Hello, my name is Naz Kawakami. I’m the new Editor in Chief of Monster Children based in New York City. Did you know that for a number of years, I was a radio DJ? You probably did because I never shut the fuck up about it. My show was called Night Drive, every Thursday from midnight to 3AM. Those were good times. A lot of sex, drugs, and partying were done in that little Honolulu radio studio. None of it done by me, but it’s still cool to think about. 

Anyway, since taking this Editor job, I spend most of my day the way I spent my days as a DJ: listening to music. Some good, some bad. Some old, some new. Every Friday, I compile the week’s worth of music into a playlist. Songs we’ve been enjoying, songs we’ve just (re)discovered, and songs that offer a preview into what features we have coming out soon. Not the newest, not the rarest, just good music. The mood of the week over at the MC New York City office for you to judge and enjoy. 

What have I been doing for the last two weeks? Dancing through the pain, mostly. It’s difficult for each of us to be alive and experience sentience in its entirety, full of adulthood, rent, miscommunication, doomed ambition, and joy that exists in spurts only to accent and intensify the brutal disappointment of existence and perceived perpetuity. Bit of a downer, so in the end, all you can really do is dance and weave and bounce your way through, so that’s the attitude I’ve adopted.

It’s a playlist for people who are sad but are fighting back against it. Or for people who experience seasonal depression in the summer (or winter, if you’re unfortunate enough to be Australian this season). It’s a little nudge against the downer. Some music to help you look up from the bottom of the ocean.

This week’s playlist is full of songs to get you grooving the nihilism right out of your frail yellowed bones. You’re probably sitting there reading this about to criticize me for repeating some tracks from episode three of these NYC playlists which was devoted entirely to dance. Well, you’re right to do that, fair point. This version does differ in a few ways, though. While all of these tracks are danceable, not all are happy, and even less are easy dance tracks. If anything, it’s actually a bit of a challenge for some. Not for the faint of heart, but I dare you, nonetheless, to move right through it.

If anything, most of these are a bit of a bounce rather than a full move. Some are good jumpers, some are good twisters, but many - and I believe this to be an underrated division of dance - are bouncers; songs that move you through a room bouncing and bobbing with each step, adding a bit of sass to your interroom commute. They’re good for holding someone close and bouncing hips, which is perfect when neither of you know how to dance and are shy to learn. On that note, I will also say from experience that most of these are easier traversed with a partner. Because you don’t have a significant other, instead, grab your significant house cat, significant body pillow, or significant lamp to act in their place in replicating what little human comforts we may cling to by way of touch and companionship. It’s going to be fine. Next week will be happier, but this made me laugh.

Questions, comments, concerns, condemnations, recommendations, well-wishes, hit me.