Tape 007: Sprout up
Intentional and botanically inspired playlists to nourish your roots
A playlist inspired by the buddings of Spring and all the things.
Sprout up to these varietal sounds and rock meditation that will be sure to get your buds warmed, sensory systems refined and your creativity sprouting. An experimental journey through sound to break through the surface to reveal your most vibrant and vivacious creations.
Bringing a varietal of vibes for this month’s horti tape this playlist offers another exploration into cross-pollinated rhythms, experimental percussion and spaced out disco textures. Overflowing with quirky sonic geometries, sprout up! perks up the ears with unique textures and sequencing. From the Yin-ning of winter we gradually shift towards more Yang. More movement. More heat. Dripping with catalyzing sounds like the leaves of the Peperomia polybotrya, let your seeds begin to sprout up to these songs and get your butts up and boogie or sit your butts down on a rock and meditate. It’s a full spectrum experience of the interconnected interplay of the season through sound.
Playlist Sourcing and Sequencing:
- Madera - Rapossa Remix - Rapossa’s Spotify “about” reads all that really needs to be said: “Only World...Only Music...Only Love” bringing us in with a chilled out downtempo remix of ANuT and MoM’s Madera.
-
Sparks - Antenna coming in with some funky electronica. Currently based in Russia, hanging with his cat, making jams. This guy is a new find that’s making an appearance twice on this playlist because of his ability to lure you in with his cosmic synths and galactic breakdowns as if you’re time travelling in a psychedelic twilight zone.
-
La Nina del Volcan (Polocorp Remix) - this one’s been on repeat. An experimental track with vivid vocals by Eva de Marce and sharp arpeggiated synth, bells, chimes and tinny percussion. YoSoyMatt depicts his Mexican childhood in his tropical beats remixed here by French musician, composer & DJ, Polocorp.
-
Kahana (Luca Musto Remix) - Another tropical and tinny timbre with this remix. I’m admittedly a total Luca Musto fangirl. He can do no wrong with his production in my book. A more experimental sound that’s heavy on electronics. He has a unique ability to extract soul from even the most digital productions and chooses just the right tempos.
-
Sunday Glide - Kermesse, a trio from Buenos Aires influenced by the Berlin scene, eastern melodies and their south american roots brings a feel good vibe with a vision of blue skies and the love from above.
-
Ways of the Sun (Jimi Jules Remix) - Sunny days ahead. This remix of Frankie & Sandrino + la Oberg’s Way of the Sun by Swiss House maestro Jimi Jules has a bright and funky synth with dub delay accents for hints of the sunshine that keeps peeking through the cold and cloudy days. .
- All Night (Ilija Rudman Remix) - Love the bouncy vibe from Croatia based producer, Ilija Rudman who remixed this nice 2010 vintage track by Voltage. Ilija slowed the tempo ever so slightly to make it jussssst right for allll night listening without exhausting your eardrums.
-
Etranges nuages (Yuksek Remix) - Yuksek remixes one of French producer, musician, composer Bertrand Bergalat’s nouvelle vague (new wave) tracks from the 90’s and it’s FUNKY.
-
Anestesiada (Dan Solo Remix) - Venezuelan dance band giving us latin infused disco to get our sprouts warm and a-wiggling.
-
Nattergal (Original Mix) - Just some chill space disco vibes from Diskobiestet that has me dreaming of cosmic poolside hangs bathing sipping sparkling elixirs under the radiance of our star.
-
Tonight (Adam Port 12” Autobahn Edit) - Like a bird flying through the sky, this one’s a slow glide and a nice track to fly to, cruise to or commute to. The vocals don’t kick in until the end which is my favorite part.
-
Home - Short and sweet, this minimal track by J Lisk is a simple pick me up beat that will make you want to take him home.
-
Love 66 - Antenna made it on here twice. A new find from a couple months back and another spacey disco cruiser.
-
Familiar Stranger (Day) - I was originally turned on by Bison’s Familiar Stranger (Night) version however felt the Day was a bit more fitting for this playlist. Also a sucker for psychedelic electric guitar riffs.
-
Empty Bones - Scrolling through your friends stories doesn’t always have to lead to FOMO. This time scrolling led me to this track which I’ve had on repeat all weekend long while I was upstate.
-
Marcel - A nostalgic track for friends with benefits…
-
Lovers Do - Time to let the birds and the bees do their thang. It is mating season after all...
- The River (Edit) - This song was shared with me years ago at the end of a kundalini yoga class. After having finished a heart opening meditation, one of those meditations where you feel such an overwhelming and embodied connection to everything and everyone in each of your cells, the teacher, born and raised in Uganda, then pressed played and this song came through the speakers. Close your eyes and just listen to the words of Ugandan artist Geoffrey Oryema’s. “Paint me a picture of a river, and let it flow, just let it flow, it will flow and wash away our differences and love will grow…” He uses language to paint a surreal and empowering sonic landscape where one can actually feel the human body made of these earthly elements hydrated by the liquids of the celestial bodies and rivers that flow within. With poetic verses like: “you can drink the silver of my moonlight as our fire burns…” I envisioned myself as the soil sipping glittering waters from the watering crystal.
Warm Rock Meditation:
Spring is a time of rebirth and resurrection. Parts of each of us die during the Winter only to be transformed and rebirth anew in the Spring. Clipping or dropping leaves to fertilize growth for new buds to sprout. Winter allows us to enter into the darkness of ourselves to discern what we want or need to let go of: old thought patterns, emotional loops or physical limitations that might be preventing us from blossoming to our full potential. Spring allows us to flex our creativity and from the transformative times in the dark we break above the surface to rebirth, resurrecting what served our best life in the season’s past. Take this time to enter the darkness of yourself with closed eyes to let your heart rise towards the sun. With this Rock Meditation let yourself feel grounded in this process of transition and transformation, let your cells fill up and photosynthesize the light of the sun to provide you with the energy you need for your buds to sprout through the surface...
On the next sunny and warm day find a comfortable rock to perch on...
- Close your eyes.
- Allow your chest to rise and the shoulders to relax down and back.
- Connect to the rock beneath you and bring your awareness to your breathe
- Allow your skin to soak up the warmth of the sun in every cell
- Feel your breath moving into your belly and connect to your solar power
- Sip in the air through your mouth as if drinking the golden rays of the sun
- Exhale through your nose
- Continue sipping in through the mouth and out through the nose
- Let each breath in fill you with energy, with light, with life.
- On each breath out relax and renew
- Let the sounds of the birds and the bees flutter inside of you
Backstory:
I love watching lizards sunbath and warm themselves on rocks as they start to come out of hibernation. How they open their hearts to meet the sun. They just close their eyes and are fully connected to everything that surrounds them. Their sensory system so refined that with eyes closed they know if someone is approaching their rock. This was my inspiration for the meditation. To allow ourselves to be fully present, peaceful, content while simultaneously completely alert and aware and senses so refined that we can sense the subtle changes in the air.
