When the UK first went into lockdown in March 2020, I had just finished my first two terms at university. Having gone from being surrounded by people to seeing only my family everyday, I found lockdown much more lonely than I had anticipated. My friends were similarly listless. With nothing better to do, we all ended up relying on music to keep us sane, channelling our pent-up energy into making über-specific playlists and sharing albums with each other.
Out of these strange circumstances, I came up with the idea of creating an album exchange, in which I would pair up strangers with similar music tastes who would bond by trading album recommendations. It would be a way to make friends and discover new music – all I would ask of anyone participating would be to submit an album and to accept a recommendation from a stranger in return.
The first exchange I put on, in April, roped in 70 people, mostly from Durham, and mostly my friends. I hand-matched every pair in about a week, and encouraged everyone participating in the exchange to talk to the person I’d matched them with. I didn’t expect anything to happen after that – getting 70 people to listen to a new album seemed a feat in itself! However, I eventually decided to stage another one. I was eager to make this second exchange bigger than the first. However, despite my best efforts to promote it, only 50 people signed up initially. Even the incoming Durham first-years I advertised to paid me dust (a particularly humbling experience).
After a pep talk from my good friend Jacob, I decided to promote the exchange more intensively. I posted about it on every music-related subreddit I could find, to the point that I was accused of being a spambot, which resulted in 200 more people signing up. I then decided to post about the exchange on every Facebook university confessions page I could find. Hundreds of entries began to pour in from Bristol, Lancaster, UEA, Newcastle and Oxford, and I closed the exchange with more than 700 entries. I was, above all, elated, thinking little of the task ahead. “How hard can it be,” I naively thought, “to match 700 albums into pairs?”
I, of course, paid the price for my hubris. Despite assembling a lovely group of volunteers (thanks to Adam, Alaric, Amie, Caleb, Charlie, Emilia, Henry, James, Jo, Joshua, Ishaan, Kat, Livi, Loti, Luka, Mae, Martin, Matthew, Rory, Ryan and Sophie, and, most of all, to Martin, for being an absolute rock), I soon realised that I would have to listen to all the albums that had been submitted if I wanted to make every match as good as it could be – so that’s what I did. For three weeks, I skimmed through all 700 albums, categorising them into micro-genres ranging from “screamy metal” to “British indie” to “Pitchfork-core”. Then I matched every album with another, trying to take into consideration what people had asked for.
Sometimes I matched by vibe (Heaven or Las Vegas by the Cocteau Twins with In Rainbows by Radiohead). Sometimes I matched by sonic similarity, such as when I matched Written In Blood by The Casualties with A Sickness Of The Mind by The Restarts (coincidentally matching an actual couple!). Sometimes I came across head-scratchers (Connie Converse? Susuma Yokota? Death Grips?) but, like a good matchmaker, I managed to find matches for everyone (Joanna Newsom! Boards of Canada! Dalek!).
Often I had to act as an armchair psychologist. Would someone who suggested ___ turn their nose up at ___? Would they be open-minded enough to like ____? Making sweeping assumptions about what people will like based on what they suggested was, of course, not always accurate. However, I had limited information to go off of, and some educated guesses were necessary.
The fact that matches had to be compatible both ways was also challenging. These considerations were ultimately secondary to the task of getting the matches done – for instance, the sheer number of Pink Floyd albums suggested meant that nearly every intra-prog-rock match, even if most progressive rock fans have likely heard Pink Floyd already. However, in spite of occasional compromises, I tried very hard to make the overall utility of the matches as high as it could be, even if not every match was perfect.
Did the process drive me insane? A little. Was it also really fun? Somehow, it was – I must be a secret masochist. Even if listening to so many albums was sometimes mind-numbingly dull, and I had to listen to some artists a dozen times before I knew how to match them, it was a thrill to find the perfect partner for every album using only “Ctrl+F”, a Word document and my memory. If you’d like to see the whole list of matches, you can over here!
In terms of what I got out of the experience, it thoroughly reaffirmed my faith in humanity to sort through people’s requests for albums. People asked for albums that were danceable, sad, dreamy, wholesome, heartbreaking, nocturnal, summery, lyrical, instrumental, coherent, incoherent, political, romantic, raw and cosmic. Some requests were for incredibly specific sub-genres; others took the form of long, beautiful descriptive paragraphs. While not everything was as I expected – the sheer amount of people who asked for a “reflective” album was exhausting to say the least – I loved it all. I initiated the exchange misguidedly believing I knew a fair bit about music. Discovering how much amazing stuff is out there that I had absolutely no idea about was a humbling and heartening experience.
The exchange ended up being pivotal not only for me but for the people who took part in it. While not every match was successful, a handful had long-lasting consequences. Strangers emailed me, from around the world, to tell me that the exchange had brightened their lockdown, that they had made a friend, or that they had discovered a new favourite album. Two of my friends are now a couple because they met on that very first exchange. I saw them recently for a meal and it blew me away to think that their paths would never have crossed had it not been for an Excel spreadsheet I made, out of boredom, in my sixth-form bedroom.
When I created this blog almost five years ago, in that same bedroom (it predates the album exchange) I had the intention of it becoming a music blog. I only ever wrote one post, but that post, on why my favourite music means so much to me, expresses the same ideals that the exchange was motivated by:
- that music’s value is in its personal appeal, and that it gains instead of loses power when we acknowledge that subjectivity;
- that the Internet should be a place where people around the globe can find shared communion in their favourite songs, though they might only meet in YouTube comments sections (or, in the case of this album exchange, in email inboxes);
- that albums can function not only as pieces of entertainment, but as the sacred texts with which we navigate our own lives, and that paying focused attention to music in a world of fragmented attention spans is always worthwhile;
- that sharing what touches us makes us better, more connected, more empathetic people’
- and that people and art are just really cool.
Since 2020, a handful of people more talented than I am have been working on turning the exchange into a fully-fledged website. Even if that doesn’t pan out, the exchange really did change my life – in the wake of an international pandemic, it reaffirmed to me the power of friendship and music, even if listening to 700 albums in a month and writing half as many emails decidedly burnt me out! The 16-year old who named his music blog “parallel peaks” did so in homage to three of his favourite things: the shape that musical sine waves make; a lyric from Frank Ocean’s “Rushes”, “twin peaking, highs and lows”; and the idea that listening to the same album can cause two people to have simultaneous “peaks” in emotion, even though they may never meet. Apologies, 16-year-old me, that I never wrote a second blog post – I hope you like what I’ve done with the place.
I’d like to finish this write-up with a list of albums I discovered over the course of my matching that I’d like other people to hear. My tastes are limited and this list should not be taken as an attempt to pick “the best” albums suggested – I only wanted to compile my personal favourite matches. A complete, much longer list of matches can be found over here.
My list includes avant-garde singing (Sings by Patty Waters), South Korean folk jazz (Karma by Black String), lost 60s should-have-been-classics (Now That Everything’s Been Said by the City), Zimbabwean pop (Friends on the Road by Bhundu Boys), and an amazing Japanese house album (Fruits of the Room by Susuma Yokota). I personally can’t get enough of variety, and these albums were amongst my favourites because they brought some novelty to my listening. Hope you enjoy!
Old favourites (albums I already love that I was very excited to see pop up)
An Awesome Wave by Alt-J with I See You by the xx
Antidotes by Foals with Get To Heaven by Everything Everything
Channel Orange by Frank Ocean with Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill
Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix with The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple with Horses by Patti Smith
Grace by Jeff Buckley with The Bends by Radiohead
In Rainbows by Radiohead with Heaven Or Las Vegas by The Cocteau Twins
Is This It by The Strokes with Hot Fuss by the Killers
Kid A by Radiohead with Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol
Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) by Jai Paul with Paul’s Boutique by The Beastie Boys
Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins with Spiderland by Slint
To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar with Blonde by Frank Ocean
New favourites (matches where I had not previously heard one or both of the albums)
A Toda Cuba Le Gusta by Afro-Cuban Allstars with Friends On The Road by Bhundu Boys
American Boyfriend by Kevin Abstract with Blonde by Frank Ocean
Antiphon by Alfa Mist with Ardour by Teebs
Baduizm by Erykah Badu with Heavn by Jamila Woods
Bareback by Hank Dogs with Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake
Beyond Words by Bobby Mcferrin with Tassili by Tinariwen
Blood Orange by Negro Swan with Safe In The Hands Of Love by Yves Tumor
Blue;s by Mamamoo with Another by Kim Jaehwan
Calling Out Of Context by Arthur Russell with Fever Ray by Fever Ray
Crush by Lettuce with We Like It Here by Snarky Puppy
Didn’t It Rain by Songs:Ohia with Stratosphere by Duster
Esperanza by Esperanza Spalding with Getz/Gilberto by Getz And Gilberto
Goo by Sonic Youth with The Killer Was In Government Blankets by Yaphet Kotto
I Let It In And It Took Everything by Loathe with Bergtatt by Ulver
Invisible Touch by Genesis with The Turn Of A Friendly Card by The Alan Parsons Project
It’s A Wonderful Life by Sparklehorse with The Glow Pt. 2 by The Microphones
Kalk Samen Kuri No Hana by Sheena Ringo with 1000 Gecs by 100 Gecs
Karma by Black String with Majid Bekkas by Magic Spirit Quartet
Luz Nacarina by Javier Hernando with The Disintegration Loops by William Basinski
Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins with California by Mr Bungle
Melodrama by Lorde with I’m All Ears by Let’s Eat Grandma
Mother Earth’s Plantasia by Mort Garson with Another Green World by Brian Eno
Music Has The Right To Children by Boards Of Canada with Fruits Of The Room by Stevia (Susuma Yokota)
Negro Swan by Blood Orange with Heaven To A Tortured Mind by Yves Tumor
Now That Everything’s Been Said by The City with Let’s Stay Together by Al Green
Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies with The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
Oh No by Jessy Lanza with Black Lights by Samaris
Overcast! by Atmosphere with Guru’s Jazzmattazz Vol 1 by Guru
Sables by De.Ville with X100PRE by Bad Bunny
Sings by Patty Waters with The Marble Index by Nico
Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective with Long Season by Fishmans
Ten by Pearl Jam with Soda Stereo by Canción Animal
The June Frost by Mournful Congregation with F♯ A♯ ∞ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
The Lemon Of Pink by The Books with Radio Highlife by Aunite Flo
The Milk Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom with How Sad How Lovely by Connie Converse
The Velvet Underground And Nico by The Velvet Underground with Station To Station by David Bowie
Travelling Without Moving by Jamiroquai with Nuova Napoli by Nu Guinea with Late Night Tales: Music For Pleasure by Groove Armada
Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey with Cigarettes After Sex by Cigarettes After Sex
Parallel Peaks 
❤
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