Monday Mixtape: Issy Wood

"I was a very musically adventurous teen, but have become progressively lazier over the last decade. Instead of going digging, I mostly wait for word-of-mouth prompts from trusted loved ones."

Monday Mixtape is another path towards music discovery, featuring people whose taste I admire answering a series of questions and prompts with songs (which might change from time to time).

Issy Wood is a painter, musician, and vintage ceramic salt-and-pepper-shaker aficionado. She is known for her “perverted realism” (or so says Artforum), her “canny, sophisticated pop music” (so says Pitchfork), and her brave friendship (so says me, the person whomst she accompanied for a dip into the 4-degree-Celsius women’s bathing pond at Hampstead Heath on New Year’s Day this year). I love her sardonic, slyly vulnerable, almost violently honest lyrics (listen to last year’s “IHS”), her Instagram stories (she truly sees things differently, reminds me a bit of Jerry Hsu’s), and the fact that she regularly picks up my raw dog FaceTime calls (are you thinking wow you’re really making this about you? To you I say: this whole Substack is about me, honey). I’ve also never met a person who loves The Book of Mormon more than her - a truly charming trait.

She’s smart as hell, funny as shit, and has excellent taste which is why I am thrilled to have her contribute a Monday Mixtape for this little rag.

Issy Wood
Capricorn
London

How do you find/discover music?

I was a very musically adventurous teen, but have become progressively lazier over the last decade and a half. Instead of going digging, I mostly wait for word-of-mouth prompts from trusted loved ones. Two things happened in the last year that changed the status quo, however. The first is that I began dating a music- and playlist-obsessed man with whom my tastes mostly align. He has introduced me to (and reminded me to revisit) so much. The second is that I have been spending a lot of time in Los Angeles, and can never get my phone to reliably connect to my rental car. This led me to Loyola Marymount’s college radio station KXLU. I love what they’re doing over there.

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

Shaad d’Souza asked me last night to name my “summer anthem” for his magazine¹, so I listened to the two candidates (“2SIDED” by Arlo Parks and “Taxi” by Bryan Ferry) trying to decide which to pick. I let Shaad pick in the end.

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

“The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)” by Flight of the Concords. I loved this show when it first aired. It satisfied my weakness for musical theatre while still being somewhat NME-friendly.

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

“MY NAME IS NIGHT” by Nirosta Steel (ed note: whole album so fucking good).

A song off your work out playlist:

“Rock Music” by Charli XCX, though it’s over too quickly to build any kind of muscle mass

What is a perfect London bike ride song?

I cannot publicly condone biking with headphones on. But : “Did You See” by J Hus. Wear a helmet!

Podcasts don’t exist anymore. Do you listen to music while you paint or total silence?

Currently, total silence. That’s how bad my podcast habit is.

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

“That Don’t Impress Me Much” by Shania Twain, but it’s in a surprisingly bad key for me.

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

“Naive” by the Kooks.

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

“Money Is Everything” by Addison Rae.

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

“Why I Cry” by the Magnetic Fields.

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

“Ice Melts” by Drake and Young Thug.

What is your favorite cover song?

There’s a live cover of D’Angelo doing Prince’s “She’s Always In My Hair” from 2015 I think about often.

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

“Angeles” by Elliott Smith

All the songs on Issy’s Monday Mixtape live HERE

1. I chose Deep Heaven’s “When I’m Not Around” which I obviously love but if I could do it over I would opt for The Clean’s “Anything Could Happen” for spiritual reasons