Radio LBB: Dark Night Blue

Making this playlist at night steered it toward a somewhat mellow, bedtime theme. Each song was picked because it has an emotional energy that can really strike you. It’s also late, the moon is big and I’ve had a gin and tonic.

 

The playlist starts with simple, stripped back arrangements, which have been used to beautifully on screen. Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares show how such simplicity can be so captivating, influences the likes of Dead Can Dance, Bjork and even heard through to Morricone. Cantabile is a track that can leave you in a cold sweat because it’s so charged with emotion like a tempest. I heard it one night on Lyric FM can couldn’t sleep a wink after because I was shook by it.

 

Following we come down into a more inward looking Bowie and Bjork, where the sparse, but long notes gives focus to each movement. From melancholy and nostalgia we build slightly to the Cocteau Twins, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Kamasi Washington’s ‘Trust’ because the heart needs a bit of a lift after that, otherwise I’d be calling in sick tomorrow on compassionate grounds.

 

It ends off landing softly again with Múm and Sakamoto sending us off peacefully before Debussy finally tucks us in.