Seven Gentle Introductions

15 Apr, 2024

I came across Merlin Mann's blog post titled Seven Little Pieces of My Heart, where he explains the idea of introducing people to a favorite band or musician by curating a playlist of only seven of their songs. He calls this "a gentle introduction." As a huge music fan and chronic playlist curator, I immediately wanted to jump on this opportunity.

It's more challenging than it seems at first glance. My goal is to choose seven songs that showcase the band or artist's authentic sound while also providing some variety and covering any changes or experimentation within their discography. It's especially difficult with an artist as prolific as Tori Amos, who's released a whopping 16 studio albums, along with numerous B-sides and rarities. I attempted it, though, with Tori Amos as well as six more of my favorite bands and musicians.