I remember playlists. We used these to organise our digital music libraries, placing songs from various albums and artists together in a single list, similar to the more traditional ‘mixtape’ but without the spatial limitations of the physical CD or cassette. A playlist could be as long as we liked, and it could be shuffled.
I had four playlists: Tunes, Chill Tunes, Beats and Chill Beats. I made these hoping that one would suit my mood at any given moment – if I felt happy and celebratory I would choose Tunes. If I felt focussed and motivated I would choose Beats. If I felt nonchalant and lethargic I would choose Chill Tunes. If I felt relaxed and sophisticated I would choose Chill Beats. However, in reality my moods turned out to be more complex than I thought, frequently combining aspects of several of the above. If I was feeling wistful and bittersweet, for example, I might appreciate the both the energy boost of Tunes and the more maudlin, soporific songs of Chill Tunes, and perha…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to From the Desk of Daniel Piper to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.