20 Songs That Make Me Happy

Many of you have probably seen the “Name 20 songs that make you happy” thing going around the social medias. Well, I took the time to make a quick playlist of 20 songs that make me happy. Listen/stream/download below.

Hope you enjoy.





  1. Manchester by Kishi Bashi

  2. I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Time) by Jaimie xx

  3. Funky Kingston by Toots and the Maytals

  4. Love, Love, Love 2 (Reprise) by Akron/Family

  5. Mustt Mustt (Extended) by Kiran Ahluwalia

  6. Konkon by Oki Dub Ainu Band

  7. Scenario by A Tribe Called Quest

  8. Baba O’Riley by the Who

  9. Here Comes Sunshine by Grateful Dead

  10. Sweet Jane by the Velvet Underground

  11. Sun Hands by Local Natives

  12. Reality Used to be a Friend by P.M. Dawn

  13. Swerve . . . The reeping . . . by Shabazz Palaces

  14. Bam Bam by Sister Nancy

  15. Lalo Schifrin by Blue Scholars

  16. I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Creedence Clearwater Revival

  17. Baby Baby by the Vibrators

  18. Love of My Life Worldwide by Erykah Badu

  19. Boogie on Reggae Woman by Stevie Wonder

  20. Ooh La La by Faces


  • Download a PDF of some pretty bland CD artwork


Grateful Dead: Playing In The Jam (A Holiday At The Sea Mix)

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Ever wonder what “Playing In The Band” might sound like as an extended instrumental free-jazz-space-rock suite? Well, I did.

Inspired by Save Your Face and their various Grateful Dead mixes, I edited six different performances of “Playing In The Band” into an instrumental suite.

I’m not entirely happy with a couple of the transitions, but I dig how it turned out overall, seeing as how I am not a professional, I didn’t actually spend that much time on this, and I really only made this for myself to listen to either while I work or commuting. Enjoy.

Here are the deets for the six pieces making up the Suite:

  • 00:00 - 11:39 :: 09.21.72 at the The Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA (released as Dicks’s Picks 36)

  • 11:39-25:45 :: 03.24.73 at the The Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA

  • 25:245 - 34:47 :: 11.10.73 at Winterland Arena in San Francisco, CA (released as part of Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings)

  • 34:47 - 44:09 :: 05.17.77 at Memorial Coliseum, U of Alabama, MS (released as part of May 1977)

  • 44:09: 52:31 :: 05.28.77 at at Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT (released as To Terrapin: Hartford '77)

  • 52:31 - 56:27 :: 05.28.77 at at Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT (released as To Terrapin: Hartford '77)

I chose these performances for no real reason other than that this is the time-period of the Dead that I listen to most and these shows happened to be on my laptop when I decided to try out this idea.

And if all that weren’t enough goodness, here’s an instrumental edit of the mammoth “Playing In The Band” from the Pacific Northwest '73-'74: Believe it If You Need It (Live) set (Live at Hec Edmundson Pavillion, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 5/21/74).

Enjoy.

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