The love of grocery shopping is a character trait. Some people set it equal to paying taxes or running into an ex – possibly because both are anxiety-inducing and can totally happen while you’re grocery shopping. Others, like myself, frequently have to go grocery shopping alone simply to spare others from getting bored while I wander aisles and smell stuff. Naturally, alone time = headphones-time, and that’s how this Grocery Shopping Playlist was brought into the world.
Despite the fact that grocery shopping requires spending money, it fills me with delight. Partially because it’s yet another money-saving game that I can try to win with coupons and sales, and partially because I get to shut out the world and groove through thousands and thousands of square feet of potential snacks. For this, I require the perfect soundtrack.
The aesthetics of the “Nuclear Family”-era grocery experience is nothing short of iconic. The 1950s and 1960s were the prime “Look how rich and okay we are!” times, and despite the fact that we were recovering from a war and pretty much everyone was being violently oppressed, the need for bubbly consumerism and faux happy times raged on.
Having just watched Suburbicon on a flight home from Mexico, I can’t help but think about this playlist. It takes place in 1959, and Matt Damon is a desperate Dad living in a manufactured utopian community called “Suburbicon.” When his wife suddenly dies and an event makes the town become violent, all hell breaks loose. All the while, everyone’s trying to keep up appearances in their perfectly curated community.
None of the songs on this playlist are from the ’50s or ’60s, but after a play-through, you’ll feel like you’re inside a Coen Brothers movie. Some songs are a little campy, maybe, like little audio cartoons of a grocery shopping experience. Others are literally an excellent accompaniment to the IRL grocery shopping experience. The overall sound is anachronistic, but like… in a parallel universe. Where there are spaceships, and maybe some robot musicians.
Broke & Beautiful March 2018 Playlist
Grocery Shopping Soundtrack
DJ Food – Turtle Soup
Spotify | Google Play | iTunes
Caravan Palace – Je M’Amuse
Spotify | Google Play | iTunes
RJD2 – The Proxy
Spotify | Google Play | iTunes
Koop – Summer Sun
Spotify | Google Play | iTunes
Manu Chao – Me Gustas Tu
Spotify | Google Play | iTunes
Martina Topley Bird – Da Da Da Da
Spotify | Google Play | iTunes
Amon Tobin – Stoney Street
Spotify | Google Play | iTunes
Butti 48 – Kalas
Spotify | Google Play | Discogs
Kid Koala – Basin Street Blues
Spotify | Google Play | Bandcamp
Listen to the Grocery Shopping Playlist on
Spotify | Google Play
Header image from the lovely Scottish apparel brand (that I’m in love with): Abandon Ship Apparel
Playlist track listing image taken by Giampaolo Sgura for Vogue Japan