Celebrate The Year of the Ox with an Electronically Focused Playlist

February 13, 2021

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Happy Lunar New Year to all those who celebrate! I might be a bit late to the official celebration date, which was Friday, February 12th, but better late than never! And besides, celebrations go on for 2+ more weeks, depending on from where you’re celebrating.

Lunar New Year marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar, traditional to many East Asian countries. A solar year is how long it takes for the Earth to complete its rotation around the moon – 365 days, which is the typical calendar year. A lunar year, however, is 12 full cycles of the moon – roughly 354 days. Lunar New Year is a time for new beginnings and family gatherings with overarching themes of fortune, happiness and health. There are several traditions for the holiday: upside-down fu characters to symbolize that good luck is arriving, red pockets full of money which are traditionally gifted to children or anyone who is unmarried to ward off bad spirits, firecrackers and fireworks to celebrate, and the Lion and Dragon Dances which are also supposed to ward off evil spirits.

To help you continue your festivities and ward off those spirits, below is a playlist I put together that features various artists of East Asian heritages. It’s definitely (heavily) electronic leaning since that’s mostly what I listen to, but I promise there’s a good amount of variety within the genre. And honestly, who doesn’t like a little bit of EDM mixed into celebrations? Put on some red attire and peep below for a playlist that will surely get you grooving and feeling right as this new lunar year begins!

While you’re enjoying the tunes, please don’t forget to speak against the hate crimes that are being perpetrated against Asian American communities as a result of COVID-19 rhetoric. Many of these attacks have been against our elders and with it being Lunar New Year, it’s devastating that we cannot enjoy the celebrations without fear. Please do not ignore these attacks and please do not leave the Asian community out of your anti-racism discussions.