tulip's digital diary

trying to figure out my music taste

a few months ago, i decided to that i was going to be brave. this was going to be a big step for me. it was time... to ask around for music recommendations.

i don't actually know very much about music, and i've always felt ashamed of that fact. like, i have some game soundtracks saved, because i'm already familiar with how they sound. and... that's it. no spotify, no bands or artists that i'm ride or die for, no nothin. just a few gigs worth of soundtracks.

normally, when i'm working on art, i prefer to listen to something that involves people talking. over the years, i've listened to podcasts, streams, informative videos, etc; generally, anything where the host(s) are speaking clearly, and about a topic i'm vaguely interested in hearing about. if i don't have that background noise, i tend to get too lost in my own head while working on art, and get overly self-critical about the thing i'm making.

but... if i'm working on writing or coding, i can't concentrate if there's someone speaking at all. it's immensely distracting to me. so i decided to listen to music instead. turns out, the right music really helps me focus when i'm typing! and after a few years of listening to the same dozen soundtracks over and over, i finally wondered if i should expand my collection a little.

hence: me being brave, and taking the step to ask around online for recommendations. to my surprise, i got an overwhelming response! people were really eager to share recommendations, which was sweet but also a lot for me to take in. on bluesky, it quickly spiraled out of my usual orbit, and i got a lot of randos who absolutely did not understand the assignment. (like every other post on bluesky.)

so, i thought it'd be interesting to take some time and examine what i do and don't like in music. it's normally really difficult for me to articulate this to other people, especially under a character limit. but i feel more comfortable rambling on my blog!

what i DON'T want

so, what DO i want...?

i'm gonna link some songs that i really like, and try my best to describe what i love about them.

closing my eyes. taking a deep sigh of relief as i listen to this song. i can feel myself running my hands through clear water, as a cool mist envelops me. the combination of lo-fi bass with ethereal piano segments is mesmerizing to me. this is, without a doubt, my favorite song. the first time i ever heard it, i was so struck by how much it represented my music taste. it has a very special place in my heart

i love the Mario Artist OSTs, so it's hard for me to narrow down songs to examine. this one is one of the BGM options for the drawing mode in Paint Studio, and it's always the one i pick. i love how this song floats back and forth in a somewhat consistent rhythm. it's so easy for me to go into The Zone while listening to this. which makes sense - a lot of songs in the Mario Artist "suite" are designed to be background music while you're focusing on a project. i'm also a big fan of the instrument samples in this song.

Kaze no Notam is a relatively recent favorite of mine. released in 1997 by Artdink for the PlayStation, Kaze no Notam is about flying hot air balloons over low-poly environments. the goals of the game are somewhat abstract - in practice, it's closer to being an interactive album. i LOVE so much about this game: the weird, experimental nature of it, the way it looks, and the soundtrack.

picking a song off the soundtrack was a bit of a tough call. i'm also partial to the faster-paced D&B energy in Discovery, for what it's worth. Tranquility starts off slow, and gradually begins to float up into the air, soaring through the skies. i'm particularly fond of the piano that starts at around the 1:18 mark. something about the... chords? i think? the way it steps around is very satisfying to me. listening to this always makes me feel like i'm bouncing from cloud to cloud, as the sun begins to set...

also another recent favorite! i didn't play SimCity 3000 growing up - just SimCity 2000. but last year i watched LGR's video on SC3000, and i was floored by how good the soundtrack was. i think South Bridge is probably my favorite from the OST. it's the kind of jazz that makes me want to kick back with a good cup of coffee on a dreary, rainy day.

yes. Weather Channel music. i am dead serious. here's the thing: when i was young, my mom would often put Weatherscan on the TV for some background noise. this warped my taste in music forever, and now all i crave is 90s synths flavored with smooth jazz. i love the ... bass? i think it's the bass. another song that makes me think of looking out at the rain.

one of the few non-"soundtrack" albums i own. a friend recommended Soshi Takeda's work to me and i was instantly smitten. this album was my first Bandcamp Friday purchase!! i always end up swaying back and forth happily while listening to this song. the part that kicks in around 2:32 is so nice. i love how this song has a slow, rhythmic buildup to that guitar(?) echoing in the distance. then the song seems to gradually drift away, before floating beyond the horizon...

this song only plays in the photography-themed VR missions in Metal Gear Solid 2. this song really stuck with me when i first heard it. makes me nostalgic for my Photographer Era in college, which coincides pretty closely with when i played MGS2 for the first time. it reminds me of taking my black-and-white film camera downtown, trying to get interesting shots of tall buildings...

anyway, i'm really into this funky blend of electronic synths, camera shutter samples, and kinda jazzy vibes.

and finally, let's close out this lengthy post with...

if you already knew about the Tetris (CD-i) soundtrack, you're a real one. i'm saluting you. it's got a bit of that 90s cheesy flavor, but it's not sharp or funky. it's smooooooth. if this song was a cheese, i would say it's mascarpone. love how dream-like this is. the piano is nice. perfect song to space out and play puzzle games to, preferably with a side of animated, compressed stock photos. i've heard that Tetris (CD-i) is not very good to play, but i love to rotate it in my mind, regardless.

WHEW!! if you made it to the end of this post, please feel free to drop recommendations for albums and artists you think i might like. i prefer to have an offline collection of music to listen to, so links to Bandcamp pages or other storefronts i can buy music from would be wonderful. at the very least, it was a lot of fun compiling songs that i really like, and seeing all the thematic overlap between them...

#music #thoughts