Laura Barton offers her picks, hits and misses on Music to help you get through the credit crunch (The Guardian, July 21).
She first mentions The Filter (a recommendation site with Peter Gabriel amongst its founders. As the name suggests they filter music for you) who she says "would have us believe that the sorry state of the economy has sent us
all off in search of misery; a study recently conducted by the site
found that "more of us are choosing downbeat and dreary tunes as our
favourites, rather than happy, feelgood numbers." They cite the Smiths’
Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, Coldplay’s Trouble, REM’s Everybody
Hurts and Radiohead’s How to Disappear Completely as examples".
She reminds us that escapist tunes flourish during times of hardship.
Richard Woods agrees, mentioning the success of Mamma Mia (the ‘Abba’ movie) as an example in Amid the credit crunch the arts benefit from the feelgood factor (Times Online, July 20).
He says there is evidence that as surf equipment sales take a dive, camping gear is up.
Instant gratification is not completely out yet shows signs of weakness.
Mr. Woods also found that "in the US one unexpected upside of the downturn has been a sharp reduction in
junk mail, especially from credit card companies"…
As for my picks for a Credit Crunch Playlist, here are a few I could think of:
-Janis Joplin ‘Mercedes Benz’
-many songs by Al Jarreau for their positive vibe and energy
-Bobby McFerrin ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ (could get a second life)
-B 52’s ‘Love Shack’
-Etienne Daho ‘Bleu comme toi’ (nice and poppy, guitars and chabadah)
What would you pick?
Is it music to your ears?
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