The Verge - The Verge Playlists

The Verge Playlist: Songs for Paul

2013-04-30T18:15:03Z

Just over a year ago, Paul Miller came to my house for dinner. He already knew he was going to leave the internet for a year, though he hadn't announced it — to the internet — yet. We talked about music, something we've talked about a lot in the five or so years that I've known him. He was worried about, and excited by, the prospect of getting new music while off of the internet, which seemed understandable.

At some point, we started talking about music production, and I mentioned that one of my favorite songs production-wise is "In the Air Tonight," by Phil Collins. I won't go into all the reasons I love "In the Air Tonight," because there are so many we'd be here for a while, and nobody has that kind of time on the internet....

The Verge Playlist: New Orleans on parade

2013-04-13T15:00:04Z

Follow the Mississippi River south from Memphis, Tennessee until it hits the Gulf of Mexico and you'll wind up in New Orleans. I took that trip a couple times during my brief tenure in the South, and it was the richest musical education a man could ever ask for. My first night, sitting down for dinner, a second line band marched off the street and right through the restaurant, into the kitchen, and out through the back yard. Infused with the melodies and rhythms of French, Spanish, and African peoples, New Orleans is a long simmering musical gumbo, home to many of my all-time favorite artists. The French Quarter Festival kicks off this weekend, so we're bringing a taste of the Crescent City right into your home.

The Verge Playlist: Canada

2013-03-29T17:00:04Z

As the lone Verge staffer based in the Great White North, I have to put up with a lot. There are endless jokes about the weather, hockey, and maple syrup. But more than anything, I hear jokes about music: Bieber and Bublé and that band that sings "How You Remind Me." No one seems to remember the good stuff. It's like disparaging American music because of the existence of Hanson.

The rest of the world may not realize it, but there's a whole lot of great music that comes out of Canada. And because the country is so spread out, it's also very diverse. There's poppy stuff like Tegan & Sara and Lights, indie rock like City & Colour and Broken Social Scene, and even some great hip-hop courtesy artists like k-os and Buck 65. Some of...

The Verge Playlist: Auto-tune hits

2013-03-08T18:55:05Z

Auto-tune is a sometimes divisive technology which has been used to quietly pitch correct many a flat or sharp note. But artists have, since its invention, used it in more obvious, creative ways, often producing some of the biggest hits of popular music in the process. Love it or hate it, you can't deny its power, can you? Enjoy the playlist below, and maybe read our recent feature on Auto-tune while you do.

Believe Cher
Blue (Da Ba Dee) Eiffel 65
Don’t Tell Me Madonna
One More Time Daft Punk
Hide and Seek Imogen Heap
Disturbia Rihanna
Love Lockdown Kanye West
Woods Bon Iver
Party in the USA Miley Cyrus
TiK ToK Ke$ha
Just Dance Lady Gaga
Boom Boom Pow Black Eyed Peas
California English Vampire...

The Verge Playlist: Memphis stew

2013-03-01T18:06:58Z

I cut my teeth as a rookie reporter working at The Flyer, the alternative weekly paper in Memphis, Tennessee. I learned a lot about journalism, but my real education that year was musical. Coming from Wesleyan University, I thought I knew a lot about what was worth listening to, which records were hip, which artists to name drop. Memphis changed all that.

The city is technically in Tennessee, but really straddles the border of two other states, Mississippi and Arkansas. Most of the great artists we associate with Memphis — Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Al Green, Otis Redding — came there from somewhere else. As legendary local producer Jim Dickinson said, "Memphis will get all over you If you're sensitive. It's like you know certain...

The Verge Playlist: Sampled funk and borrowed soul

2013-02-22T20:20:07Z

The best 90s rap is like a jigsaw puzzle. Every drum break and borrowed hook leads back to another record — and in the internet age, you can look everything up. You can find out where that break comes from, and everyone else who ever used it. If you know where to look, you might even find out how to write it out beat by beat. Head all the way down the rabbit hole, and it'll take you from 90s rap to 70s soul, through 60s jazz-funk and back to the present day where all three are blurring into one. Click the button, take the ride…

Sadly, "Woman to Woman" and "Tokyo" are not available on Rdio.

Tracklisting

The Comeback - Madlib
Woman to Woman - Joe Cocker
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow - Gang Starr
Ain't No Love in the Heart...

The Verge Playlist: Night Drive

2013-02-14T22:17:31Z

You've got a long path ahead of you, but you've also got a full tank of gas. The sky is a black bruise, stratus clouds like scars, but the air is cool and the road is clear. You're going to make it — no, you have to make it — no matter what. They've put your back against the wall, but you know that you're at your best when you've got nothing left to lose. You only get one shot at this, and you've got to make it count. The night is your companion, your confidant, your only protection. This time it's personal. It ends here, tonight.

The Verge Playlist: riot grrrl

2013-02-01T18:00:06Z

As a partner to our piece on the 20th anniversary of Bikini Kill's first record (and their new record label), we decided to make another playlist. Riot grrrl was not a label that all of these bands officially associated themselves with, but together, these 12 songs cover a wide range of the material produced over the course of about 10 years. It's not terribly surprising that almost no Bikini Kill is currently available on Rdio or Spotify (it was until recently, however), and the more obscure bands have never made it to iTunes, let alone streaming services. We hope you enjoy it, and await the day when the Third Sex makes it to the internet.