Category: Playlists

Great tunes to add to your own playlists

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DJ Dragonfly’s November Favorites

Snow covered canyon
Snowy Grand Canyon National Park. Image by Grand Canyon National Park, licensed CC BY 2.0 Generic.

** Image license **

Another day, another dollar, another “DJ Dragonfly’s Favorites.”  

The end of the semester is upon us but that isn’t stopping me from keeping this series going.  This month, my tastes seem all over the place.  As the temperature cools and the days grow shorter, my music tastes usually grow more distorted.  I move away from the upbeat indie beachy Summer-y feel to a more alternative rock, grungey, nu metal feel.  Despite this, I have quite a few choices in this playlist that do not fit into that box.  So without further ado, the playlist.  Some of these songs have explicit content, so fair warning to everyone.

Earlier this month, I had tickets to see Yung Gravy at The Ritz.  I saw Yung Gravy years ago in Charlotte but I went to see him again.  Because of this, I have several Yung Gravy and bbno$ songs in the playlist.  Additionally, the opener for Yung Gravy was a young rapper by the name of Pertinence.  I wasn’t expecting him to be there but I was pleasantly surprised by his performance.  I have added one of his songs to the playlist as I have been listening to it quite a bit lately.

I also have some songs that I featured in my “Guilty Pleasures” article.  Because of the playlist I made for that publication, I have songs such as “Karma Police” by Radiohead. 

Lastly, I recently rewatched “10 Things I Hate About You” and was reminded of just how many bangers there were in that film.  For the first time while watching the film I realized that I could simply look up the songs in the hopes of finding them on Spotify.  And indeed I did.  I have “Calypso” by Spiderbait and “Come On” by Letters To Cleo in this playlist and so I hope everyone will enjoy this playlist and its eccentricities as much as I do.  

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Playlists

Guilty Pleasures

A set table at a restaurant with two drinks
A couple of drinks. Image by Sophia Dutton-Rodkin

When it comes to anything in life, we tend to have our patterns.  Whether it is our favorite foods, movies, activities or music, no matter how broad our tastes, there are patterns.  That being said, we often have things we enjoy that are outside of our usual patterns.  At times, there are things we enjoy for which we might be ashamed.  

Some examples of this might be horror movie fans being into wholesome Disney films, science fiction fans liking chick flicks, quiet and calm people loving adrenaline inducing activities and so on.

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Playlists

Playlist: Digital Hardcore

A collage of four album covers. The one in the top left corner is Alec Empire, the one in the top right corner is Atari Teenage Riot, the one in the lower left corner is the cover to a compilation album by Digital Hardcore Records, and the one in the lower right corner is of the band Ec8or.
Album covers for "Empire" by Alec, "Teenage Riot" by Atari, "RIOT ZONE" by Digital Hardcore Records, and the logo for the band "EC8OR"

Digital hardcore is a genre that blends the attitudes and heaviness of hardcore music with the speed and synthetic chaos of electronic music. Digital hardcore doesn’t just refer to one kind of electronic music with one kind of hardcore. Instead, it refers to the way that the many subgenres that influenced each wider genre converged upon each other. The genre takes influences from hardcore punk, the riot grrrl movement, techno, industrial, and even things like heavy metal and screamo. It is a wide genre with many more specific terms that can fall underneath the umbrella of the term “digital hardcore”.

For many people, digital hardcore seemed like a logical artistic conclusion of both the punk ethos and the gungy EDM club vibes that were growing at the time. So without further ado, allow me to walk you through a playlist I made for people unfamiliar with this genre who want to take a bite out of something new. Below is a link to the playlist followed by an explanation of each artist, who they are, and why I added them.

Listen along by clicking this link.

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Non-Music News Playlists

Talk of The Town

double exposure of wheel at fair, red and blue lights from ground up

The NC State Fair

photos by Evie Dallman

free hushpuppies sign and a kid holding an alien balloon in line
Interview with Assistant Commissioner for Western North Carolina Kaleb Rathbone at 18:50.
painting of car and cow statue at the fair
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DJ Dragonfly’s October Favorites

Yellow trees across a lake with their reflection in the water
An October scene. Image by Drazen Nesic, licensed CC0 1.0 Public Domain

It’s finally October and sadly it’s coming to an end.  With that comes the next monthly “DJ Dragonfly’s Favorites.”  

I know that I am not alone in saying that this month has been a rough one.  With all the midterms, fall activities and the sun setting earlier and earlier, tensions have been high.  I have personally been falling back on comfort and so many of my favorites this month have been repetitive of  the last couple months.  That being said, I tried to compile a list of songs that I think accurately measure my favorites this month, excluding repeats. Some of these songs have explicit content, so fair warning to everyone.

This month, I feel I have a dichotomy of nu metal or heavy distortion and indie or high reverb feel in my playlist.  I like to think there is a gradient especially with all the Halloween playlists I have been working on lately.  I believe a couple of the songs in the playlist are kind of Halloween-esque, such as “Oh Klahoma” by Jack Stauber.  

I have a couple other songs that I had recently been reminded of and haven’t been able to stop listening to.  One example would be “Deceptacon” by Le Tigre.  The other night, I was taking my lovely dog Daphne out and I overheard a car passing by with this song blasting.  I hadn’t heard the song in ages and decided I needed to listen to it right then and there.  Thus, the song has become one of DJ Dragonfly’s October Favorites.  

Another example might be “Suffragette City” by David Bowie.  I was also reminded of this song as it was playing in a TV show I was watching.  I couldn’t just let that song slide.  I needed to start listening to it again.  That honestly led to a spiral of Bowie songs which of course led me to now want to rewatch “Labyrinth” from 1986.  I suppose I have my evening plans.  I hope everyone enjoys this months’ selections.

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Playlists

A Halloween Playlist

Dark scene with hands holding a deer skull in the center over a candle with and pumpkins and candles on either side of the skull
A Halloween scene. Image by Pixabay, licensed CC0 1.0 Universal.

Halloween: Costumes, candy, spooky movies and fun music.  

I love Halloween.  No contest, Halloween is my favorite holiday.  As such, I always make a huge deal about it every year.  I usually have several costumes ready for any eventuality, eat way too much candy, make all kinds of fun treats and snacks and, of course, I make a bomb playlist for my annual Halloween bash.

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Playlists

DJ Dragonfly’s September Favorites

Forest with brown leaves and the sun shining between branches
A Fall forest scene. Image by Marko Milivojevic, licensed CC0 1.0 PD Universal.

September: the official start of Fall.  It’s that time again where I share my favorite songs for the month.  I am quite proud of myself this month because I think I branched off of what I had been listening to the last couple of months.  

Around the Fall time and transitioning into the Winter, I tend to move away from indie and low distortion/high reverb songs with the gentle or smooth vocals.  I gravitate toward nu metal pretty religiously.  Something about the colder, windier weather, the colors of the leaves changing, and the days getting shorter just calls for distortion and screaming for me.  

That being said, I have curated another playlist for “DJ Dragonfly’s Favorites” and there is mostly nu metal.  I have also included some grunge, of course, as well as some pop, rap, classic rock and so on.  Some of these songs have explicit content, so fair warning to everyone.

Additionally, this time around I have a couple German songs.  My regular readers would know that the middle of September until the first Sunday of October is Oktoberfest.  Because of all the various playlists I have been making for personal use as well as sets on the radio, I have been listening to more German songs than usual.  

I think the odd songs out in this playlist would probably be “The Largest” by BigXthaPlug, “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga and “Walking On A Dream” by Empire Of The Sun.  My friends have been playing “The Largest” and “Bad Romance” quite often lately for various reasons and so as a result, I have been listening to them more than usual.  I have a soft spot for a couple of Empire Of The Sun songs and I guess that has bled through this month.  

I hope everyone enjoys this month’s playlist.

— dj dragonfly

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Playlists

A Soundtrack to Fall

mountain covered in colorful leaves in the sunset
Grandfather Mountain at sunset in Linville, NC. Image by Sophia Dutton-Rodkin

The leaves are turning, the air is chilling and people are wearing sweaters again.  Out with the flip-flops and in with the fuzzy socks, it’s time for Fall.

I love Fall.  I love Fall so much I wish it could be Fall all the time.  Sadly, that’s not possible here in the great NC.  That being said, I have decided to make a playlist full of Fall favorites (not a Halloween playlist) to make the season just right.  **Warning: This playlist may contain adult material.**

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Playlists

DJ Dragonfly’s August Favorites

Bumble bee resting on a yellow and red zinnia flower
A bee pollinating a zinnia flower. Image licensed CC0 1.0 Universal.

Summer is officially coming to a close.  I can’t speak for everyone but thank goodness.  As I have stated previously, Summer is by far not my favorite season.  This Summer in particular wasn’t pleasant.  

Nevertheless, August has come and gone.  We are stepping into the colorful embrace of autumn and with that comes the monthly “DJ Dragonfly’s Favorites.”  

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Playlists

Covers are Sick

Young man sitting at microphone with acoustic guitar
Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged (1993). Image by Mahesh Sridharan, licensed CC BY 2.0 Generic.

** Image license **

I love a good cover song.  There are so many different avenues an artist can take when they decide to cover a song.  They can try to keep it as similar to the original song as possible or they can go a completely different direction.  Some of my favorite covers have been changed so much that you can clearly see the artist’s personality. 

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