Is My Taste In Music Eclectic Enough?
"This would be a terribly sad story if a word of it were true..."
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Who really has good music taste, anyway?
Recently, I saw an Instagram reel where a variety of people were approached in public by a trendy-sunglasses-and-little-mustache-clad influencer with one of those tiny microphones. Uh-oh. He proceeded to ask if the people he’d stopped thought they had good music taste. Is this a trick question? I watched the unsuspecting victims wince. What am I supposed to say? How am I supposed to know?
Do I have good music taste?
I imagine we’d all like to think we do. But “good” is so vague, so subjective, so boring. There’s so much good music and too many ways to measure and prove what’s good - top 100 lists, best-of-all-time lists, your favorite artists’ favorite artists lists…
Something we can measure, something we can devote ourselves to to improve our musical palettes, however, is to get weirder. There’s always another artist we’ve never heard of before, always a song with fewer listens, a band with a weirder origin story than one you’ve heard before. It’s also maybe the only defense we can prepare against these relentlessly curious little-microphone influencers.
I can’t promise that my taste in music is good, but I can promise that it is strange. I’ll listen to anything. Pastoral, British neo-folk made with field recordings? Sure. The lesser-known solo work of the lead guitarist and chief songwriter for the punk band Felt? You bet. Dreamy, ambient instrumental music made by a band with a fabricated tragic backstory? Absolutely. This doesn’t always make me the front-runner for AUX-operator on road trips, but it does make me an explorer, a sonic alchemist.
Virginia Astley performing in 1982. Her song "A Long Summer Since Passed" appears on this mix - she's the aforementioned pastoral British neo-folk.
If you’re looking to find some more unique music, rest assured. Rest of My Life is a playlist created with this special purpose in mind.
This is a playlist meant to broaden your musical horizons through rich auditory landscapes, premonitions, incongruous but addictive melodies, vague lyricism, and the storied pasts of some bands and artists few have heard of (at least one of which is totally made up).
Put on this mix while you enjoy your morning coffee, on a long walk through your neighborhood, or during a dull moment at work, and let your imagination run wild.
It features a variety of artists from as early as the late 70s/early 80s to contemporary ones, including Durutti Column, Personal Effects, Deux Filles, Virginia Astley, Maurice Deebank, Susumu Yokota, Soft Location, System Olympia, and more. You can expect a variety of genres, ranging from classical to ambient/experimental to moody, underground alternative.
Durutti Column performing "Sketch For Summer" live in 1983. This song was re-introduced to popular culture recently on the show "The Bear". His song "The Rest Of My Lift" is the catalyst song that inspired this playlist.
Consider this introduction to these strange tracks the beginning of the Rest of Your Life, “this is it, life hereafter.” Should you continue your walk down the path of eclectic music, you’ll never want to turn back.
