Playlist for the week of April 9, 2021

This is a bummer playlist packed with bangers. I don’t think I know too many people who don’t that think the world is probably going to end in our lifetime, so I wanted to put something together that plays on happiness despite the world being on fire around us. Nostalgia plays a big role in this playlist. There are some direct songs from my own childhood like the Brittney and My Chemical Romance tracks, but also I wanted to show songs that played with that familiarity in a new way. Oklou uses a quote from K-Ci and Jojo’s All My Life, Blank Banshee uses Windows XP sounds as melodic material, and Deaton Chris Anthony covers Fergie’s Big Girls Don’t Cry and then takes the rest of the track into a completely different direction. We’re not okay, but, damn it, if we’re not going to have a good time anyways. —Phong Tran

About Phong Tran

Phong Tran is a Brooklyn-based composer, electronic musician, and visual artist. Much of his work is developed through late night wikipedia dives while obsessing over things like simulation theory, abstract story structure, Dungeons & Dragons, and vaporwave eccojams. Phong actively performs in MEDIAQUEER, a synthesizer and violin duo formed in 2018 with Darian Thomas. His work has been released through people | places | records and slashsound. More »

Metropolis Radio: Fill your day with music from the Metropolis community

In 2020-21, we created a weekly series of curated Spotify playlists from Metropolis composers and performers. We supported over 40 artists directly through this project during the pandemic.