DJ JIM Q's Playlist: Design

This month’s theme is Design selected by our Canadian friends from the Trois-Rivières chapter. With this theme I thought for sure I would be overwhelmed with song options. After all, so many designers I know are also musicians and a good number of the musicians I know are also skilled designers. As it turns out though, design is not a particularly popular topic to write songs about. No odes to kerning, lyrical motifs on page layout, or verses to illustration. Where are the tunes of triad color palettes and the golden ratio. Okay there are a few about the golden ratio, but still, the design-related song pool is rather shallow (as far as I can tell). However, fear not listeners, after some sonic searching, I was able to compose an auditory collage of songs with visual allusion and aesthetic associations worthy of your attention.

No design-inspired playlist would be complete without Baltimore’s Double Dagger. The trio always delivers with energy and intensity in the post punk tradition. Members of the band are also behind the acclaimed graphic design studio Post Typography. The track included in the playlist, “Form and Function”, is as much a lesson on commercial graphic design as it is a song, “…don’t tell me that you did it just because you could, don’t tell me that you did it just because it looks good” “…what you’re making it’s not for you” “…context, context, context”. It’s a particularly direct design crit set to an angular driving rhythm. If this is your sort of thing, you’ll find more graphic design references per measure in Double Dagger than any other band.

As far as I can tell, like graphic design, interior design is also an infrequent topic in music. However, after a little searching, I did find a few songs that dwell on the spaces we occupy. Both Kid Cudi and Gnarls Barkley reference the harmonizing power and balance of Feng Shui design. And if we expand to architecture, there is Simon and Garfunkel’s sentimental goodbye to “the greatest American architect of all time” in “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright”. We also have an homage or two to famous artists, namely David Bowie’s dedication “Andy Warhol”, which apparently the artist detested — I kind of love that.

By design and for your pleasure, these themes of planning, drafting, composing, building, and fabrication fill this musical menagerie. From DJ Shadow to Anderson .Paak to Kinneret to Kehlani, each track contributes to the palette that is this month’s Design inspired playlist.

Thanks for listening to these playlists. If you enjoy these playlists, follow me on Spotify and give me a shout on Twitter, I would love to hear from you.