Shameless Tuesdays: Livre 152 | Joe Geni
No two cities are exactly the same, and Joe Geni knows that well. His new concept album Cities Built Upon Cities (produced by Charlie Nieland, who worked with Blondie and Rufus Wainwright just to name a few) doesn't have one singular sound; it's got thousands! "City Where I Fall in Love" is a heart-swooner, whereas "Cities of Endless Times" is an underground nightlife club hypnotizing its patrons. Meanwhile, "City of Patterns" takes the form of a music box filled with childlike memories, while "City of Energy" brims with the vibes of a cyberpunk megalopolis at 3 a.m. Maybe you'll embrace all the cities Joe Geni presents, or maybe there will be one or two that you feel comfy with. Whatever the case, Joe Geni has become a true cartographer of musical highways and landscapes. And somewhere in the middle of it all, perhaps in-between one of these urban realms, resides his Shameless Tuesdays contribution.
Here's what Joe Geni has to say about this week's playlist:
Hi there and thanks for your interest in songs I like. How shall I explain what I’ve given you here?
I tend to gravitate towards two types of sounds in particular: the hypnotic, and the anthemic. I love intimate drifters and undulating rhythms and I love wild rushes. I’ve tried to include some of each here, more or less in descending order of energy.
Often I find some back-half-of-the-album tune and make it my own, so one theme is that many of the songs here are lesser known tracks by very well known artists. (Hello, “Dirty Day” by U2.)
There’s a story behind most of these songs, how I stumbled upon them, where my head was at at the time, how they changed my outlook on what music could be, and how many times in a row I played them in my initial infatuation phase. You’ll hear some new wave from my childhood (Police and Talking Heads cassettes were my most treasured), some electronic music from my teenage years (the ingenious and groundbreaking acid house collective 808 State changed my life forever), and a smattering of dancehall, Malian desert blues, and quiet guitar tunes, and don’t sleep on that Ethiopian jazz number “Tezeta (Nostalgia)”. It’s a gem.
I hope you enjoy. Hit me up if you have any favs or queries.
For more information on Joe Geni, visit his official website, Instagram, and Twitter. Check out Cities Built Upon Cities below via his Bandcamp!
Promotional consideration provided by Shameless Promotion PR.
