Music is very important to us. The DROP is about setting the pace. Music for riding, drifting, and staying in it a little longer than planned.
You can follow us on Instagram here, but in its purest and most beautiful form this is a newsletter, something to slow your timeline down.
Before we get into it
GRAVITYHILL is free to read and will be for a long time. But if you are getting something out of it, a subscription goes a long way toward keeping this independent.
In case you missed it, here is what we have been working on:
BREAKAWAY // 005 — Cycling Has a Visibility Problem
Ben Healy has 105,000 followers. Lewis Hamilton has over 40 million. That gap is not about talent. How fashion became the entry point for every sport that cracked the culture problem — and why cycling has not run that playbook yet.
LEFT TURNS // 003 — What If Cycling Had a Creative Director?
Crystal Palace did it. Como 1907 did it. The Cleveland Cavaliers did it. Every sport with cultural ambitions figured this out already. What happens when cycling finally makes the call.
BREAKAWAY // 004 — The Kids from Piazza San Babila
Milan, 1983. A generation decided the most radical thing they could do was refuse politics entirely. No manifesto. Just dress better than everyone else. What the Paninari understood about clothes as ideology, and why cyclists have been running the same logic ever since.
If that sounds like your kind of newsletter, you know what to do.
Some people love music but my brother-in-law… he lives it.
He has been playing in bands for a big chunk of his life. Toured the world because of it. Still plays every room like it’s the only one that matters. He is the kind of person who knows not just the song but everything underneath it. The label, the year, the B-side nobody pressed play on. To be fair, my wife’s whole family is like that.
A few weeks ago he threw himself a party for his 40th. It was a concert. A really fun one too. Every band he has ever played with showed up. Every person on stage changed except for him. A room full of people he loved, doing what he loved, with people he loved playing with. It was beautiful. The night was so good I had to ask him to make a playlist.
Instead of sending me a Spotify link, which is what I am going to do here, he sent me an email. One note per track. In his own words, exactly as he wrote them.
Here is the setlist, untouched from the email.
This is VOL. 003 of THE DROP.
SETLIST
Santana – “Soul Sacrifice”
-As funny as memes about the crappy pop album Santana made are, this is what it’s about.
Grand Funk Railroad – “Got this Thing on the Move”
-GFR are Homer Simpson’s favorite band which is good enough for me.
Jimi Hendrix – “Manic Depression”
-drums sound like they’re played on pots and pans by a groovy child
and the guitar sounds like it’s played by Jimi Hendrix.
Queens of the Stone Age – “If Only”
-see my Black Sabbath comment
Deep Purple – “Sail Away”
-Sounds like Queens of the Stone Age had this tape in high school.
Black Mountain – “Old Fangs” (Canadian)
-I love bands that have more than 1 singer and different
instrumentation. There’s so much trading off between synth, guitar,
and each singer gets a verse.
Goat – “Goathead”
-probably my favourite contemporary band. Afro-beat, funk, psych rock, huge rhythms and riffs, chanting ritual female vocals!
Mdou Moctar – “Tarhatazed”
-he whistles halfway through the solo to make the band speed up, this recording is 3 dudes going as hard as they can. I love that it’s not in English.
All Them Witches – “Am I Going Up?”
-the less lyrics you use, the more you say.
Black Sabbath – “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes”
-every stoner rock playlist needs a Black Sabbath song. Non-negotiable.
Bionic-“Turn You Out” (Canadian)
-An intro that deserves to freak everybody out at least once in their life.
Bison B.C – “Primal Emptiness of Outer Space” (Canadian)
-definitely on the metal end of the spectrum but I’ve seen these guys leave rooms speechless.
Priestess – “I am the Night, Colour Me Black” (Canadian)
-I’m getting goosebumps listening to this on speakerphone at a whisper.
Barn Burner – “Wizard Island” (Canadian)
-I was in this band, so they make the cut!
Roky Erickson – “Two Headed Dog (Red Temple Prayer)”
-the definition of psych-rock lyrics
Murder By Death – “Theme (for Ennio Moricone)”
-Heaviest sounding name for the folkiest band on the list!
Led Zeppelin – “Dazed and Confused”
-I found this song in my dad’s record collection and realized he
listened to heavier music than me.
Put Precious and Grace by ZZ Top too!
To submit a site, product, or whatever you’re working on, email KMC@GRAVITYHILL.CC. We read everything. Posting is never guaranteed, but curiosity always is.
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