DJ Jim Q's Playlist: VISION

Welcome listeners to the October Playlist. This month’s theme is Vision, brought to us by our friends from the Riyadh chapter of CreativeMornings. While we typically think of music as a primarily auditory experience, like all art forms, it requires vision and visionaries to create that which does not yet exist. Vision isn’t simply seeing—it’s imagining what could be. Most artists have an innate ability to do this. Imagination, far more than sight or observation, is what guides the creative process—or at least that’s how I see it.

Visionaries abound in the arts. In modern music, we have vanguards such as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, The Beatles, John Coltrane, DJ Kool Herc, Ella Fitzgerald, Kraftwerk, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Bad Brains, Black Sabbath, and Bob Marley, just to highlight a few. These luminary artists, through their vision, open up new spaces yet to be explored and bring forth original creations to fill them. Many follow, but it is the visionaries who light the path forward.

These well-established pioneers are likely the first artists that come to mind when thinking of vision and foresight. However, there’s another category of artists often described as visionary: the outsider artists. Outsider art is a catchall term used to describe work created by individuals who don’t follow a traditional path or who work outside of conventional forums. Often self-taught and uninvolved in mainstream art communities, these artists are recognized for their uncorrupted creative expressions. Outsider artists have commonly been unique eccentrics, or those with mental illness, often driven by divine inspiration to create. Another term for outsider art is intuitive or visionary art. There is something pure and visionary about art that is compelled into being, rather than crafted to appeal. A fantastic collection of outsider work is on display at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s a national treasure filled with incredible art, unlike any other museum. I strongly encourage you to visit.

Again, I’ve drifted back to the visual, but I assure you the musical medium is also replete with outsider artists—maybe even more so than visual art. Music creation tends to appeal to intuitive creators. I have a certain fondness for eccentric or “weird” artists. Their music can sometimes feel unapproachable because it often lacks the polish of traditional production and even eschews fundamental musical structure at times. But if you can get past those superficialities, outsider music has more surprise and heart than most of the pop music we consume. It’s often far more interesting than the regurgitated patterns and ideas that dominate all art, but especially music. Artists such as Captain Beefheart, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, and lesser-known but cult-followed musicians like Daniel Johnston, Susan Dietrich, Roky Erickson, Jandek, Moondog, Wesley Willis, R. Stevie Moore, and The Shaggs—while diverse in their eccentricities—share the ability to generate unique, compelling, and visionary art.

I’m always mindful of the exotification of art created by those with mental illness. Many of the artists listed above have identified with having mental illness, but not all. I wouldn’t suggest that mental illness is a prerequisite to creating visionary art. Good music is good music. Having a vision that is unique and compelling will naturally inspire work that is also unique and compelling.

I can see it clearly—this month’s playlist will light the way to sonic satiation. The theme is Vision, and I’ve envisioned a playlist filled with a diverse collection of songs on themes of imagination, foresight, and vision. Look within with SZA’s self-reflective tune “Blind,” see through the deception with The Who’s “I Can See for Miles,” imagine a road less traveled with Santigold’s rebellious dance anthem “Lights Out,” and visualize the vivid intensity of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” There’s something for everyone.

Thanks for listening. If you enjoy these playlists I would love to hear from you. Give a hollar on X and be sure to follow me on Spotify. See you next month with a new collection of tracks.