Curated by Ansible
Hello, I’m Ansible. For this playlist, I kept it simple and lazily chose songs that I’ve previously played on Chromesthesia, my Freeform Portland show airing every other Thursday from ten to midnight. I didn’t go deeply thematic, just identified songs with “Green” in the artist, song title, or album title. I think this list does a decent job of expressing the breadth and variety of music that listeners can expect to hear on Chromesthesia. It is fun to revisit my relationships to these songs as well.
1. “Green Light” by Lorde from Melodrama
I probably first checked Lorde out because of some buzz. I just remember that “Royals” was a big deal. I’ve tried to open my ears and mind to pop music more in recent years and have found some bangers by Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Selena Gomez, and more. I don’t remember for sure but I probably chose this song for the general vibe or length. In listening more closely to the lyrics I like what seems to be the story: she’s waiting for a signal to go (i.e. a green light), to leave her shady partner behind, but she’s struggling to let go.
2. “Pamphlets” by Squid from Bright Green Field
Squid seems like something I should like. I tried a few times and I’m sure it’s just Ollie Judge’s voice and/or singing style that I find off-putting. But I know me. I know that some of my now favorite things began with some variation of, “I like it but I’m not sure about this dude’s voice.” See also: Fugazi, Superchunk, Joy Division… A friend had an extra ticket to see Squid in concert at Wonder Ballroom and invited me. He told me to listen to “Pamphlets.” I liked it well enough but it still wasn’t clicking with me. I told him to keep me in mind and ask me again at the 11th hour. He did, I went, and I had a great time. Squid are an amazing live presence. My friend said some of their songs were unrecognizable from the album. I love that kind of improvisation, so you always hear something different. After the show I listened to them again. Still nothing doing for me. Maybe it’s the mix? I’ll see them live next time too though. And I’ll keep giving them more chances to win me over on record.
3. “Betty Dreams of Green Men” by Guerilla Toss from GT Ultra
There’s been a resurgence of late 70s to early 80s-inspired No Wave, dance-rock, with funky rhythms and Afro-centric guitar sounds, like Vampire Weekend, Radio 4, and Sleater-Kinney birthed bands from an early-aughts orgy. Apologies for any mental picture that conjured up. Guerilla Toss had actually been around for quite a while by this point but they were new to me. Now they’re near their 10-year anniversary. I think this song is about a vibrating dildo? Maybe I just have a dirty mind. GT were also great live.
4. “N-Light” by The Stick Figures from Green/N-Light
I stumbled upon the single “Green” ahead of the release of Archaeology in 2021 and am only now realizing that I never followed up to listen to the entire album, a situation I’ll have to rectify. “N-Light” is the B-side, or double A-side companion to “Green” but the lead-off track on Archaeology, an anthology that finally compiles the four previously-released singles by The Stick Figures with previously unreleased tracks. I may just like “N-Light” slightly more than “Green,” but I probably picked the B-side to be more obscure because I’m cool like that.
5. “Don’t Leave it In Our Hands” by The Essex Green from Hardly Electronic
The Essex Green released Hardly Electronic for their 2018 (reunion?) tour, so I naturally anticipated it and dove in as soon as I could. I remember being underwhelmed by “Sloane Ranger,” the first single but not why. I honestly don’t remember the rest of this album and will have to revisit it. I did enjoy their live performance at Mississippi Studios though, which was presumably mostly comprised of these recent songs. I’m a sucker for the boy-girl vocals and driving 60s-70s vibe.
6. “I Lost Something in the Hills” by Sybele Baier from Colour Green
I first discovered Sybele Baier from some “Where are they now?” or “Why were they so underappreciated in their time?” article somewhere. I enjoyed what I heard, slotting it alongside similarly-rediscovered one-time buried treasure Nick Drake. It was the inclusion on the soundtrack to the British dark comedy TV show “The End of the F***ing World” that resurfaced this song for me. I’m glad I can give it another, albeit comparatively miniscule, boost. I also recommend the show.
7. “The Greener Pasture” by Peter Oren from The Greener Pasture
I discovered Peter Oren through his single “The Thin Blue Line,” released during the George Floyd/BLM protests, proceeds of which went to relevant nonprofit organizations. I’m happy that I purchased the digital download when it was available, as it seems to have been removed from Bandcamp and I can’t find it on YouTube or Spotify. Hopefully it wasn’t removed because of harassment by bootlickers. I also enjoyed his song “The Search for a Marketable Product,” which has similarly gone missing from Bandcamp but seems to at least still be on Spotify. These prompted me to explore the rest of his catalog and The Greener Pasture was the most recent album, so it was timely for me to include this song on an episode of Chromesthesia.
8. “The Green Grass of Tunnel” by múm from Finally We Are No One
I’m not sure if I learned of múm from the sisters’ being photographed for the cover of the Belle and Sebastian album “Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant,” or in the wake of Sigur Rós. I’d had them in my back pocket for a while but hadn’t drawn them out for Chromesthesia. I had the opportunity to substitute for another Freeform DJ who hosts an electronic show and that gave me the excuse I needed. So, I guess this track is cheating my selection methodology rationale a bit. This song was released as a single or maybe the title track of an EP. I was a completist about such things and snapped it up when it was first on sale, probably hunting for b-sides.
9. “I Never Found a Girl” by Al Green from Let’s Stay Together
Do I need an explanation for Al Green? Wishful thinking? Sometimes, especially in the early days, months, or years of Chromesthesia, I set rules for myself to motivate me to diversify my song selections. Like, I can’t play another artist or band with a name beginning in “L,” or I haven’t played a “G” yet. I try to have a good balance of masculine and feminine vocalizations in the mix. I also strive to play different genres and to this day am still at a deficit when it comes to many, including R&B and soul. So I probably picked Al Green because he’s a soul man whose name ends in G. Let’s Stay Together is one of my favorite Al Green albums and “I Never Found a Girl” is one of my favorite songs from that album.
10. “Nomad” by Grant Green from Idle Moments
I tend towards guitar music when it comes to rock, country, and folk but, for whatever reasons, I generally don’t care for classical or jazz guitar. With respect to jazz, I think it is often about the guitar tone. I probably first got into John McLaughlin, Shakti, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, though there was some guitar on the Miles Davis albums I was digging around the same time. Wes Montgomery and Bill Frisell are a couple of other exceptions but Pat Metheny, for example, is largely lost on me. Too smooth? I’ve also learned I like piano and sometimes horns in jazz and classical music but not so much in rock music. I don’t know why. Regardless, Grant Green overcomes my aversion to guitar jazz. I generally like soul jazz as a genre and it may help that the guitar isn’t too prominent in this, with the pianist Duke Pearson, bassist Bob Cranshaw, drummer Al Harewood, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson (another favorite), and tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson having plenty of opportunities to stretch out.