The Quaranzine Feel Good Playlist
Photography Christopher Dickens
A collection of eclectic beats to keep you afloat
This issue’s playlist is very special. Rather than coming, as it usually does, from a resident DJ, this time is a collective effort, curated by the Quaranzine team.
Yes, we’ve taken music matters into our own hands, and asked our friends to contribute to this mixtape with a significant song. After a year into the pandemic, we thought it important to seek out the beats that have helped keep us afloat, and collect them into this musical snapshot of a year none of us will never forget.
We wanted this playlist to carry through all of the positive musical energy we know is running through everyone, in beautiful and unexpected ways.
Some chose songs about travelling, nostalgic of a time when that was possible. There’s a German word for it, fernweh (literal translation: far-sickness); it describes the longing to be elsewhere, away from your own home. For them, sticking on a particular album or song has the potential to take them outside of their four walls. It could be a long trip down memory lane, or a short one, back to those warm summer days we cling to so dearly during the winter.
Others associate a song with a pivotal, happy memory from the past year. A silver lining they keep playing over and over in their head. For a few, it’s about finding in music a space for reflection and solace, sometimes even accepting the darker nuances that come with trying times.
This playlist is as unpredictable and chaotic as the year that was. Expect drastic genre clashes: from smooth jazz vibes to afro-beat, from mellow electronic grooves to body shakers, from dance tunes to hip-hop. Whatever the mood may be, this mixtape’s got you covered. Just press play and enjoy.
The following are not just any tracks; each of of them has been someone’s most important song of 2020. Below you can read why our contributors chose them and what makes them so meaningful.
Time after Time by Cyndi Lauper
“This was / is my shower song throughout Covid times. It is a big nostalgia trip for me, as it reminds me of road tripping around New Zealand as a young'n. We used to pump an 80's singles cassette in our ancient, but very loyal Mitsubishi van. I love escaping the world's current situation by reflecting on my childhood.”
Alex, @spartahavana
Let The Sunshine In by Les petit Chanteurs D’Asniers
“For the first half of 2020 I was unemployed and very grateful to be eligible for government benefits, which essentially kept me afloat during the pandemic. This song was a pivotal player in my daily routine. Get up, bust out. This is it.”
Josh, @winnebaygo
Summer Is Almost Here by Jon Humble
“This lockdown year I’ve been taking care of my beloved toddler. I had grand plans to take a trip to Vancouver to see my family out there, and for my daughter to meet her Grandad. 2020 also happened to be the year that my dad at last released some of his music out into the world.
‘Summer is Almost Here’ was a song I played on repeat for my daughter this last year. As January 2021 rolled around with still more of the pandemic and ongoing restrictions, the song became even more relevant and served in granting me a glimmer of light. The song is set towards the tail end of the winter, ‘where every day feels like a new era dawning, there’s a big change in the air,’ and describes the loneliness of winter — which aptly reflected the mood of 2020, which is like a harsh, endless winter in many ways. It speaks of ‘spring coming,’ and then, how ‘summer is almost here’.
This song provided me a means for my daughter and dad to connect through the power of music, and it reminded me of my humble family lineage. We love to angle towards an optimistic spin on our most challenging times. Thank you, dad!”
Belle, singer, songwriter and sound healer, @bellehumble
5 Dollars by Christine and the Queens
“Played daily when I shut my laptop to help me move from work to life time. Our kitchen table is our office desk for the two of us and the kitchen and living room are one room, so it’s easy to feel like even when you shut the laptop after the working day and you take the three steps to the sofa, you are still at work. Putting music on is a really important way for me to make the transition from work into play. I don’t often listen to music when I work (if I do it’s classical and zero lyrics), so music for me represents down / playtime.
Not sure why this song in particular! I think I have a very clear memory of being tipsy in a flat in Istanbul and having the best boogie with friends so perhaps it’s my link to ‘better times and freedom to travel.’”
Jess, @jessicarosefox
Everywhere by Michelle Branch
“We moved into a new flat in March - the day before lockdown part one — and we made a playlist for our little balcony (the one place we could go), sipping cocktails in the sunshine. It became an anthem for the entirety of the year.”
Karim
California Daze by Peace
“I started seeing an amazing guy in the Summer of 2020 and we listened to this song over a weekend we spent away together and it sort of became our song (cringe but true). Shortly after, we found out his job would be transferring him overseas. The song kind of feels like an ode to 'the one that got away' and it became all the more cathartic after he left. I've listened to the song a lot and I find it more uplifting than sad. The year certainly didn't pan out the way so many of us hoped or expected, but there were still moments of good and happiness in there.”
Hannah, @hanrob
CROWN by CHIKA
“This song is my pick for 2020 because you can’t listen to it and not feel happy. The production, gospel sounding choir and the uplifting lyrics never fail to make me feel a million times better. Every-time it comes on shuffle, I embody the queen I am. Keeps you looking forward for a more positive future full of hope and expectation, feeling empowered and capable of whatever it is you want to achieve. You do YOU. Don’t let anybody take your CROWN! The whole song culminates and is encapsulated by the line “When it’s all said and done, won’t nothin’ feel much better than hearin’, “My n****, you won” which gets me absolutely FIRED UP every. single. time.”
Alex, @alexoxoxx
No Stress by Tycho
“The song is special because its notes feel like summer and sunshine, and its words are true and inspiring, so it brought light in times of darkness.”
Odette, @odette_niemand
A.P.I.D.T.A by Jay Electronica
“The original of this song, from Khruangbin, sends me straight back to Mexico. The happy place in me. But this Jay Electronica remix feels better suited for a pandemic year — it keeps the mellow instrumentals whilst layering it with bittersweet vocals. It makes the song very moving.”
Ramzey, @ramzeysabbagh
White Rose by Flyte
“It was on repeat throughout this year when I needed a few minutes of solace. The white roses in the back garden have continued to flower all year (with no care at all from us) and remind me that despite the melancholy that sometimes swells, there are things to ground us, like hope for better days. The roses that someone else planted decades ago continue to bloom.”
Olivia, @oliviaejones
Dune by Underworld
“This is the song I have found most calming over the past year, I just put it on and slip away to a happy peaceful state of mind.”
Rory, @theroryjohn
Baguetti by Smino
“This one was always the first on Spotify to kick off my walks (something that took on a great importance in the midst of lockdown).”
Richard, @richrich_dj
Crazy World by Aslan
“This song is upbeat and looks forward with hope and happiness. Seemed apt this year as our world is crazy — we all need protection but all is not lost.”
Alison, @alisonmbkelly
Carnival by Kevin Devine
“This song is one of many that helped me get in touch with the other side of my mind. I started to appreciate the joy in darker moments, rather than forcing myself out of them. I found there’s a lot to be learnt about yourself while experiencing sadness.”
James, @cristianprince
Rules by Doja Cat
“Choosing this song because it’s got such a party vibe and is the kind of song you’d listen to before a night out or at a festival. It reminds me that better days and parties are still to come.”
Jorja
Maajo by Maajo
“The song that got me through 2020 was Maajo by Maajo. This song has the poncho effect on me. Meaning in the same way it’s impossible to wear a poncho and be unhappy, you can’t listen to this song with a frown. It’s such an easy listen that I’ve played it on repeat and will never tire of its pure vibes. The maracas bring pure joy and peace and settle my busy mind.”
Amy, @amytasty
Moonage Daydream by David Bowie
“It was the height of pandemic no. 1, and my new housemates were obsessed with karaoke. I'd hear snatches of this sexy glam rock song being belted out by my housemate Pete at all hours, not knowing it was a David Bowie classic. This song will always remind me of the glories of that spring; of newly living in a warehouse with 10 fantastic humans, and of my own in-house space and sci-fi expert.”
Michelle, writer and educator @michellemangal
Ignorantes by Bad Bunny ft. SECH
“A beautiful, accurate and inappropriate breakup song written by a rapper who has been in a very cute, very functional relationship for at least two years. You can dance and cry at the same time, which is essential during this pandemic.”
Carmen, social worker @carmen_maria416
Petit Sékou by Bembeya Jazz National
“Hypnotizing electric guitar by a legendary Guinean band. The guitar solos by Sekou ‘Diamond Fingers’ Diabaté make me think of a spaghetti western set in the ’70s. I get lost in the smoke and funk. I love that belly laugh that comes about a third of the way in the track, just when things start getting a bit too serious.”
Sarah-Grace, designer @funinreno
Fruit Basket by Osaka Monaurail
“Our summer anthem, played non-stop at every single lunch in the sunshine or birthday. Pure good vibes!”
Claudia, @claud.ap
Paspatou by Parra for Cuva
“2020. The year the nights sometimes felt so long and the silence so loud. This song reminded me to always be ready to live, to love, to give, to break, to sacrifice and to soar...
But most of all the song felt like hope. It lit my imagination for the adventures to come and brought light to the days that felt like soggy rain clouds.
P.s- if the silence is loud... turn up the volume.”
Charlotte
Expressing What Matters by Disclosure
“This song is full of amazing memories of this summer for me, where it was played on repeat in the afternoon and into the night, especially in the early days when we were finally allowed to see each other outside. I had been toying with the idea of DJing and producing for years and years, having dabbled at house parties here and there, and ended up including this song in my first official set for my friend’s birthday. And when I watched Disclosure playing live in Croatia at the end of the summer (livestream) it inspired me to put myself out there and livestream too.”
Monte Carlo by Remi Wolf
“2020 is the year I made my own feel good playlist and pretty much rinsed it. It was 90% Remi. Her music just drips with colour and her joy is infectious. Pure pop on steroids with a droplet of something trippy, how can you not? Monte Carlo was my ticket to the funfair, but any song takes you where you need to be.”
Maddalena, Editor & Co-Founder of Quaranzine, @vattima
My Block by Che Lingo
“Lockdown number one was, for me, a time without music. Perhaps it was the uniquely depressing circumstance of a national lockdown, but I just sort of forgot it was there. I must have been on YouTube for some other reason when I came across My Block —suggested videos, or something like that. Something about the jaw-dropping aesthetics (in my home borough, no less), strikingly dissonant beat, super slick wordplay and righteous, burning anger (I heard this at the height of the George Floyd protests) – bearing in mind I had not heard any music for weeks – was, quite honestly, a little overwhelming. Basically, it woke me up again to the world. For that reason alone, My Block deserves to be my song of 2020.”
Will, Editor of Quarazine, @willjhaa
The Awakening of a Woman (Burnout) by Cinematic Orchestra
“Over the summer this song solidified its place as an important one for 2020. I’d listen with headphones, running or working at home. It kept me focused and relaxed and gave me relief from the ever-changing circumstance around me. Music was very important in allowing me to keep my freelance space moving and this song in particular kept me in the right mindset to adapt to whatever came.”
Chris, Art Director at Quaranzine, @c.dickens
Ayonha by Hamid Al Asheeri
“I have always enjoyed music mainly because of the lyrics but this Year I have found myself listening to a lot of music in different languages to my own. I have wondered whether this is because I don’t truly understand how I feel and therefore cannot connect to the lyrics of the songs I used to love in the same way. This upbeat song has lifted me out of bad and low moods throughout this period. I’m told it is about falling in love and in a way I feel like this time has been about rediscovery of self, which fits nicely.”
Flora Zeman, co Art Director at Quaranzine @flora_zeman
Never in Your Sun by Stevie Wonder
“2020 was the year I started walking everywhere, rain or shine, for hours at a time. A bicycle, I’ve been told, would speed things along, but I can’t remember the last time I was in a rush.
Long walks require a soundtrack you can bop to. With synthesisers, harmonica and, of course, that voice (was there ever a better one-man band?), this Stevie Wonder track was a bright spot in a strange summer, following me through parks, along canals, and on quieted high streets.”
Allyssia, Founder of Quaranzine, (@allyssiaalleyne)
The Quaranzine Feel Good Playlist is an on ongoing project. If you wish to contribute, email us at quaranzinezinezine@gmail.com
