A guide to the music of selected Downtown Manhattan coffee shops

(Image: Cover of album) 

A guide to the music of selected Downtown Manhattan coffee shops

(Image: Back cover of album) 

The album I have created is a compilation of some of the music that is played in four chosen coffee shops in Downtown Manhattan. I visited Ost Cafe, Bluebird Coffee Shop, The Smile and Saturdays Surf NYC, and investigated the music that was played there. These locations were chosen because they are unique (not part of chains), and are designed in ways that are aesthetically appealing to me. 

I chose to pull the music for my album from a few of the numerous NYC-coffee shops, because I feel that they say a lot about the culture of NYC. They reveal certain aspects of NYC-lifestyle. By this I mean that they show that there is demand for places where you can sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee or take it to-go. These shops also give me the impression that many New Yorkers make the ritual of getting coffee part of their everyday life. 

Album Playlist (including links to youtube-videos and the websites of the cafes):

Ost Cafe: Charles Mingus - Moanin’

Saturdays Surf NYC: The Black Keys - Your Touch

Ost Cafe: A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation

Saturdays Surf NYC: Guru - No Time To Play

Saturdays Surf NYC: Bloc Party - Banquet

Ost Cafe: Thelonius Monk - Straight, No Chaser 

Saturdays Surf NYC: Guru feat. Lord Tariq - Knowledge

Bluebird Coffee Shop: Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come 

Saturdays Surf NYC: The Drums – Forever & Ever Amen

The Smile: Otis Redding - A Little Tenderness

Review of album:

This mix of music from a few different coffee shops is of great variety. The album starts off with a very powerful delivery from jazz musician Charles Mingus, in the song “Moanin’”. Another outstanding track is the song “Knowledge” by Guru, which reflects the vibrant and energetic vibe of NYC. Many of the songs of the album belong to different musical eras and genres. For instance there’s both a couple of 1960s souls classics (Sam Cooke and Otis Redding) and a song by the present-day rock-band The Drums. Overall the album is dynamic and energizing in the sense that gives you a feeling of the good vibes of some of the best NYC-coffee shops. I think the best way which I can describe this soothing, yet energizing album, would be to call it “sips of sound”.

(This review is written by myself, which might seem kind of weird, but it was part of the homework assignment.)

“24 hour champagne diet” 

The map I have created is meant to illustrate 24 hours of my life; specifically from 10pm on Saturday the 30th of October to 10pm on Sunday the 31st of October. It is a rough sketch of the lower part of Manhattan, combined with clusters of photos that give a glimpse of the different locations in which I spent my time in. The various arrows represent the different means of transportation I utilized. 

The title I chose for this blog-post does, quite ironically, not go well with my personal taste, since I strongly dislike champagne. Nevertheless, I chose this quote from the song “Money to Blow”, since it symbolizes a certain nightlife-focused lifestyle. It is suitable for these 24 hours, but I do not feel that this song represents my overall lifestyle and general mind-set. 

I decided to start the 24 hour map at 10pm since, like implied earlier, both Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st largely revolved around the night-time. In other words, most of my activities took place during the night.

As I assume is evident in the images on the map, I did, in the hours they display, spend a significant amount of time preparing for- and celebrating Halloween. The phenomenon of Halloween is something I have been familiar with for a while. I did however, not know that it had such an important place in the culture of NYC. I had never experienced Halloween in the US before, and I was quite shocked to see that many people would spend enormous amounts of time and money on Halloween. The apparent general obsession with “all-things-Halloween” was also very fascinating to me. An example of this, and my choice to end this post, is the song “This is Halloween” which was on replay in my hallway as my neighbors were decorating, about a week ahead of the dates shown in the map. 

Fascinating street art in Paris

by ABOVE

Image found at: The Wooster Collective

Seen on the streets of Paris

Artwork by Michael Aaron Williams

Image found at: The Wooster Collective

Two-page catalog spread (PAGE 1)

Two-page catalog spread (PAGE 2)