Playlist: Nifty Fifty 2018

Swell, here we are again.

It’s been quite a busy and downright lovely year here at Swell Tone. We’ve been digging deeper into older genres, combing with all of our friends named Jon (at Various Small Flames & Cereal + Sounds) to create our collaborative Various Swell Sounds playlists, and swellin’ all over the world! By plane, train, and automobile, we’ve enjoyed the musical and cultural wonder of Hawaii, Australia, the UK, Portland, Orlando and more. We also soaked up all we could in Philadelphia, releasing some mesmerizing sessions with our favorite local bands, showcasing Philadelphia photographers, and wiggling our booties amongst friends at as many gigs around town as possible before departing. Peach Pit, Sun June, and Why Bonnie performed our favorite tracks in warehouses, plant shops, and even a pre-school for us. Bob and Jake made all our session magic happen once again at sessions that seemed to happen in too cold or too hot conditions. And lastly, we whittled down from two swell gals to one who also moonlighted as a ghost in our Sixteen Jackies session.

Between burying our noses in crates of records and cassettes and gently meandering to the front of shows in basements, living rooms, pristine venues, and even repurposed strip clubs, this year was spent at the heart of music and our playlist below reflects it. We used music as a tool to maintain familiarity and sanity a lot these past months and that has resulted in our favorite tracks of the year having a certain stability and comforting glow. You’ll find songs from all the places we’ve gone and the great tunes that got us there.

In 2019, we’re going to do a little bit of a re-vamp as we settle into Portland life. We want to bring you new and exciting music in new and exciting ways. Any and all suggestions or requests are welcome! Just send us an email.

Enjoy these slow burnin’, heart thumpin’ gems of 2018 and find something new to love!