Starting today I will be posting an updated Good Singing Gum Spotify playlist, with 10 new songs added weekly. Some might be among my favorites of all-time, others might be songs I discovered last week. They could be from 2020 or 1934, they could be soul or ambient or country, etc. etc. My focus is simply good music.

While this first update doesn’t have a particular theme, I decided to include only tracks that could be described as relaxed, contemplative, meditative, uplifting, or some combination thereof based on the uneasiness of the current cultural climate.

First up, no that’s not Kate Bush you’re hearing – that’s Happy Rhodes performing When the Rain Came Down. Next, The Pharcyde take us for a ride on the Emerald Butterfly, an unknown gem included as a Labcabincalifornia reissue bonus track. Then, OPN’s beautiful remix of veteran Ryuichi Sakamoto’s andata. Gospel legend Reverend Dr. James Cleveland follows with the amazing Peace Be Still, after which Mike James Kirkland asks Where’s the Soul of Man? We then have Anna Domino’s aptly titled Land of My Dreams, Dhaima’s Loving You Is My Thing, and one of my favorite Robert Wyatt songs, Maryan. Lastly, late Big Star member Chris Bell’s legendary I Am the Cosmos, and Yusef Lateef’s take on Erik Satie’s First Gymnopedie.

Again, find the playlist (to be updated every Sunday) here on Spotify.