She’s a mastermind of hyper-specific, contextual music curation. Kasey Gelsomino of Kasey’s Playlist unpacks what curators need to know to be successful on TikTok and Spotify.
“I just love creating these really hyper specific titles where, after reading these few words, you really have an understanding of the context of the playlist itself…It's crazy how being that specific makes people so compelled to actually listen because it feels relatable.” — Kasey Gelsomino, Kasey’s Playlist
You don’t have to press play to know what you’re going to get on a playlist called “Oat Milk Lattes in the Mountains.” It’s pretty clear from just the name that this playlist is serving up indie folk, cozy comfort, and granola vibes. It also has a huge following on Spotify.Â
The mastermind behind this hyper-specific, contextual curation is Kasey Gelsomino. A record executive at Nettwerk in her 9-5, Kasey lives and breathes music in all hours of the day. You can see her personal tastes and curation style via her “Kasey’s Playlist” TikTok and Spotify channel, both of which have formidable followings.Â
How does a music curator think about making the perfect playlist? How does one grow on Spotify and TikTok? And what do curators need to know to be successful on these platforms?
Other highlights, inspiration and key learnings from the conversation:
đź‘‹ Say "hi" to Kasey.Â
🔎 Browse the companion Storyboard to get the episode, plus Kasey’s own picks.
âž• This podcast was created by Flipboard, the world’s first social magazine, where enthusiasts are curating stories they recommend across thousands of interests. Learn more.Â
This transcript was generated by AI, which may affect its accuracy. As such, we apologize for any errors in the transcript or confusion in the dialogue.Â
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
You don't have to press play to know what you're going to get on a playlist called oat milk lattes in the mountains. It's pretty clear. It's not going to be heavy metal or EDM or rap. Nope. This playlist screams its identity with its title, a title that does so much heavy lifting and communicating. Just think about the image that it conveys and you quickly get it. This playlist is indie folk. It's cozy comfort. It's granola vibes, and it also has a huge following on Spotify.Â
How does a music curator think about making the perfect playlist? How does one grow on Spotify and TikTok? And what do curators need to know to be successful on these platforms?Â
That's today's episode.Â
Welcome to the Art of Curation, the show from Flipboard that explores the role of human tastes in a tech driven world. Each episode, we talk to someone who's an expert at finding signal and noise. People will do this for a living in media, tech, fashion, music and more.Â
I'm your host, Mia Quagliarello. Like you, I get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content out there. I crave authentic people to guide me making smart choices that make my life better, people with taste — the real kind.Â
My guest today is Kasey Gelsomino. By day, Kasey works in A&R at Nettwerk Music Group. But the real reason I wanted to talk to her is because of Kasey's playlist and music curation project that thrives on TikTok, Spotify and Instagram. Kasey is a voracious consumer of music and a very savvy playlist maker. I was thrilled to get her take on the art of playlist curation, TikTok for curators, and of course, what she's listening to these days.Â
Mia Quagliarello:
How would you describe Kasey's playlist for people who've never heard of it?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Kasey's playlist is an indie music discovery platform mostly centered on TikTok and on Spotify. So essentially, it's just me making videos about artists that I love and songs that I love and all of these things on TikTok. And then, essentially, that is kind of transferred to Spotify as well, where I have an entire page of playlists that I've curated on my own and have just kind of grown accidentally TikTok and everything. So it's kind of just like an all around in the music discovery platform, among all of these many social media things,
Mia Quagliarello:
And how did you get into it?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
I started Kasey's playlist about three years ago, right in the middle of COVID. It was very much just one of those things where I was bored and on TikTok in the same way that literally everyone was because it was COVID. And none of us really knew what we were doing. And it was my junior year of college at the time, and I was working in the music industry already, like doing a bunch of internships and things. But when COVID hit, most of the internships were canceled, or like, just kind of Yeah, just We're done for and I was kind of just trying to figure out a way to still be working in the industry, and like, you know, doing doing my thing, but also in a way that was obviously safe. And like, you know, doable in COVID. So yeah, I kind of just started posting on TikTok just to see what happened in like July of 2020. And then yeah, kind of just I've been growing the platform ever since I got very lucky that I had a video go viral in December of 2020. And that was kind of the start of everything. And I've gotten pretty consistent views since then. And yeah, kind of just been doing my thing. It's been it's been a really fun ride for sure.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
What genres do you focus on in Kasey's playlist?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
A big mix. Honestly, it's mostly generally like indie alternative. But obviously, those are very broad genre categories. So everything from like indie folk, to alternative rock to bedroom pop to, you know, kind of anything else. Anything that really fits in like the artist discovery space is usually my cup of tea. In Yeah, kind of those sorts of genres. It's definitely really fun, because it gives me a lot of range to kind of always be discovering new things. And yeah, it's easy to knock it out tired of it.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Yeah. Tell us about your process of discovering music and then selecting what goes into what you picture.
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Yeah, for sure. A lot of different avenues in which I discover music personally, I first off, wake up an hour before my nine to five every morning and go through all of my submissions over Instagram and email and I have a Google form that people can submit to and you know, all of all of these different mediums and so I'm usually listening to like you like 30 to 40 songs every day, which is crazy and definitely overwhelming. But for me, I think it's really be helpful to just kind of always be ingesting new things and always finding new things. And, you know, obviously not all of them are going to get into my playlists, and I tried to be very selective about it. But it's super helpful to me in that sense. And then beyond that, I mean, there's a million different ways to be discovering music, I get a lot from friends recommendations. So anytime anyone is like, posting a song on their Instagram story, I am the person who clicks on it every single time and will always see what that song is. Because if one of my friends cares enough to about a song to put it on their Instagram story, and like outwardly say, like, I love this song, like, generally, I think it's something that's probably going to be good. I take a lot from things like that. And even just talking to friends, especially working in the music industry, for my nine to five, I think I definitely get a lot from the community around me in that sense. And then, yeah, I mean, all of the traditional ways to discover music as well, obviously, I'm looking at like Spotify as editorial playlists. And I'm looking at, you know, other independent curators and seeing what they're listening to. And I'll find things from movies that I'm watching, you know, some big things sometimes, you know, I'll find music from there. And, yeah, there's just a ton, a ton of different ways to be doing it. But it all ends up working out. And I'm always finding good new stuff. So it's very fun.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Well, how do you organize what you then want to put into your playlists? And how do you think about the order? I know, Meg talked here about the anxiety of juxtaposition that a curator feels? Do you feel that as well?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Yeah, for sure, it's definitely tough to keep track of and can feel overwhelming at times, just because I am ingesting so much music at all times. And obviously, my brain could never keep up with all of that, really, for me, it's just a matter of making sure that any song that I'm playlisting, I'm like, liking on Spotify, and actually taking the time to save so that I have it in my library in case I need to look back at it, whatever. And then, for some of my lists, I'll like have kind of I call them like archive lists, essentially, where if I'm going through and like swapping out songs, and you know, doing all of that editing, I'll take the songs that I've taken out and put them into a separate list. So I know that all of those songs still exists. And if I'm looking to refresh something again, and I want to, like recycle any tracks, I can always do that. And yeah, it definitely gets tough at times. But I think there's a point where I had to just kind of accept the fact that I was never going to know every song. And that's just simply not possible. And so I kind of just have to do my best and put songs where I think they fit and, you know, keep them in there for however long and yeah, just kind of roll with it. Unfortunately, it's not a super organized system, but it works in the end.
Mia Quagliarello:
What do you think are the ingredients of a great playlist?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
I think, for me, ultimately, context is the main thing, because when you're curating a list, what's most helpful to me is thinking about where the playlist is going to be listened to, with whom this playlist is going to be listened to, like, all of those actual contextual details of like, where is this playlist actually going to exist, is kind of the baseline for me on every single list that I'm making. So if I'm making a list that, you know, is going to be more like background music, like, you know, something that is going to go on while you're hanging out with friends and you know, stuff like that, obviously, it's going to be a very different list than one where it's meant to be like, a place for discovery, and someone is going to be sitting down and actually looking at all of the song titles and looking at you know, all of those things. And there's a multitude of so many other examples that are so similar, but it's, it's really that for me, and then kind of taking those details and looking at all of the miniscule factors that can make a playlist up whether that's the familiarity of these artists like our Are you putting in artists that have really recognizable names and hit songs and you know, things where people will look at the list and go oh, like these are the artists that I listened to this is what I want to listen to whatever, or is it? Or is it a list where you want it to be really nice stuff and you want it to be something where you're bringing them something new and something fresh and all of that stuff or it could be looking at tempo, you know, is a huge one for me as well. So it's like if it's meant to be a relief show list obviously that's going to have a really different tempo from one that's meant to be like one to go and like I don't know, like get hype with your friends as you're like getting ready to go out you know, or something like that. Um, I mean it's it's all of these different things and then obviously like genre comes into play a lot. There are so many lists that I have that are so hyper specific to certain genres, but at the same time, I have plenty that are kind of giant mixes and rely on like other factors to kind of tie them together more than like the actual sonic qualities and yeah, I mean, there's so much to it, but Ultimately, I think just thinking about the context is always what will what will win out and be the most important thing.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
But how do you know your audience's situation or context?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Honestly, I think a lot of it for me is that I use really hyper specific playlist titles. So I think, to an extent, I'm actually guiding them towards those contexts with these playlists. And so it's like, I can kind of cater towards that, because I am very explicitly laying out the context of it. So it's like, for example, I have one playlist that's called sitting on a Brooklyn rooftop at sunset. And so for that type of list, like it's laying out very clearly, like, this is a list that you're probably going to play like, in the background with friends. And it's going to be, you know, kind of fun, happy vibes in that sense. And it's probably going to be a more passive listening list. Because, again, It'll kind of be on in the background. And, yeah, so for me, it's kind of almost telling them that is most helpful. And then beyond that, for the last, less specifically. So I think it's kind of just, you know, using my best judgment to infer, like, based on genre and based on artists, that people are a fan of, you know, all of these things, kind of understanding the context through that.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
I think we have to mention oat milk lattes in the mountains here. That is an amazing playlist name, and it communicates so much. How do you come up with these? How do you come up with these names?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Thank you, thank you, that list has become such an anomaly. And it's such a weird thing. It's become like a subculture of its own. And I feel like, I'll never really understand why. But it's Yeah, I think for me, like, I just love creating these really hyper specific titles where you can kind of just after reading these few words, like really have an understanding of all of the context of the plant list itself, you know, like, oh, milk, and the Oakland A's in the mountains really does say pretty specifically, like, this is probably going to be like an indie folk list, given the fact that it's referencing like, mountain scenery, and like oat milk is very granola vibes, and you know, all of that stuff. And I think it's, yeah, it was really cool, because I don't even think I realized at the time when I made the list, like how impactful those few words were, but looking at the response on TikTok, and you know, all of these things that people were commenting, it's crazy how being that specific makes people so compelled to actually listen to things because it feels relatable, and it feels on brand to their aesthetic, or their vibe, or whatever it is. And it's just crazy. That list is so so, so cool. And I feel really, really lucky that it's kind of turned into that subculture that it happens
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
when you detect tracks for it. Do you know that it's right for the playlist just through a feeling? Are there specific criteria you're looking for? For that
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
One, I think Oatmilk is definitely a list where I try to keep things to pretty recognizable names, to be honest. So it's definitely going to be artists like the Lumineers and Mumford and Sons and Noah Khan, and you know, these kind of bigger names, and Devo just because I know that with it being such a big list and one that people that so many different types of people are going to, I think it's really important to keep it to something where everybody's able to relate to it, and everybody feels like it's, it's familiar to them. And they they know these artists, and they're a part of this community and all of this stuff, because I think a lot of it is that sense of belonging where people feel like, they are already aware of these artists, and therefore they're a part of this community. And you know, they have that understanding. So generally, I try and keep it to that. But at the same time, I definitely try and sprinkle in some smaller artists that they may not know yet, just because I think it's always cool to use it as a vessel to bring these listeners to new artists and kind of build the community in that sense, because obviously, we love our Mumford and Sons and we love our Lumineers. And you know, all of that, but there's also so much amazing indie folk out there beyond that. So I think it's been cool to kind of use it as a tool to not only give people the familiar things and give them that community, but at the same time, introduce them to new things and be able to lift up smaller artists of the community at the same time. And in terms of genre and everything, as you said, I think it's mostly just kind of a feeling I think, I can listen to a song and I can go that's an oat milk lattes in the mountain song. And I just kind of know off the bat, I don't really know what that means. But usually it's just like, very palatable in default, and it works and if it you know, has that sound, I think it's pretty easy to tell at this point for me, to be clear, you're
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
You're an A&R person at Nettwerk records. Is that right? Yes. How does that job help you as a curator?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Hugely, it's amazing because the to go so hand in hand that I really just am always thinking about new music and thinking about communities and thinking about all of these things. At all times, because obviously being an a&r, we're the people who are scouting new artists to sign and we're the people who are building the roster and is something that's coherent, and you know, make sense and everything like that at the label. And so in my nine to five, it's so much what I have what I do for my Tiktok, and my playlist anyways, I'm, you know, going around and looking for new things to possibly sign and I'm communicating with managers about, you know, the direction of these artists and, you know, being able to really be in the thick of things from a music industry perspective. And then all of that ties back to my TikTok in my playlists in the same way, because I think it allows me to be really entrenched in the industry, and always be really just learning from the world around me and going to shows and talking to so many people and all of those things. So it's definitely really cool how that happens. And then it's crazy, because on the flip side, my Tiktok, and my playlists also have a huge impact on my job as an a&r as well, because I'm able to build these really meaningful and like lasting relationships with artists through my TED talk on my playlist, just because I, you know, support them, and I'm a fan of them. And, you know, I obviously want to see them grow just from like, a personal perspective, you know, without any business side to things, but then it makes it really easy to start up conversations about signing someone to a label when I can already when I already have like, actual proof of the fact that I am a fan, and I want to support them. And you know, I'm on their team, I'm on their side. And a lot of times I have a friendship built up with them already. And yeah, so I mean, from both perspectives, it ends up being a really, really helpful thing. And it's really cool to be able to use that side of my brain just 24/7 really?
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Well, what do you think curators need to know about being successful and TikTok?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Um, I think the main thing is honestly, just that TikTok is a really fickle app. And you know, you kind of have to try a lot of different things until something works. And that's just kind of inherently how it is, you know, you can curate something really beautifully and do really great work, and it can still perform really terribly on desktop. And that's just the unfortunate reality of it. And so I think it's, it's, for me, I think the most meaningful thing that I've learned over these past couple years is that like, you just have to keep trying, and you have to keep doing and eventually, you know, things will always work out and good work always ends up getting seen. But it's definitely a tough world out there for sure.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Well, what has worked for you, like, if you can deconstruct your viral video, what was it about it that took off?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
It's funny, because with my first video that like went fully viral with that was actually about a Oat Milk Latte in the mountains. It I had made the same video multiple times before, like, very minuscule differences. And for some reason, not one just decided to go viral. And to this day, I really don't know why. So I don't I don't think there is that much of a recipe to it because I have had such different videos do well. And I've had, you know, multiple videos of the same format perform really poorly or really well at the same time. And that's just kind of how it is. But I think really, most of it is just for me like the very very hyper specific playlists titles are always something that turn people's heads people are always commenting being like, oh my god, oh my God, he's in the mountains. That's such a relatable playlist title, how funny like, you know, things like that are are definitely like tactics, I guess you could say that are really, really helpful to me. And then beyond that, I think it's mostly just following TikTok best practices, you know, making sure that videos aren't too long and making sure wording is very concise and using sounds that are trending and, you know, talking about artists that are really popular right now on TikTok is another one for me like I know that if I mentioned Phoebe Bridgers usually a video will perform better just because everyone on TikTok is talking about Phoebe Bridgers already and you know, things like that. And so it's all about just following those best practices and following trends and making sure that you're on top of the things that people are making content about and that people are caring about at the moment.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Now on Spotify, you have almost 77,000 followers. And so for curators who want to take advantage and grow on that platform, what advice do you have for them?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
I mean, for me growing my Spotify purely came from TikTok that was really it for me. So really, when it comes to that the only advice that I have is just make it TikTok and you know, try it out. But at the same time, there are plenty of other ways that friends of mine have done the same. I have one friend who has built a Spotify I think probably with an even greater following than mine. And she did her is all through Pinterest, which is a really interesting thing to me. But, you know, I think it's just a matter of finding another social media platform that will allow you to market your Spotify well and create all of that. And then, with the Spotify profile itself, I think there's a lot of little little details to it, that will always be helpful. Like, oftentimes, having playlist covers that look very branded is a huge thing, because for me, every single one of my playlist covers has like a little stripe down the side, and it has my logo on it. So if someone is looking at an artist profile, for example, and they scroll down to the bottom, and you know, there's the little section where it says artists discovered on and it gives all the playlists that drive that artists the most streams. And so if someone is looking at that, it's pretty easy to tell when a playlist is my playlist because it has that stripe, it has that logo. And so if they're lucky, if they're whether or not they're already aware of me, as a curator, there's something that feels a little bit more official to that. And there's something that, you know, makes it stand out and makes it so I do have that brand. So definitely finding ways to organize a profile in a way that makes sense and has a clear branding to it is definitely a huge thing as well. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, truly, a lot of this has just been locked for me. And I will always acknowledge that. So yeah.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Well, maybe some luck, but also I feel like sheer consistency is saying
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Yes, consistency for sure. Like just keeping at it and really pushing onward even like, like no matter what video of us are looking like and get out how however long growth takes I think, yeah, being persistent and really just continuing to do it.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Do you think a machine could do your job?Â
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
No, definitely not, for a lot of different reasons. And obviously, this has been a huge debate in the curation community, especially with like, Spotify, Stitcher, we're all using a lot of personalization, and all of that. And I think there is a lot of value to those personalized playlists and the algorithm and you know, all of these things like, obviously, there are certain contexts in which those personalized elements are super useful and super important. And, you know, really do well for those lists. But I think for me, ultimately, the value that I bring is the fact that people know who I am from my Tiktaalik. And so I think there's something kind of special to them about the fact that like, they know exactly who is curating those lists. And so I've built up a trust with them, where they know that if I'm recommending something, it's coming from a source where I've recommended them things in the past where they have really liked them, and you know, all of those things. And so, having built up that really personal trust with people where they're seeing my face on TikTok, and they're seeing me posting on other socials, and, you know, everything is under my name, and my brand and all of those things. I think it's just a very different type of curation than any of these algorithms. And AI isn't all over that. And I think also beyond that, I think a lot of it comes down to, as we've talked about a lot like the context of all of these playlists, and being able to come up with the fun titles and the cute, like, playing those covers, and all of those things. I think, realistically, those aren't really things that a machine could come up with efficiently just because they aren't going to understand all of these miniscule parts of context for these lists, and certain words that are used in different like, subcultures, and you know, all of these things. And so I just, I feel like there's a million little things to my Tiktok and my Spotify that people value about me being a real persons. So I don't really think it's something that a computer could do better than I could really.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Amen, amen. Um, you talked about trust, we talked about consistency and context. What other ingredients do you think make for a fantastic music curator?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
I think for sure, honestly, just having a broad depth of knowledge on music itself, and genres and their communities. And all of that is a huge part of it as well. Because I think for me, what's really, really helpful always is understanding, you know, if, if one person is listening to say, The Lumineers, then I probably know that they're also going to listen to Mumford and Sons, and therefore they're probably going to listen to XYZ artists, and, you know, all of those things. And so, because it's just been very clear, obviously, over the years that these certain genres and all of these things all coming together, but at the same time, I think a lot of it is also understanding beyond that. Like, what, outside of just like these genre constraints and all of that stuff like that. What artists go hand in hand with that that might not be as obvious. So, for example, if you are listening to those indie folk artists, you're probably going to be an indie folk fan. But I can almost guarantee that you're probably also an indie rock fan. So you're probably also going to listen to like the I975 and Mr. Maroney and wallows in all of these other artists, just because the general communities and aesthetics and all of these things of those two genres go really hand in hand. And so I think it's having that understanding of just people and their behaviors in terms of these cultures and genres, and how that all fits together and being able to cater to those tastes a lot.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Have you had to change anything about your process or your approach? Since you started this three years ago?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
I think I'm always learning for sure. And I try to be very nimble when it comes to anything shifting. So, you know, with TikTok, that algorithm changes so frequently, that I'm always having to adapt and change my content accordingly. And, you know, make make what I'm doing fit these new best practices. And so I think I'm always learning and changing my strategy in that sense. And then, in terms of Spotify, I think, if similarly, like, genres are always changing, and new artists are always coming out of the woodwork and becoming these utensils, huge sensations, and all of these things are always happening. So yeah, I think it's really just been huge for me being open to learn always and being open to adapt, and all of that, but I think it's so constant, that it's almost hard to pinpoint specific things.
Mia Quagliarello:
What are some of your favorite playlists?Â
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Oh, boy. Um, I mean, for me, I have a playlist that's kind of one of the flagships of my Spotify that just called currently, and I kind of just update it with whatever I'm listening to right now, whether that's new music, or catalog tracks that I've just kind of become a fan of again, or whatever it is. And for me, I think that one's just so fun, because it's everything that I'm truly just truly passionate about right now. And what I'm really listening to, and it feels really authentic and fun. And it's cool to not really have to think about all of these constraints that I normally think of when I'm curating because I can kind of just dump in whatever, whatever music I want to whether that's, you know, different genres, or different tempos or different whatever it is. And, yeah, I mean, personally, I think that was the most fun generally, just because of the overall nature of it. But besides that, I mean, obviously, oat milk is so so, so fun, just because of you know, the response that I always get to it. I have one called ethereal indie girl that is just one of my favorites ever. It's just like, I kind of just call it like Cool Girl music, or it's just like, all of the songs that I'll put on if like, I just, like want to be in a good mood, and you know, want to feel cool for a second. And you know, so it's everything from Claro to Samiha. And like, you know, all of those sorts of things. And I think it's just a really fun one to work on. Always. Kind of think of other other favorites. I love my discovery lists, I have underrated in default, and underrated all both are, which both of which are pure discovery lists. So they're all just smaller artists that I really, really love. So I love being able to lift those artists up and you know, give people new things to listen to in that sense. And, yeah, I mean, really, they're all fun to curate, I think, depending on the day, my answer would always differ. But I think those are probably the main ones.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
Where do you find inspiration offline?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
General life, I think just my daily life is so much of it for me. And it's, it's so much of how I come up with ideas for lists is, if I'm, you know, doing something, and I'll think to myself, Oh, it would be nice to have a playlist for this. And that's most of why I ended up making my my playlists. So, yeah, most of it is honestly just the context of my daily life really. But beyond that, I think, you know, going to shows and seeing certain artists and seeing, you know, certain aesthetics in which people are dressing I think a lot is a lot of it as well, you know, being able to cater towards very specific groups of people in terms of these playlists, I think, obviously looking on TikTok and getting inspiration from my fellow curators and stuff that they're doing is definitely a lot of it and yeah, I think I think I definitely draw inspiration from a lot of different places but mostly just daily life really well yeah,
Mia Quagliarello:
I'd love for you to tell us, Kasey, what what are you reading, watching, listening to that you'd like to recommend to everyone because they've made your life so much better?
Kasey Gelsomino:Â Â
Yeah, for sure. Um, I'll be honest, I feel like the reading and watching portion of this is difficult for me because I'm such I'm such a like singular medium type of person. Like I am such a music person that I feel Like most of the time, there isn't that much room in my brain for all of these other creative mediums, which is like, I don't know, so weird of me, but it's kind of just like who I am as a person, I guess. Um, but in terms of what I've been reading, I just actually reread one of my favorite books, everything you know about love by Dolly Alderton, which is just the most quintessential book, I think, for being a woman in your 20s and just how beautiful and chaotic that life is. Because essentially, it's just a memoir that she wrote about her 20s in living in London, where, you know, she's going through relationship trauma, and font and trauma and work, trauma, and all of these things in just a very real way that I think is so relatable to any of us, especially for me living in New York City. And it being a very similar experience to London in the sense that it's, you know, Big City Life and all of that. And I think it's just a really beautiful book about friendship and how important that is especially female friendship, which I think is a heavily underrated thing. And something that I'm always trying to, you know, really prioritize in my life. And I think it's just yeah, it's a it's a really beautifully told story that feels really, really like relatable. And it's just very essential, in my opinion, for really any, any woman in their 20s to read. And then, yeah, in terms of what I'm watching, honestly, I'm on such a just like 2000s rom com kick, like, give me 10 Things I Hate About You give me 13 going on 30, like any of those are very much my five nowadays, and kind of always have been. But most of what I watch is really going back and rewatching stuff like that, just because I think there's such a like, pure joy to those movies. And you know, that whole era, and it's very nostalgic, and very fun and very cute. And I think generally for me, I try and keep my watching to things that aren't super thought provoking. I think for me watching things is usually very passive. And it's just things that I want to kind of entertain me and be fun and cute. And that's it. So yeah, mostly that nowadays in terms of watching. But in terms of music, obviously, I have so many recommendations of things that I have been loving lately. Mostly, I have been listening to two albums in particular, the first being rats on God by Wednesday, which is this really, really cool album. I'm obsessed with Wednesday right now. It's kind of a part of this genre that has been coined indie twang, which is essentially like, indie music, whether that's like indie rock, or whatever it is, but with kind of a southern country lens to it. So it's really, really weird. Like, it's totally cultures that I never really expected to be overlapping. But it's so so so cool. And I just love the sheer confidence and everything though and say knows they're an amazing band. So yeah, that's been a lot of it for me and just kind of the indie twing genre in general. I think there's a lot of other really, really great artists in that space too, who are just crushing it right now. And beyond that, the second album is Calico by Ryan BD. It's just like the most beautiful album I think I've ever heard in my entire life. It's kind of just like soft acoustic indie folk, but like, you can tell that his lyricism and his past music, having come from the rock Camping World is definitely kind of more on like the alternative side in that sense. And so I think it's just again, a very cool, genre bending album that just feels so vulnerable and relatable. And so yeah, just amazing in that sense. And then the other thing I've just had to repeat is sunshine, maybe by the Japanese house. I am so excited for Amber's new album, she's just the absolute coolest. And that song has been putting me in the best mood for spring right now as the weather is getting warmer and yeah, so I think those are the main ones honestly.
Mia Quagliarello:Â Â
If you want to connect with Kasey, you can find her on TikTok at Kasey's playlist. That's K-A-S-E-Y-S dot playlist. We've put links to everything she's recommended in the Flipboard storyboard that you'll find in this show’s notes. Big thank you to our audio editor Anh Le. If you want to find out more about Flipboard where enthusiasts are curating stories they recommend across 1000s of interests, download the app or head over to our website at flipboard.com Anyone can be a curator at Flipboard. Simply create an account and start flipping to share your ideas with the world.