Her stars Joaquin Phoenix as a broken hearted man in the near future in Los Angeles. In one scene he gets in a crowded elevator and tells his phone to play him a melancholy song. It’s melancholy, really melancholy, but not exactly what Joaquin is looking for. “Play a different melancholy song” Joaquin says. It’s a funny beat but it tells you everything you need to know about Joaquin’s character and the world he lives in. But it got me thinking, we’re living in a world pretty close to joaquin’s. I can’t tell my phone to instantly play me a melancholy song suited to my personal tastes… yet.
For today’s show I used the iTunes Genius Mix to generate playlists using The Breeders “Off You” as the seed. Why don’t you try iTunes or Pandora or Spotify to generate a playlist for you based on one of your favorite melancholy songs and tell me what you came up with.
- Her Soundtrack “Different Melancholy Song”
- The Breeders “Off You”
- ID
- This Mortal Coil “You And Your Sister”
- Nico “The Fairest Of The Seasons”
- Wye Oak “Doubt”
- Cat Power “He Turns Down”
- Symbols of the West “Come Alive”
- ID
- Sonic Youth “Shadow Of A Doubt”
- Blonde Redhead “Missile”
- Bauhaus “Silent Hedges”
- Throwing Muses “Fish”
- Dinosaur Jr. “Repulsion”
- Embrace “Money”
- ID
- My Bloody Valentine “What You Want”
- Spacemen 3 “Take Me To The Other Side”
- Suicide “Cheree”