Class of 2026: First Year Playlists
We asked incoming first years from the Tufts Class of 2026 to create playlists that embodied their summer. Here are four of the best!
Jack Brownlee
With another summer came any other season’s ups as well as its downs. Sure, I made all kinds of great memories, but the moments in between the memories are closer to the reality of the past few months for me.
Some of the aforementioned great memories came with music. I got the chance to see Alex G, whose music I’ve listened to copiously all year, in concert. (Leaving the show, I ran into him outside of the venue and asked him to sign my epipen. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything to sign it with.) I blasted Pavement all down the highway on a post-graduation road trip, much to some of my friends’ chagrin. I hung out with my siblings all the time, singing along to Fontaines D.C. and Victony songs in the car with the windows down, no matter where we ended up going.
Aside from the main events of my summer, my day-to-day life was simple, although the tunes that came with it were varied. I spent hours contentedly listening to Bloc Party or various Afrobeats artists while walking around my neighborhood in the sun. I worked shift after shift at a job that I actually enjoyed with Zola Jesus songs stuck in my head. I spent more than a few quiet nights taking in Tim Hecker albums and iamamiwhoami music videos. Music kept the monotony of mid-summer downtime from being too monotonous, and at the end of the day, while I suppose I had a pretty run-of-the-mill, quiet summer, I certainly still had fun.
Sevi Mast
1. “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” - Roy Ayers Ubiquity is sampled in Joey Bada$$'s song "Shine", another phenomenal song. I worked on a golf course this summer while going to the beach on the weekends, and therefore I wanted some music to reflect the sunny nature of my summer life. I found this song and felt the vibe matched how I felt while outside.
2. “Enough” - A Tribe Called Quest is a little bit different from the Tribe's usual stuff. It's much more sensual and flowy. I love their usual stuff, and I love this; it breaks up their newest album well. It's a good song to vibe to in my room or in the car.
3. “Glass House” - Paw Paw Rod was introduced to me by one of my closest friends. I had it on repeat because it was catchy and unique, kind of a blend of genres. I felt like I was in a cool coffee shop every time I listened to it.
4. “2 Wicky” - Hooverphonic made me feel like a badass spy. It's echoey and somewhat trip hop and mysterious; I love the vocal effects, drums, and of course Geike Arnaert's lovely voice.
5. “Total Football” - Parquet Courts felt very political even though I didn't really know why. It's just upbeat pop rock and it's cool and fun and the shouting of "f*** Tom Brady!" at the end really took me, a Mass native, by surprise. Also, the bassline is sick.
6. “Forge Your Own Chains” - DR Hooker made its debut in my life for the first time in my local Trader Joe's over the summer. It was love at first listen. Another mysterious and maybe slightly psychedelic song, it seems to take influence from jazz music.
7. “Every Ghetto, Every City” - Ms. Lauryn Hill could be the best track on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, though I am sure that is a controversial take. It's upbeat and tells a story of her childhood. Considering I had just graduated high school, the theme of "looking back" was really meaningful to me.
8. “Forty Six & 2” - TOOL was kind of my pump-up song for the gym. I will just never get enough of TOOL's edgy progressive metal vibe. The guitar hypes me up.
9. “Indiglo” - Pigeons Playing Ping Pong has a very nice bassline and I find it to be rather lovely modern funk. This song is extremely catchy and I found myself singing it all the time and playing it every time I stepped foot in the car. The vocals are nice and there are some Phish-like jam components thrown about, which I respect.
10. “Pressed Against the Sky” - Toadies is a song by the same band that so artfully crafted my favorite song of maybe all time, "Possum Kingdom". But this song is really good too, and it was song I listened to when I felt especially emotional about leaving my friends and family. This song is from one of Toadies' newer albums, and the 90s rock vibe is still present in my opinion, but more in a post-grunge way. The lyrics are really beautiful.
11. “Gumbo” - Phish was a necessary addition to this playlist because I saw both of Phish's Massachusetts shows this summer. They didn't play this song at either show, which is no surprise considering their discography is massive. I’m not a crazy Phishhead, but I do enjoy a good jam every once in awhile and I find the horns and keyboard on this live jam to be quite charming.
12. “Kool Thing” - Sonic Youth was brought to my attention by my senior year physics teacher at the end of the year, who quickly turned it off and got embarrassed when it came on. This happened with every Sonic Youth song that came on in his classroom, to which he stated it "wasn't the vibe." He only played Green Day, which is fine because I love Green Day, but I was instantly intrigued by this song and Shazamed it before he could turn it off. I really loved the talking portions and the message of the song and I just felt cool listening to it.
13. “Boss DJ” - Sublime is like a nice little summer lullaby. Sublime is the band that first "got me into" the world of music (Sublime to 90s rock/ska to grunge to punk to everything else pipeline). This song is kind of different from their usual but it's so nice and you may want to hear the same song twice. I also saw Sublime with Rome live over the summer so this is in spirit of that.
14. “Folie Á Deux” - Mach-Hommy, Westside Gunn, & Keisha Plum is really abstract and a little bit scary to me but the sparkly sounds drew me in. I also love Westside Gunn's adlibs; they are definitely one way he sets himself apart from other rappers. The echoey effects are also cool but weird.
Daniel Cece
In the first act of my summer, I worked as a camp counselor at the YMCA. Unlike my previous job at a sushi restaurant, there were virtually no music listening opportunities. Back then, I could go hand a customer their order of miso soup and california rolls while Black Country, New Road blasted through my right airpod. But now, the only chance I had to listen to anything was during my 30 minute break. I would always take full advantage of the break, maximizing my time with albums like Sigur Rós’ Ágætis byrjun and Nujabes’ Modal Soul. On the last day of camp it was slightly drizzling outside, the last kid had just left, and all the counselors were getting ready to leave. I had my speaker with me and started playing “Oblivion” by Grimes. My co-counselor and I just danced to it for 4 minutes straight, and I felt a sense of strange freedom as I walked out of the YMCA for good.
During the second act of my summer, I took some time for myself. I went to the beach with my family and listened to Sweet Trip’s Velocity: Design: Comfort. I had a day where I just threw paper airplanes around with my younger brother at a park, and Stereolab’s Dots and Loops was the perfect soundtrack for the afternoon. I went to the restaurant Mount Fuji to celebrate my graduation. On the way back, I played “The Dress” by Dijon as my girlfriend and I sped by the highway lights in the dark. Through those last few summer months it became increasingly difficult to stay in the moment, because the day I would leave for college kept getting closer and closer. But at that moment, I was fully present.
The third act of my summer was full of strange feelings. I was texting my roommate about music, and I brought up that I had to listen to more happy music, because I knew if I combined something like Twin Fantasy and leaving all my friends and family, then I would be an absolute wreck. Although I was joking when I said it, my roommate went so far as to make an entire playlist for me, entitled “happy roomie playlist.” I wasn’t sure if I was actually ever going to listen to it, but then I had to say goodbye to two of my best friends I’d known since elementary school. I had to force myself to steer clear from The Microphones or Beach House or anything that would enhance my sadness. So I left my friend’s house, eyes watering, listening to “Classic” by MKTO.
Soon it was time to go. After searching for music for a few minutes during my drive down to Tufts, I eventually landed on David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. As “Moonage Daydream” came on, I gazed out the window and noticed an interesting billboard. It said: “movies, art, music, and YOU!” I thought for a second, and started to evaluate the importance of art in my life. I suddenly felt a rush of excitement, as I was about to be at a place that would push me to continue pursuing all different kinds of art and create content of my own. As I looked away from the billboard, the next song began, and Bowie’s words echoed in my headphones:
There’s a starman waiting in the sky
He told us not to blow it
Cause he knows it’s all worthwhile
I realize now that all the triumph, sadness, stress, and comfort I felt this summer is all okay. I will continue to feel many different emotions at Tufts, and it’s okay. It’s all worthwhile. I agree, Starman. I agree.
Anna Zhang
Yes, I am cheating a little bit— I’m technically not a freshman, but this is still my first year at Tufts. This past summer, like many freshmen, was a summer of many changes, new experiences, and the classic highs and lows of New England summer.
The beginning of my summer was the usual: Wilco (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is their best summer album), Talking Heads, and Vampire Weekend. Boyscott’s 2019 album Goosebumps has signified the start of my summers since 2020, when I first drove my car with all the windows down during Covid. Back home, away from the college I spent my first year, and away from some of the best friends I made that year, life got slow, as Yo La Tengo’s “The Summer” played on my Walkman shamefully bought on Amazon.
It wasn’t always like that, of course, for I got my first taste (Fiona Apple reference) of a 9-5 adult life in Boston Chinatown. Living in the suburbs meant my daily commute came to a total of 2 hours round-trip, which gave me plenty of time to indulge in some city pop classics and my favorite songs from all the shows I went to this summer. As the final show of the summer drew its curtains, and I said my goodbyes to friends back home for another year, I’m ready to begin again, kind of.