LCD Soundsystem and the Unbearable Sameness of Restaurant Playlists

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2019

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why is it that every hip restaurant plays the same music? When Eater restaurant editor Hillary Dixler Canavan kept hearing similar songs while dining for work assignments, she compiled a playlist of what she heard. It included songs by LCD Soundsystem, M83, Grimes, Biggie, Beck and the like. Her subsequent article about this music, “This Is Every Generically Cool Restaurant’s Playlist,” went viral. She’d captured the elusive sound of small plate dining. But what left her guessing was why this sound? And how did it reach so many restaurants in cities across the U.S.? She brought this question to Switched On Pop to understand why this 00s mostly indie sound was the ideal background for post-industrial chic establishments. Investigating the issue, she discovered a small bubble of music selectors who curate these lists for businesses. She spoke with Yvette Bailhache, a D.C. based music selector for restaurants and bars about how these lists are made. And she asked Jonathan Shecter, founder of the Las Vegas based background music service Playback Prodigy, about what makes an ideal background sound. What she discovered is surprising. The sounds in the background may dictate more of our foreground than you’d expect. Music DiscussedLCD Soundsystem - I Can ChangeM83 - Midnight City Grimes - GenesisIce Cube - It Was A Good DayWu-Tang Clean - CREAMThis Will Destroy You - KitchenListen to Hillary’s Every Restaurant Playlist and for more stories and news on food, subscribe to Eater's podcast Upsell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When you drive a Chevy electric vehicle, you're getting more than a way to get from point A to point B.
0:06.0	You're saying goodbye to gas stations and how low to open roads.
0:09.0	With the growing network of public charging stations, you'll be able to charge your EV while you shop, work, or do whatever you want to be doing with your time.
0:17.0	Chevy is making EVs for everyone, everywhere. Go to chevrelay.com slash electric to learn more.
0:24.0	So Hillary, where are we?
0:29.0	We are at Costa Blanca in Echo Park.
0:33.0	And what are we doing here?
0:35.0	We are eating pizza and listening to oldies.
0:38.0	What did we think was going to happen?
0:41.0	Well, I thought we were going to be listening to Indie Rock from around 2012, because that's what happened when I came here for dinner.
0:49.0	How do you feel like these oldies are working as a background music for our pizza lunch?
0:55.0	Well, they're inconvenient in terms of our plans for our podcast, but I think as a vibe for lunch, I think oldies are nice.
1:03.0	It works for me.
1:04.0	So why did you take me here?
1:06.0	I took you here because I had started tracking songs that I was hearing over and over again in my phone.
1:12.0	I was dinner with my husband at Costa Blanca, where I was like, maybe this is actually a story because it keeps happening.
1:19.0	What keeps happening?
1:20.0	That I keep hearing the same songs over and over and over again.
1:35.0	Welcome to Switch Done Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
1:38.0	And I'm Hillary Dixler-Canavan, the restaurant editor of Eater.
1:41.0	Today we're doing something a bit different.
1:43.0	We're going into the world of upscale dining to understand how background music is often an intentional soundtrack that's designed to evoke an emotional state,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.