brettworks

• An article about the “tropical” house music of Kygo.

“The term is slightly misleading; Kygo does not always rely on the kick-drum pulse that defines house music, and for him ‘tropical’ refers more to a general mood—invariably described as ‘chill’—than to any specific musical tradition, of whatever latitude. But if electronic music seems to have a particularly confusing system of genres and sub-genres, that is because, in a world where singing and old-fashioned instruments are optional, even producers can have a hard time explaining exactly how one track differs from another.”

• An article about the history of music for sleep.

“In April, Spotify reported that users had created 2.8 million sleep-themed playlists on the service. As it turns out, most of those people aren’t looking for psychoacoustic soundtracks or Temiar dream songs; the most-streamed song on sleep-themed playlists was Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud.’”

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A video in which experimental laptop musician Holly Herndon discusses her musical process.

“I’m trying to question every aspect of [musical] practice…I’m trying to somehow make it my own and make it situated in the time and place that I’m in today.”