Why Are My Secret Spotify Songs Following Me Around?
New York magazine|April 10 - 23, 2023
At bars, with friends, on TV, I kept hearing the same music from my “Discover Weekly” rotation. So I tried to peer inside my bubble IRL.
NATE JONES
Why Are My Secret Spotify Songs Following Me Around?

A FEW WEEKS AGO, I was at a Brooklyn cocktail bar called the Great Georgiana when I heard something strange. Make that five somethings strange. Over the course of the night, the bar played “Khala My Friend,” by the ’70s Zambian rock band Amanaz; “Like a Chicken,” by witch, a more popular Zambian band from the same era; “Red Lady,” a B-side by psychedelic rocker Phil Cordell, whose only No. 1 hit came on the Swiss charts; “Good Time,” by Donnie and Joe Emerson, two Washington State teenagers whose 1979 home-recorded album was essentially unheard for decades; and, at least twice, “Somebody Made for Me,” by the singer-songwriter Emitt Rhodes, once hailed as the “one-man Beatles.” It was a motley collection of tunes, but I knew them all by heart—because at one point or another Spotify had served them up to me on my “Discover Weekly” playlist, a set of personalized music recommendations updated every Monday. Whenever I hear one I like, I save it to a playlist; since I started back in May 2017, I’ve collected more than 370. For the most part, these are semi-obscure tracks that, because I am mildly uncool, I am hearing for the first time—foreign music that sounds western, vault tracks from artists who were little known in their own times, a depressingly large number by singers who died under tragic circumstances. I call them my secret Spotify songs.

Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin April 10 - 23, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin April 10 - 23, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

NEW YORK MAGAZINE DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Trapped in Time
New York magazine

Trapped in Time

A woman relives the same day in a stunning Danish novel.

time-read
6 dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
Polyphonic City
New York magazine

Polyphonic City

A SOFT, SHIMMERING beauty permeates the images of Mumbai that open Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light. For all the nighttime bustle on display-the heave of people, the constant activity and chaos-Kapadia shoots with a flair for the illusory.

time-read
3 dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
Lear at the Fountain of Youth
New York magazine

Lear at the Fountain of Youth

Kenneth Branagh's production is nipped, tucked, and facile.

time-read
5 dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
A Belfast Lad Goes Home
New York magazine

A Belfast Lad Goes Home

After playing some iconic Americans, Anthony Boyle is a beloved IRA commander in a riveting new series about the Troubles.

time-read
5 dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
The Pluck of the Irish
New York magazine

The Pluck of the Irish

Artists from the Indiana-size island continue to dominate popular culture. Online, they've gained a rep as the \"good Europeans.\"

time-read
8 dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
Houston's on Houston
New York magazine

Houston's on Houston

The Corner Store is like an upscale chain for downtown scene-chasers.

time-read
3 dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
A Brownstone That's Pink Inside
New York magazine

A Brownstone That's Pink Inside

Artist Vivian Reiss's Murray Hill house of whimsy.

time-read
3 dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
These Jeans Made Me Gay
New York magazine

These Jeans Made Me Gay

The Citizens of Humanity Horseshoe pants complete my queer style.

time-read
2 dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
Manic, STONED, Throttle, No Brakes
New York magazine

Manic, STONED, Throttle, No Brakes

Less than six months after her Gagosian sölu show, the artist JAMIAN JULIANO-VILLAND lost her gallery and all her money and was preparing for an exhibition with two the biggest living American artists.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024
WHO EVER THOUGHT THAT BRIGHT PINK MEAT THAT LASTS FOR WEEKS WAS A GOOD IDEA?
New York magazine

WHO EVER THOUGHT THAT BRIGHT PINK MEAT THAT LASTS FOR WEEKS WAS A GOOD IDEA?

Deli Meat Is Rotten

time-read
10+ dak  |
Nov 18-Dec 1, 2024