POTW (2019/9): Get Happy!

Get Happy from the playlister Hits4U is our 9th Playlist of the Week this year. I’ve selected this one because it is full of uptempo tunes, it is intended to be cheerful, and that’s exactly what we all need at this time of the year when Spring is trying to arrive but Winter’s not quite disappeared yet.

It’s a rather eclectic selection of tunes, this one, with a few tracks that are nothing short of quirky (for example Juan Maria Solare’s fun Es Geht Noch, is juxtaposed with Andy Garrett’s metal jaunt Afterthought).

The playlist is, unusually, almost entirely comprised of independent musicians’ work; indeed some of the artists may be familiar to you as they have appeared in other playlists that I’ve featured.

I’m not convinced it manages to stay cheerful the entire time, as some of the tracks stray into more melancholy territory, such as Jackie Marie’s haunting Won’t Settle for Less but those are in the minority and it’s a fun listen. Particular highlights for me were Simon Irvine and Jayber C’s collaboration Accord, Munro’s Let It Go and Moonbeam by Robert Maitland.

Playlist of the Week (2018/46)

Playlist of the Week No 46: Filtersweep Collective - Stay Clean 2018This week’s POTW is another from the Filtersweep Collective stable,  Jamie Christie’s Filtersweep Collective – Stay Clean 2018.  I’ve previously introduced you to Jamie in July, when I covered his easy listening/AOR playlist geared up for lazy weekend mornings.

This playlist is a mix of genres tending towards a slightly dark flavour, anchored by the synth-tronica of JJ Christie himself and other indie and synthy artists like Resonanz Kreis and War Syntaire. It’s not all about the synths, though: there’s a good balance of guitar-orientated music in the selection. It also has its lighter moments, such as Robert Maitland’s optimistic song All is Well, and the beautiful cinematic piano piece The Song Without a Name from Merlijn Depré.

All in all it’s a really nice showcase of a variety of independent music – I don’t think there’s a single track in this collection by a mainstream artist.

Rating: “PG” – This playlist mostly avoids songs with the ‘explicit’ label for swearing or adult themes, as the title of the list might suggest, but there are a couple of exceptions with the odd stronger word.