playlist: 'tweenz'

By Kenalyn Ang

The ages between twelve to sixteen are some of the most crucial years in terms of growing, maturing, and learning about yourself and the world.  Among the many awkward occurrences of my tween years, one of the most bizarre series of events would have to be the transition I took from enjoying my parents’ 70s and 80s favourites, my sister’s obsession with country, and friends’ pop tunes (all of which I’ve saved for another playlist), to branching out and finding different influences that would help me develop my own taste in music. Earth Wind & Fire, Spandau Ballet, the Black Eyed Peas, and a plethora of musical theatre tracks and albums were replaced with The Killers, Nirvana, Two Door Cinema Club, and 3oh!3. This is a playlist of that exact phase/transition. While it much of it might be cringe worthy to some, including the present day me, I believe this playlist embodies a pretty accurate representation of what many tweens were listening to circa 2010-11.   I look back on my middle school years (age 12-15) with much fondness and many good memories, and remember those fateful 3 years or so as some of the most blissful and nurturing points in my life. This playlist, despite how odd it might seem, features the likes of The Hush Sound, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, and many more, all of which remind me of those good times way back when.