Today's Dirty Monday playlist comes from master music supervisor Juliet Martin.
As Juliet gears up to help create the musical journey for the BBC’s upcoming adaptation of Sally Rooney's Conversations With Friends, she lets us in on the tracks that made her fall in love with the power of storytelling.
From Prince to John Cooper-Clarke and John Martyn, listen to the full playlist - and read what the tracks mean to Juliet below.
Read Juliet’s full bio HERE.
Evidently Chickentown by John Cooper Clarke: The use of this in The Soprano’s was a big sync moment for me. It showed me the possibilities and potential of what music use could do for a scene. John Cooper Clarke’s voice is so menacing - his stark North of England delivery - and the disembodied industrial sound is an unlikely juxtaposition with a story and scene that’s otherwise very American, but it just works so well. The effect is devastating.
Small Hours - John Martyn: This is such a beautiful song and I love so many tracks on the album Solid Air. I love his ambient guitar swells, and the layering of them over the sound of the winds and the birds.
I Would Die for You - Prince: I was a massive fan of Prince as a teenager. Purple Rain was one of my favourite albums, there are so many incredible songs on it. The lyrics on this track are pretty unequivocal ‘I’m Your Messiah’ and I love his voice with its range and delivery. I was lucky enough to see Prince live and his performance was of course, legendary.
Birthday - The Sugarcubes: When I first heard this I was about 17 and it was like nothing I’d ever heard before, it blew me away: the arrangement and Bjork’s vocal, the sheer innovative nature of her talent just jumps out of this song.
Cowboys and Angels - George Michael: I love this song so much, I could listen to that gorgeous velvety bass all day. I worked on a record label when I was listening to this album and everyone disapproved because he was so successful/mainstream but I’m a huge George Michael fan.
Your Love - Frankie Knuckles: When I started University in Dublin it was the early 90’s and the rave scene was in full flow. I love how it starts with the synth and the phat bassline and then builds. The so song is sexy, and so melancholic!
Heliosphan - Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works’ was an album I listened to a lot when I was in college. I loved this song in particular - we used to listen to this album a lot at the end of a night out. I like how it grows over hi hats and alternating drums. I just find so much emotion in this.
We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced by A Winged Victory for the Sullen: I chose this song as one of my favourites from Normal People and all time favourite pieces of music to a scene. The editor Nathan picked it, so I’m not blowing my own trumpet. It plays as Connell and Marianne are at the swimming pool party. The track has an incredible sadness and poignancy to it. For me this scene is the pinnacle of Connell’s inability to communicate and also the pain of his love for Marianne. With almost no dialogue or lyrics this song, and the leads performances capture all the complicated emotion that the book conveys. That’s one of the great storytelling powers of music.
The Kiss by Judee Sill: Maggie Phillips, a fantastic music supervisor whom I had the pleasure of working with on Normal People introduced me to this song. We both thought it would be a great end to the series. Literally every time I hear this song I cry! I don’t know how it manages to have that effect, there are few songs that do. I read that she had a difficult life and maybe you feel that when you listen to it.
Move on Up - Extended Version - Curtis Mayfield: What a banger of a song. I play this at least once a month and have a dance round the kitchen. The bongos are magic, it has to be the extended version so you can get completely lost in it.