Hello everyone!
The 100+4th playlist :-)
I wanted to start this email with a huge thanks to all of you who are reading these emails either every week or once in a while :-)
After a discussion with a couple of friends around a nice dinner in December 2021, what started as a side project experiment turned into a fascinating hobby, especially amid a challenging year 2023.
Huge thanks to all the guests who took the time to send me their playlist and made the weekly newsletter more interesting :-)
Another 5 closing tracks to finish 2023 on a high, and see you next year.
(PS: I'm looking at some different formats for next year, so if you have any feedback or comment, hit reply, please)

TL;DR: I'm running a musical newsletter with a new guest sharing 5 songs each week.
There is a YouTube link for each of the songs on the cover, and here are the playlists for each streaming platform:
1. Mashrou’ Leila - Bahr (feat. Erik Truffaz)
The Lebanese indie rockers are closing their "Raasuk" album with this chilled song. Their folk arabesques are entwined with Erik Truffaz's trumpet and Ahmed's mumbled voice.
2. Jeff Buckley - Dream Brother
I'm (re) discovering Jeff Buckley with this newsletter.
"Dream Brother" is the last track on Jeff Buckley's album "Grace". It was written as an urge for a friend of his, Chris Dowd of Fishbone fame, not to walk out on his pregnant girlfriend in a similar way to Buckley's own father.
3. Alice In Chains - Over Now
Alice In Chains' last song on their last self-titled album, with Layne Staley as the lead singer, before the band went on hiatus and Layne Staley eventually died from an overdose.
Incidentally, "Over Now" by Alice in Chains appears to be a song about acceptance and moving on from a situation that has come to an end.
4. Birdy Nam Nam - The Parachute Ending
A crew of former Parisian turntablism wizards moved to electronic music. This is the last track from their 2009 "Manual For Successful Rioting" album.
It has been produced by Justice, and you can recognize their very typical keyboard synth sound.
5. Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
I wonder why it took me 19 album closers before getting to this one.
Nine Inch Nails has been a gateway band for me. I bought "The Fragile" when I was 19 and quickly after travelled back in time for "The Downward Spiral" (TDS). I'm still regularly listening to both albums at 42.
"Hurt" is TDS's emotional centrepiece: "a cathartic examination of struggles with addiction, depression and self-destructive tendencies.".
The song has been covered many times, including by Johnny Cash for one of the most beautiful covers.
Until the next time, Godspeed!
Thomas
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