My Favorite Songs from Mac DeMarco’s 199 Song Album
A couple weeks ago, Mac DeMarco informed everyone that he would be releasing One Wayne G, a 199 song album. Like, 199 in one album. Not broken up into smaller versions, not spread out over a year. One whole shebang. It’s very rare that we get this from an artist, seeing the weird 20 second guitar riffs they came up with at midnight or that song they wrote before they went to or after happy hour. We see the scatters and sketches of an artist and how they progressively build a foundation for their album and get a sense of how hard it is to narrow songs into a concise body of work. The 199 song anthology has flamenco sounds, 30 second guitar riffs, and hummed choruses for example. I have personally used it as my album for getting work done since it is mainly instrumental and goes for a Godfather Trilogy-esque 9 hours. Somehow I listened to it most of the day not realizing I was 7 hours in. Here are some of my favorite songs (which have no titles of course):
1. 20190722
Feels like I walked into a blues bar and the guitarist knew me and played a special riff just for me.
2. 20201023
The audio equivalent of doing a slow salsa dance as the sun goes down.
3. 20201023 2
I imagine this being a last call at 3 AM at a beach bar where they play lovers’ rock reggae and the bartender pours alcohol in your drink.
4. 20201119
A 70s comedy movie montage where the main characters are turning around a struggling business.
5. 20191012 Fooled by Love
When a guy comes to the realization that the girl he has been chasing romantically for three months isn’t shit.
6. 20191215
Sounds like a flamenco player providing excellent background music for a Cuban brunch.
7. 20200326
What someone listens to coming into the office after a lunch and they want to pump themselves up.
8. 20200812
If Buddy Guy and Jack Johnson were jamming at a campsite in Yellowstone.
9. 20200816 She Want the Sandwich
A lazy holiday weekend Saturday.
10. 20211129 2
Sounds like the end of a TV high school drama series where the star is driving in a convertible but the story is to be continued.
Hopefully you give this anthology of superior music a listen and it brings you as much joy and synthesia that it gave me.