KTL’S NEUROTRANSMITTER PLAYLIST. SEROTONIN

Dirty Soup’s creative neuroscientist Katherine Templar Lewis looks at the four brain chemicals affecting happiness and recommends music to help ease us back into the real world.

Today’s neurotransmitter of choice is Serotonin - the happy hormone.

Listen to the full playlist and find out more below.

KTL:  From Nina Simone’s incredible version of Here Comes The Sun to Good As Hell by Lizzo, today’s playlist is likely to put a smile on your face. It’s all about music that elicits serotonin, the happy hormone.  

Studies suggest it’s triggered by music with positive lyrics and medium-tempo melodies in major chords. Serotonin boosts our immune system and stabilises our mood, feelings of well-being and happiness. 

A dose of serotonin-raising music is a great stress buster. Serotonin has a positive impact on our whole body, not just on our outlook or how we feel. It supports a healthy nervous system and the body in general whereas stress disrupts this by reducing our serotonin level. 

When it comes to major feeling states, studies also show that lyrics appear to have greater power to direct mood change than music alone.  That’s why ‘listening with intent’ helps trigger these happy vibes. 

Here’s the good bit: the power of listening to uplifting music with positive lyrics can last up to 48 hours. 

DIRTY MONDAY... FT KRISTINE BARILLI

Dirty Soup’s retro genre-specialist Kristine Barilli's Dirty Monday Playlist is The Sounds of New York Summer.

With a collection of over 10,000 vinyl records at her finger tips, NYC-based music junkie and resident DJ at The Lot Radio in Brooklyn, Barilli loves nothing more than hunting down elusive musical gems - and she’s offered up a sampling of her favourites to play all summer long.

Check out the playlist and read what the tracks mean to her below.

Read Kristine’s full bio HERE.

Close To Perfection by Miquel Brown: This song was played during Jim Burgess’s legendary last set at NYC’s iconic gay club The Saint. It’s one of those precursors to sleaze disco tracks that makes you want to dance until the sun comes up.

Black Magic by Astrud Gilberto: Off of my personal favourite Astrud Gilberto record which is filled with album cuts and hits alike this track is the ultimate summer dance party!

Love Will Set You Free by Carrie Cleveland: Slightly out of key and dizzying, this track gives you all the hot summer night energy of Timmy Thomas’s keyboard playing mixed with a lounge singer in a smokey bar you saunter into late at night and possibly leave with a stranger.

Night People by Allen Toussaint: It’s all about the female vocals on this one. But it also sounds like it belongs in a film during a scene where some crazy party is happening in the Hollywood hills and everyone is up to no good.

Do You Feel It? (Tu Lo Sientes?) by Joe Cuba Sextet: If you want to know what New York looks and feels like in the summertime, close your eyes and listen to the lyrics of this song.

Feeling Good by Nina Simone: There is no song arguably steamier then this masterpiece. It’s also the ultimate summer love story, an ode to the sun and nature coming together in harmony to tantalise the senses.

Samba Saravah by Pierre Barouh: It sounds like an aperol spritz in the sun on the Mediterranean somewhere.

Samari Da Yan Matan by Mamman Sani: A dreamscape of instrumental magic. I want to fall asleep on the beach under the stars while this plays.

In The Courtyard of the Stars by Nirvana: So romantic and simple, it really is evocative of hot summer nights in Italy for some reason to me… in the courtyards… under the stars.

L.A. Nights by Yasuko Agawa: Exactly what the title implies. The warm desert air just hits differently.

THE NEEDLE DROP: FARGO SEASON 2

Today's Needle Drop is chosen by music supervisor Juliet Martin.

JM - The music supervision on Fargo Season 2 was so excellent I Googled the music sup straightaway… its by Maggie Phillips my Normal People collaborator! Lisa Hannigan is one of my favourite Irish artists and it was just so unexpected to hear her version of Danny Boy on this American show set in 1979. Danny Boy is one of those ubiquitous Irish tunes - but Hannigan's performance of it is so beautiful and in conjunction with the picture it becomes something completely different. I love the way the score overlays the scene and creates a sense of foreboding towards the end. Not only is it a brilliant showcase of the creative side of music supervision it also shows how we are involved in commissioning and organising the re-recording of material and the licensing. Danny Boy is out of copyright so it would have kept the cost down for the production.

Read Juliet’s full bio HERE

KTL'S NEUROTRANSMITTER PLAYLIST: DOPAMINE

Dirty Soup’s creative neuroscientist Katherine Templar Lewis looks at the four brain chemicals affecting happiness and recommends music to help ease us back into the world.

Today: a rush of dopamine!

KTL: Science tells us loads of dopamine is released in our brain when we hear music that really moves us. Music that gives us chills, gives us goosebumps in fact. 

This is epic music that increases in volume and finishes with a long sweeping flourish. The nucleus accumbens in our brain is triggered, and dopamine rushes forth. Often, the brain thinks there’s more sound than there actually is - something called the superadditive effect. 

These dopamine tracks do genuinely move us to tears or give us a feeling of empowerment. Commonly it's music that we find either beautiful or moving. 

Listen to the full playlist below - and find out more about Katherine HERE.

THE NEEDLE DROP: THE PURSUIT OF LOVE

THE NEEDLE DROP: Dirty Soup Music Supervisors reveal their favourite onscreen musical moments.

Today’s entry comes from Raife Burchell, Dirty Soup Founder, Music Supervisor & Professional Musician.

R.B - I’m going with Musical Director and Bad Seeds member George Vjestica's recent bullseye track selection for Lord Merlin's entrance in The Pursuit of Love. Rumour has it Vjestica picked up a vinyl copy of the relatively unknown T. Rex track Dandy in the Underworld at Amoeba Music in LA while out on tour with the Bad Seeds. Fast forward five years - as soon as George read the script he instantly knew what track the scene needed. Music direction at its finest!

Read Raife’s bio HERE.