-inspired tunes that speak to somehow making it through all 365 of these unbelievable days.
! ! !
Silk Sonic, An Evening With Silk Sonic: May still be too soon to say… but favorite album of the year? One thing we do know for sure is that “Smokin’ Out The Window” is the best thing to ever happen to the phrase “this bitch”. Nothing but absolute smashers.
Dijon, Absolutely: OK this MF has been teasing us with devastating singles for YEARS so thank GOD we finally have a full album. Thank you my KING.
Tasha, Tell Me What You Miss The Most: Feels like a wistful and wintry Sunday morning in bed. While Tasha is new to me this fall, the intimacy of her music makes her seem unendingly familiar.