Playlist #9: The month that slipped away
I've been so busy that all I remember from the past month was that I did a lot of driving. Anything other than thinking about, you know, the usual.
The Once Monthly work as follows: every monthly playlist reflects the stuff that happened to me in the previous month. The long gap between the last day of the month and the publication date—sometimes as much as three weeks—is to give myself time to write that entry in between the other things I have to do for work.
Well, it happened. I am writing this two days before the publication date, because I have been so busy these past few weeks that I haven’t been able to squeeze anything in. (Or so I say, because I did write this essay on Voltes V: Legacy last week.) Now I sit in front of my laptop, wondering just what exactly happened last month that I can anchor this thing to.
I give up. I’ll just write about the songs. I mean, it should be easy. Another reason why I gave myself that three-week lead time is because I thought I’d have to sit down and put that playlist in one go. Instead, I end up adding and removing songs throughout the month. This means two things. One, I try to limit my playlists to an hour long, so I sometimes end up having more songs than I need, and I’ll have a shorter sit-down to drop some songs. Two, I see a trend in what the playlist is shaping up to be early on.
This month’s playlist, then, is pretty pop.
At least the first part is. It’s not that I always seek it out. I was doing a lot of driving—a lot considering I do most of my work at home—last month, and while stuck in traffic I usually switch to FM radio for a bit. In two instances in one day, I heard Mae Stephens’ “If We Ever Broke Up”, which makes sense, because it’s apparently one of those songs that’s big on TikTok. Not that I really know these things. The Jenna Raine song, I heard through TikTok as well. Was it one about The Summer I Turned Pretty? I’m not sure anymore.
What I’ve been getting into is the new Jeon Somi single, “Fast Forward”. It does everything it sets out to do in less than three minutes. It’s so good that I was compelled to write about it on all of the Once Monthly’s social media accounts within 24 hours of its release. Yes, even Threads. And I don’t go there that much.
I can’t help but feel glad for Somi. Now, I must confess I did not watch Sixteen, and I was on Team Kim Sejeong when they were pitted against each other on Produce 101. (Side note: have you heard her new song?) But I watched her on Sister’s Slam Dunk and can’t help but sympathize with that feeling of being stuck that she articulated during the show. That continued until she finally left JYP Entertainment—after apparently being dropped from the group that would become Itzy—and now she’s a solo artist with a pretty good track record singles-wise.
The other song I’ve been playing on repeat—these things come in waves—is Yukika’s “Soul Lady”. Finally, I can write about this song. I always found fascinating how K-pop at one point embraced city pop, and one of the clear pioneers is a Japanese actress and former model who moved to South Korea and did her thing sooner or later. But the Soul Lady album dropped in 2020, a year after I closed the old music blog, so I had no outlet for writing about it… until now.
I wouldn’t say she started it, but after this song dropped Yubin (formerly of the Wonder Girls) pursued the same retro-drenched direction, while Brave Girls (before they want viral) dropped “We Ride”. A lot of car imagery here. You really can imagine yourself doing long drives to this, huh? But now is when I confess that I have not listened to Mariya Takeuchi’s seminal “Plastic Love”. And oddly, I still don’t feel compelled to. (I have listened a lot to her husband Tatsuro Yamashita’s Christmas classic, though, for some reason.)
So all those paragraphs covers the first six, maybe the first eight, songs of the playlist: that feeling of knowing you’ve got the steering wheel and you’re in control of the rest of your life, or at least the rest of your trip. I can see the appeal.
But that feeling doesn’t always last, yes?
A lot of the things that happened in the past month has been hazy—and that includes the time when I was invited to moderate a panel for an international conference. But then, that’s what happens when you’re busy with work. You don’t get to pause and take stock, and when you do, you feel you should be busy. “The problem with being in a capitalist society,” I can hear someone say. But then, if you can’t find the energy, or the willingness, to even resist a bit, what can you do?
But I’m happy to be busy, if only because I don’t get those idle minute when I lie down in bed and realize that, well, this may be all there is to it. You grind a bit, you go to bed, you ask for a bit more time to rest, and you don’t get all that you bargained for. I suppose it’s great that some people manage to break away from that… for as long as they don’t hurt anyone, I must add.
I suppose that’s why the second half of the playlist is a bit more contemplative, a bit cooler. It’s not by design, but then, that’s the two sides of my coin. I stumbled upon Ai Tomioka by accident and, of course, I loved her cool voice, and Miro says all she needs is “that one banger drop”. I hope she gets that.
Representing that side is the new self-titled album from Ontario band Dizzy. Ahh, I love them. I did discover them when I still had the old music blog, but I always seemed to miss it when they dropped an album. Not that it matters, because vocalist Katie Munshaw has this timeless quality that somehow manages to get through to you every time. (Take “Sunflower”, both the original version and the remixed one.) I listened to the album while, yes, driving, and as I realized I made a wrong turn in a place that I have been going to for weeks, “Are You Sick Of Me Yet” came on.
Stay as long as you’d like
As long as you can stand it
Know it won’t be too long
’Til I am reprimanded as a girl that you once knew
Someone who you outgrew
I don’t like being too busy, but this is partly why I wish I always have something to do. I don’t like to think about the very real possibility that people don’t like me. I mean, it’s fair. I don’t like certain people too, but they’ve hurt me, and I haven’t hurt them. Why am I always the bad guy?
Sorry. I know what this project is sounding like and I am trying to move away from it. It does take a lot of work, being okay with being alone, but sometimes you just want to sing out the key line of one of my favorite Sugarfree songs, “Mariposa”.
“Ayoko nang mag-isa”. I don’t want to be alone anymore.
All right, rest of the playlist, then. As always, I’ll be posting bits about the songs on the Once Monthly’s social media channels in the coming weeks. This week—the week this thing drops—is my busiest yet, but I should have some proper decompressing time after that. I kinda dread it.
As for next month’s playlist, it should be in your inboxes and online on 16 October. Incidentally, I will be out of the country for the first time in four years on that date, so… this should be interesting. Maybe you have something for next month? nicksyoncemonthly@gmail.com is where you can send a recommendation.
On the playlist
Jenna Raine—“It Is What It Is”
Big Dumb Heart, Chapter 2 (2023)Mae Stephens—“If We Ever Broke Up”
single release (2023)Munya—“Un Deux Trois”
Jardin (2023)Lewis OfMan—“Highway” (featuring Empress Of)
single release (2023)Yukika—“Soul Lady”
Soul Lady (2020)Jeon Somi—“Fast Forward”
Game Plan (2023)Nick Lowe—“Cruel To Be Kind”
Labour of Lust (1979)Sparkadia—“Morning Light”
Things Behind The Sun (2007)G Flip—“The Worst Person Alive”
Drummer (2023)Masumi Ito—「非凡な毎日」 (Extraordinary Everyday)
Miss Kobayashi’s Ishukan Music (2017)Being Dead—“Muriel’s Big Day Off”
When Horses Would Run (2023)Ai Tomioka— 「あなたは懐メロ」
single release (2022)Andrina Turenne—“Same Thing”
Bold As Logs (2023)Margaret Glaspy—“Turn the Engine”
Echo the Diamond (2023)Dizzy—“Are You Sick Of Me Yet”
Dizzy (2023)Lawrence—“I’m Confident That I’m Insecure”
single release (2023)Two Door Cinema Club—“Sleep Alone”
Beacon (2012)Sugarfree— “Mariposa”
Sa Wakas (2003)