Live Review: Music To Isolate To: Ninajirachi

With the ongoing and ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a crazy world out there right now, so it’s never been more important to band together. Self-isolation and social distancing are two of the most effective tools we have as a society to help fight COVID-19, but they’re also very difficult to undertake and they have very real, long-lasting consequences on the music and arts industries — some of which we aren’t even aware of yet. Our artists and our industry are already feeling the ripple effect, and things are only going to get worse before they get better.

Because of this, it’s up to us to use what we’ve got at our disposal to best represent and amplify our community and continue to tell artists’ stories. Purple Sneakers has always fiercely represented Australian music and our team are some of the best writers in the country, so we’re going to use our platform to continue doing what we do best: connect our community with the artists we love, and support artists by promoting their incredible music.

Music To Isolate To is an ongoing artist-curated playlist series by Purple Sneakers. We’ve asked some of our favourite artists ever to provide us with the ten songs they’re listening to while in isolation, and provide some commentary for their selections. We’ll be running these for the foreseeable future every Monday and Thursday, and you can follow the Spotify playlist which will be updated on these days right HERE. The idea is to not only promote artists who are curating the playlists, but to also promote those songs that mean a lot to them whether they be longtime classics or fresh new releases.

The next artist in our Music To Isolate To series is NINAJIRACHI. A Purple Sneakers favourite through and through, we've covered Ninajirachi rapid rise to the forefront of Australian dance music since her very first song. Always one to innovate and push herself into new and exciting directions with each release, she delivers again and again. Defying genres, she makes electric club music and is consistently ambitious in her music meaning she never, ever misses when she shoots her shot. Her latest single, 'Cut The Rope', is one of her very best yet. The first time she's used her own original vocals on a track, it's a masterclass in the exact kind of music she finds herself inspired by, and sits on the same echelon as her heroes like Porter Robinson or Cashmere Cat in terms of sonic development and how well-executed her vision is. Flanked by the incredible NLV Records crew, they're The Avengers of dance music in Australia: here to save the day, one club banger at a time. Ninajirachi was always going to send us a massive playlist to take our isolation listening to new heights. From Grimes and DJ Koze to Hi Tom and a Glacci heater to round things out with a bang, this playlist is the right energy we need right now to keep us going. Check it all out below!

alt-J – Choice Kingdom

I picked this song because I didn’t want this whole playlist just to be alt-J discography but that’s mostly what I’ve been listening to in isolation tbh. I got into the band when I was in year 7 and their first two albums are two of my favourite albums of all time. I can’t count how many times I’ve listened to them all the way through, they are so special to me! I would recommend their entire discography if you’ve got a lot of listening time in isolation.

Chad Valley – Shell Suite (Cashmere Cat Remix)

I found that I’ve been listening to so many old favourites over the last week and a bit including some of Cashmere Cat’s older discography which is just so timeless and amazing and perfect.

Grimes – IDORU

I love Grimes’ new album and I’ve been listening to it a lot! You should listen to the whole thing if you have the time in isolation. The first time I listened to it all the way through was driving a long way to my friends 21st and I don’t usually have opportunities to listen to full albums uninterrupted like that, so it was really nice. I think IDORU is my favourite song from it, it’s just so sweet and gentle and I love the lyric ‘we could play a beautiful game’ so much.

Hi Tom – RAMP UP

This is probably one of my favourite pieces of music ever, it’s so calming and strange and beautiful. Hi Tom is just so good.

DJ Koze – Club Der Eiwigkeiten

Another one of my favourite songs ever, smooth and interesting music for isolation listening.

Bjork – All Is Full Of Love (Greatest Hits Album Version)

My favourite Bjork song and I love the music video so much – definitely watch if you’re looking for something to do.

Ross From Friends – Epiphany (Original Mix)

I got super into this song recently because it was in a friend’s playlist. It’s peaceful but also groovy, I love the drums.

Woodes – Northern Lights

This song is from Woodes’ Golden Hour EP which I love sooooo much, I think Woodes is soooooo underrated. That isn’t to say she isn’t doing amazing because she is! I just really want her to take over the world because everything she does, songwriting, production, visuals, it’s all incredible to me. Definitely listen to the whole EP if you have time.

Glacci – Herbal

I was on tour with What So Not and friends literally a few days before everything started shutting down and this was one of my favourite songs to play out over the last few shows. I miss DJing so much so I thought I’d finish the playlist with a bang.

Montell2099 – Stars

Loved seeing Montell’s set on tour and really love this song on his new EP, it’s so good!

Words by Emma Jones

Image by Tiff Williams

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