How to beat the algo-rhythm: Sanjoy Narayan writes on curated playlists
It’s easy to get hooked to streaming platforms and become overwhelmed by the largely AI-driven choices they push, but there is another way.
Among my current fistful of earworms are songs from an early-1980s band named So-Do, whose music is a fabulous stew of post-punk, funk and dub music; a stew that emanated from reggae in the 1960s and ’70s.
The Japanese band’s unpredictably syncopated rhythms, singer and songwriter Hideshi Akuta’s vocal style (he sings mainly in Japanese but with a smattering of English), and the overall catchiness of the music are infectious.
So-Do wasn’t an algorithmic recommendation. It popped up on Bandcamp, on a human-curated list of new releases. I doubt I would have discovered this gem any other way. Even at their peak, they weren’t known outside Japan.
The So-Do album featured on the Bandcamp list, Studio Works ’83-’85, holds almost-forgotten tracks from the three self-released records that the short-lived band released in the early 1980s.
It’s easy to get hooked to streaming platforms and become overwhelmed by the largely AI-driven choices they push. To be sure, there are positives. The algorithms can offer short-cuts to new music one might like, or alert one to a favourite band’s newest release.
If, however, one wants to breach the boundaries and discover really new music by bands or sounds that are completely unfamiliar, algorithms aren’t the best way to go. It takes a human to do this well.
At Bandcamp (where, incidentally, artists can sell their music directly), a team of human writers and editors — essentially music journalists — digs into niche genres, underground artists and specific communities to highlight music that might not otherwise get broad attention. This isn’t about pushing what’s either popular or scalable; it’s about curating music with cultural or artistic significance, often for smaller, dedicated audiences.
The team writes in-depth features on obscure experimental releases and hyper-local scenes too, a process that’s inherently human-led and relies on expertise, taste and storytelling rather than data-driven predictions.
That’s why I like disappearing down some of these human-created rabbit holes, to forage for new sounds. Here, in no particular order, are some of the nuggets I have discovered in this way.
* Jazz Bastard: It was the description that hooked me: “Two strikingly handsome middle-aged men get together every other week to discuss jazz in depth. Irreverent, irascible, engaged.” Once I got into the deeply knowledgeable banter between the two jazz nerds, I began to discover real gold, such as the 2022 album In Tense, by the New York-based composer and bassist Harish Raghavan, 42. Trained by great jazz bassists such as John Clayton and Dave Carpenter, Raghavan began as a mridangam player but then switched to playing upright bass. Moody and melancholic yet finely textured, his brand of jazz is, yes, intense, meditative even.
* Mixcloud: This platform for DJ mixes, radio shows and curated playlists across genres is a goldmine for long-form listening. Think hour-long jazz mixes, soul retrospectives and electronic soundscapes. I recently discovered a two-hour-plus mix of Canadian jazz by DJ2tee that featured musicians such as Molly Johnson, Eli Bennett, Rachel Therrien, Barry Elmes and Oscar Peterson. Unmissable!
* The Quietus: In this UK-based music and culture webzine with in-depth articles, reviews and features on left-field music, I discovered Ex-Easter Island Head, an experimental musical ensemble from Liverpool, whose approach to music is singular. They play “prepared” electric guitars laid horizontally on tables, striking the strings with mallets to create music that is minimalist but also undeniably complex.
* NTS Radio: This is a sprawling, creative playground for music lovers, broadcasting from more than 80 cities worldwide, with studios in London and Los Angeles and remote shows from a mix of more than 600 resident hosts, including musicians, DJs, artists, and record collectors. Ad-free and funded by listeners, it has an exciting DIY vibe.
As I write this, I’m listening on NTS to Smithsonian Folkways’ Black History Month Special, an hour-long gospel-and-blues-themed programme featuring Big Mama Thornton, Montgomery Express, Jesse Fuller, Paramount Singers and many, many more.
Sometimes, when I’m craving new music, the big streaming platforms just don’t cut it. These other sources, with their human touch, work better for me.
(To write in with feedback, email sanjoy.narayan@gmail.com)
