Last summer I was invited to a dinner party at the house of some friends. When I asked what I could bring, the hostess suggested that I make a playlist to accompany the evening. So my covered dish for the evening was a curated digital list of songs to set background to our conversation and enjoyment of excellent food. I was called on to bring a similar dish to Thanksgiving, and I am currently working on the menu for a Christmas party this weekend. I have found this new style of cuisine as challenging and exciting as any recipe I have prepared for guests, and as much as I may stress over choices, I have come to really love it and see it as my attempt at a gift to all who attend.
Of course, the playlist is nothing new. From written lists to prepared mixtapes, music lovers have been putting together thematic groupings of favorite songs for years. However, these efforts have always been limited by the practicalities of storage and portage. The advent of the digital era has made the combining of long lists of songs possible, and services like Spotify give access to nearly unlimited resources from which to choose, elevating playlist composition to a true art (I am not suggesting I am an artist in my playlists, or if I am, it is on the level with “sandwich artist”).
It is risky and intimidating to share a playlist with those for whom you have respect. Musical taste is one of those credentials that joins groups. We assume that our friends have similar tastes to our own, and though we are understanding of a degree of idiosyncrasy, finding another’s tastes completely different is like being surprised by a major difference in political beliefs. There is a legitimate fear of being judged for ones choices, which makes the creation process a tightrope of the safe and the authentically personal.
Another challenge of bespoke playlist creation (yes, I am using that word ironically) is fitting choices to the occasion. While you are bringing songs for your friends to hear, you are not bringing songs for them to listen. A playlist like this is background music. If everyone is silently listening to the songs, the party is failing. However, you hope for your effort that the music isn’t essentially white noise, that there is some recognition of what’s playing and that this is not accident, but curation. A perfect reaction would be an occasional pause, punctuated by someone commenting on how much they like a song, or a comment about the artist, or an anecdote about seeing the band, before resuming other topics. A nod with the comment “good choice,” is all the thanks I ever need.
Tomorrow I will comment on the specific challenges of composing a playlist for a Christmas party.
As always, I welcome your comments.
If we did not have “understanding of a degree of idiosyncrasy,” none of us would ever speak to anyone who had ever listened to Radiohead or Coldplay or –unforgivable, indeed–U-2.