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Matt Madurski's avatar

This is an interesting thought experiment. I definitely have playlists in my mind that evoke summer, but generally haven't considered seasonal -- or even monthly -- playlists that evoke the feelings of those times.

Some good tracks here! I'm going to have to chew on this some more, but appreciate the thoughtful review of what September "sounds like."

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Sadie's avatar

I’d love to hear your thoughts after you’ve had some time to ponder! Every year around the time I notice how the music I listen to shifts into a more cozy, fall kind of vibe, so I thought I’d explore what that transition is like in a playlist.

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NickS (WA)'s avatar

If you're still interested in a substack music league, there's one just getting started. See here -- https://shapedbysound.substack.com/p/the-times-are-tough-now-just-getting

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NickS (WA)'s avatar

This is a timely post for me. I recently joined a music league; it still feels new, and I'm thinking through each prompt. Next week we have to select a September song. My first thought was the Ella & Louis duet on "Stars Fell On Alabama" which is warm and sweet and slow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIz4ejx5fCs

But I'm not sure if that would feel too old fashioned so, at the moment, I'm thinking about Jimmy Buffett's "He Went To Paris" -- I the taking stock of the ups and downs of life fits the September song idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swtrlrOQw5E

But I will check out your playlist and see what you've picked.

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Sadie's avatar

Wow! I love the idea of a music league! How did you get in to that?? These songs are also very September! Thanks for sharing!!

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NickS (WA)'s avatar

I was invited to join a long running league by a friend of a friend. Part of the fun and part of the frustration comes from not knowing the other people and having slightly different musical tastes than the default for the group. But that does make it satisfying when I can pick something that does click for other people.

I remember someone on Notes trying to organize a music league several months ago. I don't remember who, but let me ask.

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Sadie's avatar

Thanks! Let me know what you find out! It sounds like a really cool thing to be a part of!

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NickS (WA)'s avatar

Hopefully you're not giving up on music league yet . . . (or, if you are, hopefully you have more fun things to do with your time).

I feel a bit like I'm out of sync with the musical tastes of the group, but I'm also planning on giving it a while longer to see how it evolves.

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Sadie's avatar

Thanks for reaching out, Nick! I’ll definitely give it another try. I also felt kind of like an outlier in the group but I’ll give it another try next week!

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NickS (WA)'s avatar

I'd encourage you to give it another try, but also understand if you decide that it isn't worth it. At some point, I was feeling frustrated and described music league as, "a machine for making me second guess myself." Because it felt like whatever I chose I would always think, "should I picked something else? Could I have described it better?"

I'm not yet sure where this league will go. My hope is that it becomes an opportunity for people to share music and learn something from each other's tastes.

To date I think the music that people are choosing is good, but it feels like there's very little exchange happening -- people mostly vote for songs they already know and like -- which feels not very interesting to me.

But, I remind myself, it's early, and everyone is still trying to figure out what they want from music league. I don't know that it will end up being what I want, but it's worth giving it a little more of a chance.

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NickS (WA)'s avatar

I haven't heard anything from anybody on substack, but you could just try joining an open league with strangers to try it out. That's always less interesting than playing with people that you have some connection with, or are vetted in some way. But if you want to check it out: https://app.musicleague.com/home/

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