Article Lead Image

Music to ride out the storm

From Spotify to FratMusic to Turntable.fm, we found some of the best tunes for waiting out Hurricane Irene.

 

Jordan Valinsky

Streaming

Posted on Aug 27, 2011   Updated on Jun 3, 2021, 3:06 am CDT

Light up the Jesus candles you bought at the bodega, crack open a cold soda from your cooler, and crank up your speakers: It’s going to be a long, wet night for those waiting out Hurricane Irene. And as long as you’ve got power, why not play some tunes?

Here are some suggestions: “Hurricane” by Bob Dylan. “Rain Song” by Led Zeppelin.  “Hang Me Up to Dry” by Cold War Kids.

Those are just some of the songs that the Daily Dot has turned up in its search for the ultimate Hurricane Irene playlist.

Let’s start with Spotify, the European music service that recently launched in the United States to much enthusiasm:

Liz Heron, New York Times social media editor, created a “Hurricane Irene” playlist with over 12 hours of music. It boasts more than 150 subscribers. Many of the Times’s Twitter followers are adding to it, she tweeted.

Evolver.fm has its own Spotify playlist that features music from Sonic Youth, Missy Elliot and The Beach Boys. Even Kelly Clarkson makes an appearance with her song “Beautiful Disaster.”

Sean Parker, the one-time president of Facebook famous for his portrayal by Justin Timberlake in “The Social Network,” is an investor in Spotify and has his own playlist called “Rock You Like a Hurricane Named Irene.” Most of the songs have the word “rain” in the title. But thankfully, there’s just one Celine Dion song.

No Spotify? No problem.

FratMusic, a fave among the Daily Dot bros, has a playlist called Hurricane Drunk that’s filled with remixes and high-energy beats to help you black out during the impending blackout.

Hip-hop magazine The Source has its own urban-centric playlist featuring the likes of Marvin Gaye and Ludacris. In their words, “make it rain.”

NBCNewYork.com has a Hurricane Irene playlist—with an odd analogy. The site picked The Black Key’s “Katrina” writing “we’ll never have it as bad as the city of New Orleans did in 2005.” Here’s hoping.

On Turntable.fm, a search for “hurricane” uncovers a dozen or so rooms with DJs playing The xx and Smash Mouth.

Meanwhile, Village Voice music editor Maura Johnston reported via Twitter her real-world playlist: “Not sure why this bar’s hurricane playlist contains ‘Dirty Diana’ but I’m totally ok with it.”

Photo by Daniel Suarez

Share this article
*First Published: Aug 27, 2011, 8:00 pm CDT