I’m working on two Big Feelings playlists, linked at right, that serve different functions. Of these, the big one requires more of an explanation.

At the risk of making it impractical to listen to, I’ve made the first playlist extensive for two reasons: first, I want it to be somewhat representative of the concept, which requires a lot of music. Taken together, it should help to orient listeners towards the sound this book is dedicated to unpacking. Second, the playlist is large because I hope that no matter how you come to this music—whether seasoned listener or recent fan—there will be something new for you. Although I have in select places taken care to order the tracks, because of its size, I would ultimately recommend that the whole thing be engaged on shuffle (gasp). This way, one can dip in and out across many hours or days, each time with a different variety. 

It should also be noted that not all of the music here fits into the “core” Big Feelings concept; as with the book itself, I felt it important to at least gesture at some of the history informing Big Feelings, some of the bands that sound important influences, or who share certain features while departing in other key ways from the principle aesthetic. In general, bands that are significant to the concept of Big Feelings get more tracks than bands who are ancillary or tangential. 

Finally, a disclaimer that this is a very personal list: I’m sure the emphasis and song choice is different than what you would have chosen, so I don’t mean in any way for this to be definitive. I hope you’ll give this a listen, but I also hope you’ll make (and share) your own. 

The second playlist is much more straightforward, and comprises only tracks that are explicitly discussed in the book. This list finds its truest expression when burned to disk or copied to cassette, shared earnestly and worn within an inch of its life. Alas, I fear the requisite knowledge is lost to time, a tragedy made all the more so for how good the music is.

• Please note the absence of two of my favorite Pumpkins songs: “Here’s to the Atom Bomb” (the Judas Ø version, not the one from Machina II), and one of my top-fives, the aching, lo-fi romance, “Slow Dawn.” These are currently unavailable on Spotify, which I begrudgingly chose for its expediency. I do implore you to seek them out otherwise. 

• If you’d like to send me your playlist, or make the case for a certain band that I left out of mine, please get in touch—it would be great to hear from you.