Honestly I’ve never had a playlist or a specific song selection that I would listen too. I’m more of a mood music kind of person and have been like that for as long as I can remember. Yet I noticed that whenever I go for a walk I mainly play music with less lyrics and more instrumentals. And fun fact! I was more of an instrumental guy before I actually listened to the lyrics of a song. When I was younger if I didn’t like the instrumental for some wild reason I automatically didn’t like the song which was a horrible trait of judgement! God knows how many songs I must’ve missed out on doing that haha. BUT since we’re wiser and grew out of that shell (turtle joke) i’m a man of both worlds now.
This brings me to growing up and creating a playlist that consists of instrumentals that I mostly have listened to either walking or reminiscing. Some are new and some are older that my lifetime. I’m hoping some people will now some of the songs and if not then I hope you can enjoy the mix of genre beats that have helped and shaped me to be a better person.
Washed Out- Feel It All Around
We’re going to start with a song that I randomly found while just searching up beats similar to Lofi Beats. “Feel It All Around”. One of the most chill relaxed songs I’ve ever been graced to hear. I don’t smoke but if I did it would probably be to this song. From the very beginning with melodic sound of the singer’s voice as well the slept on part of the song being the bass. It’s kind of the driving force of the song. The lyrics “It’s all right, in spite of all the things you did we’ll work it out.” Also to me goes with the calm theme of the song. Washed Out made such a VaporWave such like song that I listen to almost every walk. It’s a feel good song for me that kind of wakes you out of a bad mood.I tend to imagine myself at a beach at night or just a summer night whenever I listen to this song. Though any season would work with this song. I think my favorite thing about the song is how mellow the singers voice is. Almost as if his voice is the instrumental in a sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-0TYeg9Rzc
Butterfly- Jean Christophe Le Saout
This is known as a Trip Hop type of instrumental. Trip Hop is known as a fusion between hip hop and electronica and was originated in the United Kingdom. I’ve enjoyed this song greatly because of the smooth laid back and old school boom bat similarity sound. This made me more curious about Jean Christophe as I found this song randomly and fell in love with it ever since. It reminds me of an Adult Swim bump that would play through commercials. If anyone’s watched adult swim on a Saturday night/Sunday Morning they’ll understand. It has this nice transition and 0:58 seconds that makes it feel more Lofi as well.
Eyedress- Jealous
If you have TikTok then you’ve probably heard this song as it became a viral hit this year. I am a lover of this song because of the sonic elements. The guitar that plays from start to finish reminds me of 80’s 90’s kind of alternative rock. The scratchy instrumental and Eyedresse’s voice that sounds like it’s fading away as he speaks makes it flow to me. The music video also screams retro. To some this song is a meme but to me this song is honestly as realistic as it can get with the lyrics that Eyedress is saying in it. Lyrics such as “Don’t tell me about your problems, if you’re not trying to solve them.” “Don’t ask me how my day’s been, I just wanna be alone.” As humans we’ve all been there so to hear it in this form was just “wow”. Negative/insecure thoughts + a alternative rock beat makes magic. I began to have morning runs to this song because I would always imagine a chase scene happening with this song in the background to this and it made it ten times better. I tend to imagine being at a beach
Jeff Lorber- Electric Relaxation
I remember I was on my way to Queens College and I got off the N4 to the Jamaica station and this man was trying to sell bootleg phone cases and played this in the background and I automatically fell in love with. As I listened I asked him what he was playing and he told me it was a remixed instrumental to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation” which is also my favorite song from them. Such a smooth relaxing remix to an amazing song. The strings and instruments that play throughout are breathtaking. I wish I knew what they were to clarify haha but if someone does it’d be great!
Freaks & Geeks- Lindsay Disturbed Theme
I hope some of you at least have watched “Freaks & Geeks” so you’ll know what i’m talking about. Yet when I listen to this song I normally end up feeling lost or i’ll really be just wandering on a walk. Maybe that’s it’s purpose due to the character Lindsay being lost in between the crowd of the geeks (boys on the right) and the freaks/Cool guys (3 boys on the left). It’s a gentle beat that goes from high to low on a slow tempo but I enjoy the sound that plays at the 9 second mark throughout the most. It adds on to the feeling lost theme of the instrumental.
Flying Lotus- Massage Situation
Now if any of you guys have watched Adult Swim on Sat/Sun you’ve definitely heard this through a commercial break. This is my one of my favorite instrumentals just because it was something I heard every week. The trippiness of this song is insane to me but that defines Flying Lotus and his beats honestly. This song just makes me thing of the 90’s and retro stuff. I always listened to this when I needed a out of this world beat to listen to or whenever my friends would smoke I’d think of this song. I would try to define the sounds with this one but I wouldn’t even know where to begin hahaha
Nujabes- Windspeaks
I’m a lover of the flute and the saxophone and this track just absolutely does magic with it. The rhythm, harmony and melody make it sound as if you’re at a festival dancing and enjoying life. It’s uplifting to the fullest and is one of my favorite beats to listen to any situation. I think the 3:40 mark is probably my favorite of the beat and the saxophone gets louder and transitions with the beat.
A$AP Rocky- LSD
The Last song I will share about this playlist would be “LSD” The slow melodic intro with the base following Rocky’s voice matching the slowness of the song. This is one of those songs I refuse to listen to a lot just so I don’t get tired of it. When the beat drops it just feels like the song gets more melodic and slower. As if you need to take in every second. I love that aspect dearly. To me this song is a night drive kind of song or in my case a night walk kind of song where there’s bright lights all over the place to get you in tune. Asap Rocky does justice with the music video which I highly recommend people watch. Definitely a trip. To Rocky, this was him experimenting with new different sounds and I would argue he did a pretty amazing job with it.
