Playlist Spotlight: This is Not Smooth Jazz

This is one of my most long standing playlists and somehow it is also one of only a few playlists that have had the same name since the beginning. And the title remains true. This music is in fact not smooth jazz.

The playlist originated to serve as a home for my more eclectic yet not loud music. It was meant to emit vibes like smooth jazz, but not be actual smooth jazz. This playlist is just a place for fun music that is just slightly off the beaten path. Not to be confused with weird music. There is a different playlist for that. This is an everyday listening playlist where I take some risks. The part of me that was on Tumblr in 2o14 sometimes comes out on this playlist, but a girl that has been beat down by corporate America also lives here.

A light and slightly muted orange felt right. No further questions.

It feels incredibly fitting that the first song on this playlist is "Swim - Reprise" by Valley. This song has since become one of my most listened to songs of all time (#10 to be exact). Valley is by no means an underground artist, but for some reason, they have always felt special to me. This is the first song I ever listened to by Valley, and it really stuck with me. The first day I heard it, I listened to it 7 times. Within 7 days of finding this song, I had listened to it 33 times, and I still listen to it regularly to this day. Listening to the song has always felt like an immersive experience for me, and it makes me feel like I'm on a rope swing and jumping into a river for some reason. The whole playlist is an attempt to match that feeling of feeling free and having fun adjacent to world. The world and society are near, but I'm not there.

Both versions of "Beloved" by Mumford and Sons are also featured in the early days of the playlist. I fell in love with this song when I listened to an episode of Song Exploder about it. As I writing this, I'm discovering that a theme of this playlist is songs that I feel like I understand on a deeper level or just have an innate grasp on in general.

If I were to describe the energy of this playlist, it's like a hot yoga class where the instructor abruptly stands up at random points and does 5 jumping jacks. It is mainly calm and casual, but then the "T-Pain Mashup," and you suddenly have whiplash. Life is about balance and so it this playlist.

Cheers to my continued journey to find music that is not smooth jazz but also not not smooth jazz.