Hey there, everyone! We’re back this week with another playlist of exciting picks, and we’ve got another Special Guest! Guest Playlists allow someone new gets to take over and showcase their unique tastes and viewpoints on music! And you never know, you may find a brand new favorite song or artist you’ve never heard of before!
Playlists are posted here every week on Wednesday, so check back to see what new picks we’ve got for you!
This week’s Special Guest Curator is one of the most inventive musicians I’ve ever met, Aurora Rush! Their taste in music is extensive, which is reflective in the incredible music they create as a solo artist as well as apart of the band The Pof alongside one of our past Guest Curators, Matt Subers! Rory does it all, with videos and graphics to compliment the unique music they make. So I’ll let them take it over and dive into their picks for this week!
About our author…
Hey! My name Aurora, but you can call me Rory 🙂 I am a multi-media artist from Glenmoore, PA. I’ve been making music since I was 16, I play drums, sing, rap, and also produce all my own music on a beautiful device called the “OP-1”under the artist name “ARORY”. I’m also in a band called The POF. My first love was drawing and creating art, as a kid I would draw all over, cut up, and design my own clothes, I still do ! Once I fell in love with music it has been the center focus of my career, I love making my own music video and music videos in general, its my favorite thing to do 🙂
Heres some links to my music and The POF’s music :~)
Rory’s Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3a3aR8igLL22uc8MnqDhwd?si=lcq9HO1VRvWI5qSq1zqYTA
The POF’s Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1ItIqqGbftF4AYfD0wHfrS?si=VZKCaFVsS0-AOJnuJT3R1g
Rory’s Playlist
- “WHO I AM” by TORO Y MOI
The first time I heard this song I was in my friends car. The 80’s dance groove to this song instantly had me hooked. When I heard the lyrics “who cares about the party? I came to see the band play” that resonated with me like cookies and milk. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to a party or house show and someone will start talking to me and I always try to quickly end the conversation or just sort of not pay attention because I just “came to see the band play” that might come off as rude to people, but anyone who truly knows me knows that is just who I am, just like this song lol. I always find myself getting lost in the song playing at parties, whether there is a band playing it or its just playing off of someone’s phone.
2. “FRONTAL LOBE MUZIK” by DANIEL CAESAR and PHARRELL WILLIAMS
This is one of those songs that I feel like I can sing every single word. I am so incredibly inspired by everything Pharrell Williams produces, his signature 1234 count in that he does in every song gets me every time. The frontal lobe are the pairs of lobes in your brain directly behind your forehead, including areas concerned with behavior, learning, personality, and voluntary movement. This song definitely taps into that part of my brain personally, there’s something to learn with every song to me, even if it doesn’t contain any words. When Pharrell so beautifully belts, “Never keep it inside (ay)/ Let it out so everybody around you know what it feels like (yeah)“. That gets me every single time, I loose it. That statement is honestly just so important to me as simple as it is, and honestly something I’ve always lived by, before I even heard this song.
3. “FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE” by RAURY and BIG K.R.I.T
When this song comes on I just want to sit down and get into a meditative position. Raury is an artist and overall person who inspires me so much. I love everything he’s doing in his music and his positive message of spreading love and respecting this planet we live on. I believe I first heard this song in 2016, back then it exploded my brain, and to this day it still does. The lyrics to this song are so undeniably impressive and have so much depth in them. It focuses on all the things in this universe and world we are unaware of, and if we did, maybe your whole life would change. This one like sticks out to me a lot. “Is God a man watching TV like people? Rewinding his favorite parts to play it back like it’s Tivo”. This suggests that God takes a more passive role within the universe. Instead of actively working within the world to do good, he is only a bystander, watching for amusement. Really makes me think. Another line that tingles my spine is “I have some shocking memories as a kid Waking up onto a table, a lab, some typa bizz Too vivid to be a nightmare, mom would tell me that shit can’t remember anything that they did, guess that’s forbidden knowledge”.
4. “I DON’T KNOW ABOUT HIM” by ROY BLAIR
Anyone who knows me knows I am a complete Roy Blair Stan. This song really puts me in my feels to be completely honest. I’m not exactly sure who “him” is, but I feel maybe its up for interpretation. To me, I interpret it in like a past self way, and I can definitely relate that to myself. I’ve done a lot of blossoming as of late and really digging deep into who I truly am, it hasn’t been easy to say the least, I have been unlearning and learning everyday, and learning from/ forgetting about the past is what this song feels like to me. The crazy new 90’s drum and bass break absolutely makes this song, and of course the beautiful vocal samples/ insane whaling synths towards the last chorus.
5. “MILK” by BROCKHAMPTON
This song is absolutely vulnerable and unapologetically real. BROCKHAMPTON is a very important and huge part of my musical inspiration. Their whole story of leaving everything behind and trusting their vision is what I’m all about honestly. This song talks a lot of self identity and betterment as the chorus says “I gotta get better at being me (being who I am)/I gotta get better at everything (being who I am) /I just want a friend I can hang out with (being who I am)/ Someone I can sit around, lay on the couch with (being who I am)“. This is yet another song that absolutely puts me in my bag. The lyrics mean so very much to me. I have always stuggled with self acceptance and seing me for me, but I have come so incredibly far within the past months, BROCKHAMPTON’s music was definitely there for me along that journey, and all my journeys.
6. “MELONPAN” by TENNYSON
Tennyson is nothing short of genius. Its pretty hard to put their music into a genre, but if I had to I would probably say, “ electronic childhood nostaliga jazz fusion” they always have the craziest rhythm patterns and sounds in all of their songs. They are most definitely one of my favorite bands of all time. A lot of people tell me they can tell my music is inspired by them, which is cool. This song makes me feel like I’m on a train on my way to see my friends, and there’s a light layer of snowing coming from the sky, in the coziest sweater possible, definetky a song to sip tea too and just chill, and that crazy synth solo at the end always has me making a Stank face.
7. “I ALWAYS WANNA DIE (SOMETIMES)” by THE 1975
When I am in a car or train looking out the window and have headphones in, this is always the go-to song for me. The first line of this song “I bet you thought you life would change/But your sat on a train again”. Being a person who unfortunately can’t drive yet, I just hear that and say, “Damn Matty, just “@“ me next time”. This whole song is saying, yeah life can suck, and maybe you want to die, but your alive and here, so you might as well live the life you got and make the most of it, don’t give up. And who dosen’t love that ya know? Gives me hope with every listen.
8. “INTERNATIONAL” by SWEET TRIP
Not once in my life have heard an artist or band like Sweet Trip. And that’s saying something. All I can say about this song is “how?” The production is honestly something I idolize, all of the trippy glitching and absolutely mesmerizing panning kills me in the best way. This is 10:23 long song, a whole entire journey. And I can’t get enough. Every part is so enjoyable, every time I listen to Sweet Trip I always feel so in the moment and really take in my surroundings. This song and this band has definitely helped me appreciate the little things in life. And though about music in an entirely new way. Not to mention the impeccable album cover. I recommend this whole album if you like experimental/glitchy masterpieces. Shout out Ian Campbell for showing me this band.
9. “LIKE ME” by STEVE LACY
This song HITS ME right in the heart. Steve is such an overall groovy and admirable person.
The line in this song “I only feel energy I see no gender” just makes me wanna tell Steve, you really didn’t have to snap that hard but you did chief. Me and Steve are most definitely on the same wave length when it comes to that. He always talks about the struggles of being a bi-sexual African American male and how people perceive him. The song talks about how people ask him how many girls/guys he’s been with to see if he’s official, and just think about how absolutely whack that is. No one should ever try to legitimize your queerness. No one is more queer than the other, its just apart of who you are, and that just common sense, or at least should be. As a person apart of the LGBTQ+ community this song means a lot to me, and I thank Steve for it.
10. “ALL MY HEROES ARE CORNBALLS” by JPEGMAFIA
I recently just saw JPEGMAFIA in concert, I got destroyed to say the least to be honest. There is so much raw energy in this mans music it makes me feel so badass every time I listen to it. I love the way he samples things, he’s another person I really look up to and his production is unbelievably detailed. He has inspired me to not over think my music and just trust my gut ad go with raw feeling, if it feels right, do it. That’s the way music should be. JPEGMAFIA is so unapologeticly himself, it makes me so happy, he also inpsired me to just go out there and wear what I wanna wear, his fashion sense is impeccable and I love all of his dresses he wears and stuff. If you like grimy, experimental, aggressive, smooth, soulful, noise rap, check out JPEGMAFIA.
Listen to Rory’s Playlist on Spotify! Save it so you can take it and listen to it wherever you go!
I want to make sure I give a great big shoutout to Rory for this really awesome playlist! It’s eclectic and covers so many different genres and influences, which is just what we love to see here on our playlists! 🙂
Our next playlist will be out next Wednesday, so stay tuned for that! Until next time...
CONNOR
Connor's Music Notes 