During a month notorious for evoking emotions of love and loneliness, we find it essential to keep a fresh playlist of solid tunes in our back pockets. This mix from Meagan Ruyle serves as both the perfect soundtrack for a date night at home and a cure for the lovesick blues. So if you find yourself a member of the lonely hearts club, blast this mix at your next meeting and remember that Misery Loves Co.
Cover art by Lindsey Cuenca Walker.
This is the 25th volume of our monthly Beats & Burn series, a collaboration with Portland's local, independent radio station XRAY.fm.
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Playlist by DJ Meagan Ruyle / Host of the PDX Pop Now! Radio Hour
“Due to Valentine’s day, the month of February can make even the most happy of unattached people end up feeling like a complete failure/monster/weirdo. Messages of hearts, love, companionship bombard you whether you want them to or not. This playlist was made for when you find yourself on the opposite end of those things: songs of rejection, confusion, anger, unrequited feelings, and hopefully moving on and being stronger. Enjoy!”
More about Meagan:
Meagan Ruyle is one of the hosts of the PDX Pop Now! Radio hour on XRAY.fm, which features all local music from 3p-4p on Tuesdays. She is the artistic director for PDX Pop Now! and loves highlighting all of the amazing music being made in the city (though this playlist does not reflect that!). In her spare time she hangs out with her parrotlet Pringles a lot, which maybe explains why she was alone on Valentine’s Day.
Learn more about PDX Pop Now!
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Cover art by Lindsey Cuenca Walker / lindsey-walker.com / @l.in.z
“The inspiration for the cover came from all the different angles that February offers us. A beautiful mixture of winter and spring, lingering cold with brief glimpses of the sun, stirrings of life coming from the ground cover. The unprecedented gift of sun this year inspired the color palette, revitalizing the darker tones of winter with moments of warmth.”
More about Lindsey:
“Primarily a painter, with roots in printmaking, Cuenca Walker's image making focuses on loose mark-making, organic forms, and analog process. Her artistic practice bounces between painting and design, often finding the space in which they intersect to be the most exciting. A lover of many mediums, she also works in functional ceramics and is in the process of learning to weave.
Cuenca Walker is currently working on a body of work for an upcoming solo show at Nationale this May. She also recently released a limited edition silkscreen print with Le Oui, an offshoot of Nationale, with 10% of proceeds benefiting the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV). The print is limited to an edition of 100 and can be purchased here."
Keep up with Lindsey’s work lindsey-walker.com and follow along on Instagram @l.in.z.
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Click to stream past Beats & Burn playlists on Mixcloud.