If you are an avid reader of the Weather Vane, you would know that I have inadvertently become the Weather Vane’s resident music reviewer. One fun idea that the co-editors came up with is to have me review Spotify playlists. I liked the idea so I agreed. 

The first playlist that I have listened to is called “all the riley hits” and made by a current Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) senior Riley Quezada. The 6.5 hour long playlist is long and contains a wide range of genres and styles of music, which I really appreciated. I tend to err on the side of happy-go-lucky, whimsical, folk-indie-pop music so hearing mostly new music was an experience I enjoyed. 

I’m not going to talk about the whole playlist because otherwise we’d be here forever, so I’m going to focus mainly on the songs and elements of the playlist I liked and didn’t like. 

One song that was on the playlist that I unexpectedly liked was “Touch-Tone Telephone” by Lemon Demon. The song starts off with a cute little acapella moment. It then dives into a fun electro-poppy sound with a bunch of overlapping layers and swimming sounds. I’m not quite sure how to describe it, just go give it a listen. 

I also loved the song “Life By The Sea” by Tubbo and CG5. This song is very much in line with my normal music taste, which is probably part of the reason I enjoyed it so much. But I think I enjoyed it because the lyrics feel really relatable as it speaks to needing a break and space to breathe amidst the craziness of current life. 

There was a section of about 10 songs by the band Lovejoy. I will admit, this is not my favorite section of the playlist. Lovejoy is an indie rock band that has a very heavy rock sound. By about the fifth song of theirs, it all started sounding the same to me, something that I don’t love when bands do. I would much rather listen to a band that explores the limits of their sound rather than staying stuck in the rut of one sound. 

One unexpected joy of this playlist was some songs by Twenty One Pilots and Yung Gravy, two artists that I would not ordinarily listen to. But because of their songs being on this playlist, I have discovered two new songs that I actually really like: “We Don’t Believe What’s on TV” and “Betty (Get Money)” respectively. 

Overall, the eclecticness of this playlist is its standout feature. The main genre is a fun punk-rock sound, but with some rap, musicals, folk, and pop thrown in there. I greatly appreciate the idea that playlists are made to group songs of one vibe together, but I also like a playlist full of musical exploration, and this playlist definitely falls into the latter category. This is one playlist that I will listen to over and over again because it is so fun and full of so much variety.

I honestly wish I could sum this playlist up into a nice little sentence that summarizes the whole thing, but I really can’t. There is simply so much musical goodness here that I can’t. Enjoy the musical journey that it takes you on! 

Scan the QR code to listen to this playlist!