The sun has set on another week, it’s Friday, the week has come to its final resting place. What a beautiful thing life can be! It also means: It’s Finally Time To Enjoy Music. And truly, what an honour & a blessing it is that you’ve given me the chance to provide you with Five Hot Slabs Of Enjoyable Music. I understand The Gift & The Curse that you, the precious Stack Subscriber, have entrusted me with. I’ve decided that I won’t let y’all down.
Okay, so who’s been cooking lately? I have a funny relationship with the act of heating up food in an Enjoyable way. Funny, in that, I’m not skilled very at it. I have very little experience in the Culinary Arts! Not super funny I guess, more…embarrassing for me? It is what it is! But I’m a work-in-progress baby. And since getting back from LA, I’ve been Steering The Stove-ship to Flavour Town two times a week. Wow, what a feeling. I think I might be falling in love with cooking food and serving it to my family. Actually!
Of course, you know me, one of the reasons why I’ve been Enjoying the process so much is because, you guessed it: The Cooking Soundtrack! The way the melodies blend into the sound of a piece of chicken grilling on a hot pan, the harmonies intermingling with the sound of noodles chilling in a gentle boil. What a beautiful thing!
So this week, I present to you: Five Hot N Ready Traxxx, Straight From My Burners, 2 Your Speakers. Or in other words, here’s what I’ve been listening to while I cook.
And here’s a little something for you, my sweet sweet Stack subscriber, to consider: sound off in the comments and let me know what you’re listening to when you’re cookin. Drop a link, tell me what record you’re throwing on your 1200s, and hell, TELL ME WHAT YOU’RE COOKIN’ TOO!
Gobble it up, and Enjoy!
Kata - Summer In The City (1989)
When it comes to the act of cooking, I personally believe it’s got to be a mellow experience. The thought of working in a “The Bear (Season 2 Now Streaming On FX)”-type situation is “stressful af” and that’s the opposite vibe of what I’m looking for. I need mellow drum machines, I need a soft DX7 Electric Piano, I need one vocal throughout the whole song, singing a line like, oh I don’t know, “Summer In The City”. Let me tell you: I was thrilled to find this tune. This is some truly Enjoyable Deep Cut Finnish Balearia. Don’t even ask me about details or context for this one. The info is out there on her Discogs page, but I like the idea of living in its own world. Anyways, this one is perfect for those moments when a few things are cooking, and you’re kind of just waiting around for the next step. You can sip a glass of wine or sparkling water, and Enjoy The Tunes while your bucatini cooks. Enjoy it Baby!
Marcella Bella - Nell’aria (1983)
The windows are open, the warm breeze flows through the kitchen. The Seedy J edit of this Marcella Bella classic is playing, the smell of a delicious paella wafts through the house. The sangria jug is full, and all is right in the world. Every time I play out this Seedy J edit, I message him and tell him that it is “too balearic”. And we always have a Real Nice Laugh About It. Impossible not to Enjoy this one.
BONUS ENJOY: how about this live clip with potentially the most boring audience ever captured on camera. I’m going to choose to believe that the Balearic Power left them all in a state of shock.
Discotecas - Heavy Dub (2024)
This is about as Hi NRG as I want my cooking experience to feel. These Discotecas edits have been Melting CDJs since they started showing up in 2022, like when you put a USB stick in a microwave. But this one holds a special place in the cannon. Effortlessly danceable, and somehow both energetic and laid back. This one feels like that moment when everything is just about to hit the plate; the energy is up, you know you’re gonna be eating soon. Enjoy The Delicious Edits of Discotecas!
Azymuth - Last Summer In Rio (1982)
Okay, let’s put the cooking thing aside for a second: This tune goes in the Enjoy Music Hall Of Fame. This one truly encapsulates everything that Enjoy Music stands for. The album art, the way that they seem completely unbothered to “hurry up”. This one moves at exactly the correct speed that it needs to. Now, how does this factor into my Cooking Journey? I have found myself drawn to a lot of Brazilian music while I cook. I’ll throw on a Gilberto (João or Astrud!) record! Hell, and don’t judge me too hard here, but I’ll even throw on a “bossa nova classics” playlist on S*otify! Gimme the greatest hits! Anyways, this tune, this record, this band: all gold baby. Enjoy Azymuth!
Benny Sings - Passionfruit (2018)
Alright, here’s the simple truth about all of this: when I’m cooking, I want a pleasant soundtrack, as you can clearly tell. And I swear there’s nothing more pleasant than this Drake cover by the legend Benny Sings. Incredible when a cover can truly stand on its own like this, and with a song as ubiquitous as Passionfruit by Drake. Actually, I think Benny’s whole catalog, on shuffle, would make for an incredible cooking soundtrack. Enjoy the Music of Benny Sings!
In Teen Daze News: The first single from my new record Elegant Rhythms is called Back yard, and it is out Next Wednesday. Wild. I’ve been sitting on this music for a long time; Back yard was written and recorded four years ago. All that is to say, I’m very excited to share this tune, and the entire record, with y’all. We’ll have a music video directed by my good friend Daniel Sparrow dropping on Wednesday as well. It’s bound to be a very special day.
And I won’t lie, it would honestly mean the world to me if you told someone about it! We’re living in strange times folks. If you’ve read this far, you’re clearly invested. When the song comes out on Wednesday, feel free to follow that insane list of tips that was making the rounds on Twitter last week. But more importantly, it would help a lot to share the song! Share the video! Let some folks know about it!
Either way, I’ll be here next Friday, serving up Five Hot Tunes, guaranteed to make your life More Enjoyable.
See y’all then!
Oh man, nothing better than cracking open a cold beverage, cranking some tunes, and cookin'! My go-to playlists are either "After work with a beer" (mostly 2000s pop punk) or "Howdy" (folk rock with catchy hooks), but I'm thinking I might need to start a new "Enjoyable music" playlist for when I wanna feel a little more laid back, but still be able to play lots of air bass guitar.