23

-AV

I turned 23 today.  It feels really old, but I know it's not.  I've got way more ahead of me than I've left behind, and I'll need everything I've learned so far to help me get to where I need to be in the future.  I'm old enough to know how to get what I want, but I don't always know what that is to begin with.  I spend a lot more time alone with my thoughts than ever before.  I am confident that there are two things that truly aid me in relaxing and clearing my head: listening to music and sleeping.

I like to fall asleep with music on, but sometimes that gets counterproductive.  I'll become so absorbed in my listening experience that I won't go to sleep.  Even if I feel tired and it's really late at night, I'll still lie in bed awake wanting to hear just one more track.  I call it inSONGnia (no I don't), but it is a real affliction of mine.  In fact, it's happening right now.  I suppose there's something about the dead of night that makes it such an appealing listening time for me.  The darkness and quiet remove any outside disruptions.  The moment right before drifting off to sleep forms the junction between the conclusion of the previous day and the anticipation of the next.  Hence, the songs I listen to tend to be focused on instrumentals, have soft vocals or slower rapping, and are downtempo.  Repetition is a common theme, whether it be the lyrics or the chord progressions.  Cycles in music must elicit calming and soothing sensations that comfortably lull me toward sleep, yet entrance me in a way that makes them difficult to turn off.  The music is cathartic and provides a release which prepares the mind to dream.

These are my songs: Download.

Continue reading for the full tracklist, as usual.

Tracks:

1. Kid Cudi - Highs N Lows
2. Angus & Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane (Stern* Disco Remix)
3. Great People - Orange U High?
4. Jack Johnson - Country Road (with Paula Fuga)
5. Oliver Tank - Last Night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion
6. Emancipator - First Snow
7. DJ Shadow - Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt
8. Lana Del Rey - Video Games
9. A$AP Rocky - Back To The Future
10. The Antlers - I Don't Want Love
11. Stige - On My Way
12. Mr. Little Jeans - The Suburbs (Arcade Fire Cover)
13. jj - Ecstasy
14. The Weeknd - What You Need
15. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
16. Citizen Cope - Deep