#GAMOR VAPOR

[amoveablejake]

My Five Key Songs of October 2021

We already know what the song of the month will be don’t we. 

I can’t quite believe that we are already at the tenth month of the year and the tenth song to make the end of the year playlist will be revealed today leaving only two more for 2021. Lets take a look now at what the five key songs of this particularly spooky month have been  for me and just how hygge I’ve allowed myself to be. The answer, extremely. 

The first song of the month for October, ‘Their Pie’ by Mark Orton 

Really, this could be the song of the month for October. It also perhaps should be the song of the month given the amount of time I have spent listening to it however, as we’ll see there is really only one song that could take that spot for October. But we’re not quite there yet, no, for now we’re listening to this song which really I would describe as the title track from ‘Nebraska’ or at least the one that plays throughout the film. I had been meaning to watch the 2013 black and white film from Alexander Payne for quite a while now and after years of it being on my list I finally did get around to it and it didn’t disappoint. I don’t want to turn this into a piece all about the film of which it very easily could be, Bruce Dern delivers a tour de force performance and the cinematography is quite simply phenomenal, instead we’ll focus on my main takeaway which is ‘Their Pie’. At times haunting and yet oh so full of life. This is a song that is almost too beautiful to not exist in its own right away from being attached to a film. However, that would be the case if it was attached to any other film other than ‘Nebraska’, a film worthy of a song like this. 

Second up to bat, ‘Underground Lounge’ by Gamor Vapor

This track taken from the record ‘Stratus Terminal’ which is complied of multiple different Vaporwave artists takes on airport music or the the atmosphere of waiting in an airport is by far the front runner for me. When I think of the tranquillity of airports, this is now one of the key songs that accompanies those thoughts. This song is so mesmerising it does make all of the tracks that follow it seem a little less good than they probably are. I do enjoy the album as a whole but because the second track is this absolute wonder, it does make it slightly unfair on the rest. Especially because there are certain notes and melodies in this track that are very reminiscent of the original ‘Twin Peaks’ soundtrack and that is a direct line to making the key sons of the month list. 

The third song for this spooky month, ‘The Living End’ by Vetvier 

A large part of this month was spent listening to Vetvier’s ‘Up On High’ album exclusively. The leaves on the trees were changing colour and the wind was beginning to truly that up that autumnal chill. I would walk to where I have my lunch during my work week and read ‘American Gods’ and put my headphones on and be transported by Neil Gaiman’s writing and ofcourse, Vetvier’s music. ‘Up On High’ was an album that I had my eye on for a while and then when I got it I couldn’t believe I hadn’t gotten it sooner, it will definitely be in my (internal) discussions at the end of the year for my album of the year and Vetvier could well be the dark horse in the race for my artist of the year.  Well, I say a race, it only matters to me but hey my name is on the blog after all. In all honesty I could have picked any of the ten songs from ‘Up On High’ to be the song of the month, okay actually I could have picked nine there is one misstep in my ears, but I’ve gone with ‘The Living End’ because its a perfect opening number and entry piece to what is quite the journey of a record. 

The fourth song to take a seat at the table, ‘Hello Sunshine’ by Alexander Le’Strange 

Often picking the fourth song of the month is the hardest one. I say that because at this point I’ve had the songs that were my clear front runners and I’ve most likely got my song of the month in mind however, there will be a few songs left over that I need to choose from to see who makes the cut and well, this month is no different. There are probably about four or five songs that could have appeared here however, if these choices are meant to give an accurate depiction of the last month then it has to be ‘Hello Sunshine’ as it is often playing in my head without me even realising. There is a food programme on Youtube called ‘Worth It’ which is one of my favourite things to watch ever and is ideal to unwind with at dinner. The two hosts and their camera man are wonderful and kind and watching them develop as food critics and enthusiast over the seasons is very lovely. Particularly with the host Andrew who is a personal idol of mine. Watching ‘Worth It’ is one of my hygge activities and there is a scene in one of the episodes where whilst the trio are eating some out of this world food ‘Hello Sunshine’ plays. So, naturally, everytime I eat anything particularly good or just when I feel happy this is the songs thats playing. Yet something else to thank the ‘Worth It’ team for, that and a mile long list of restaurants to go to. 

And the song of the month for October, ‘Great Pumpkin Waltz’ by Vince Guaraldi 

Okay, look, was there really any chance, any remote chance that the song of the month for October was not going to be the ‘Great Pumpkin Waltz’ by the best man around, Vince Guarldi. I’ve been listening to this song all month long preparing myself for Halloween (not that Halloween passing means that I’ll stop listening to it and pretending I’m pumpkin picking with the Peanuts gang) and then yesterday I stumbled across a certain little something to make the listening experience all the more sweet. Yesterday afternoon I went out to pick up a couple of bits in the city and on my way back in the beautiful golden hour autumnal song I stumbled across a few new places including a record store that has taken my heart and is quite literally around the corner from my flat. And what pray tell, caught my eye through the window. Well, it was a pumpkin shaped copy of the soundtrack to ‘Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown’. One copy of it and well, you know what happened next don’t you. As I write this the little pumpkin is spinning on my record player and its reminding me that Guardli’s work is fantastic all year around but when you’re actually in the season that its designed for, no words can do it justice.

So there we go, my five songs of the month for October including the one that will make it into the songs of the year playlist. They all do seem to be revovoling around this idea of being hygge and if you aren’t in that mindset already, I encourage you to change that now and to spend this Hallow’s Eve enjoying gentle spooky things. Unless you’re watching John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’. Because that, thats the Halloween film. Actually, that could change because I haven’t watched ‘The Muppets Haunted Mansion’ yet and oh boy am I excited to. 

-Jake, a man who dressed for the storm and then the sun came out, 31/10/2021.