Music Sharing: Moody & Moving
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I’ve been thinking about sharing some of my favorite obscure songs with my readers. This is the first installment on a series I’d like to do, so let me know what you guys think!
These are some of my favorite songs from my “Moody” playlist. This is the one I listen to when I’ve got heavy stuff on my mind or if I’m trying to get into a thoughtful/emotional mood. It’s good for inspiring creativity, too. Hope you guys enjoy it.
2026: Spotify didn’t exist when I wrote this, but all the embedded music broke since so I modernized a little.
Mayonaise
Artist: Smashing Pumpkins
Album: Siamese Dream
The entire Siamese Dream album is amazing. It’s going to be one of those albums I play for my nieces and nephews that annoys them because I like “old people music”. This particular song just chills me out and gets under my skin. Good for the ride home from work.
More from Smashing Pumpkins
Similar Style
Similar Mood
Sometime Around Midnight
Artist: The Airborne Toxic Event
Album: The Airborne Toxic Event
A great sad love song. Has great emotional transition in the singer’s voice and really gets you into his shoes as he goes through this beautiful and painful experience that all starts with something so simple.
Similar Style
Similar Mood
Is It Real?
Artist: Scott Matthew
Composer: Yoko Kanno
Album: Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Ask DNA
The lyrics probably speak for themselves, but this is a great song to listen to when I’m feeling overwhelmed in life. I love how confused and frustrated he seems, and how well his voice and the melody portray it. At least that’s how I interpret it.
More from Scott Matthew, Seatbelts, and Yoko Kanno
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Timelessness
Artist: Fear Factory
Album: Obsolete
Deep, mournful and hopeless with a tinge of anger. This is the kind of stuff I think about when I get mired in my frustrations over U.S. politics. The opening of the song uses a few lines from one of my favorite speeches: Mario Savio’s “The Machine Speech”.
Similar Style
Similar Mood
Looking Glass
Artist: The Birthday Massacre
Album: Walking With Strangers
Rhythmic, but still dark. The Birthday Massacre have a sound that I can only explain as a stark contrast between bright neon pink paint on the brick wall of an indie dive bar. Keeps my head nodding without losing the quiet brooding mood.
Similar Style
Similar Mood
Break My Soul
Artist: Hybrid
Album: Disappear here
Rhythmic Electronic Music with some “warmth” behind it. Sure, it’s got lots of “techno” elements to it, but it isn’t cold, shallow and repetitive like the stuff you hear in dance clubs.
More from Hybrid