She's Wildewoman #2: 11 B-Sides for Dancing in Your Kitchen
By Allison Parssi
At this point I have become fairly adjusted to riding the day-to-day waves of my emotions, and my music listening has joined me very closely on the ride. I’ve found myself doing the opposite of what is my norm - I’ve been listening to playlists, soundtracks, and mixes curated by others, more often than listening to full albums. This seems to fit my unfocused mindset in isolation, and allows me to passively listen. I have also found myself sitting in silence on a more regular basis.
That mentality shifted last Saturday. It was the one sunny day in a recent barrage of thunderstorms in Chicago. While I made breakfast, I decided to put on the Ohmme record, Parts, I had just received in the mail. I flipped it, it finished, and it was time to choose what to put on next. When I asked my sister what she wanted to hear, she shrugged and said, “something danceable.”
Rejoice, the 1977 release from the Chicago based group The Emotions, was the first pick. As the vibrant horns of “Best of My Love” filled our apartment, our day immediately jumped from good to great. We brewed fresh coffee and had a mid-day dance party in our living room. When the record came to a close, we just turned it back over to play it again. And while “Best of My Love” is, and always will be, a timeless track, the songs that repeatedly caught my attention were on the B-side of the record.
We rode this very refreshing wave - I curated our day’s worth of listening from my small selection of records; one of us always flipped it to the B-side; and we always danced when the song called for it.
With that, I made a playlist appreciating some of these B-side jams. I hope this can bring some sun into your home even though it might be grey outside. Dancing is recommended, but not required.
You can also listen to the full playlist on spotify or the individual songs linked below.