Weekend listening: Poolsuite FM
I am, without a doubt, a summer person. I love warm weather, cold cocktails, sunglasses, the scent of sunscreen and the mood in the air as people emerge from hibernation and head outdoors. I kick open the door to my balcony, pour myself a glass of homemade iced tea and watch the party boats go by on the Spree. Summer has its own soundtrack, perhaps not unlike Christmas playlists; it sounds very specific, with upbeat tempos, uplifting lyrics and a sprinkling of swing, synth and Caribbean vibes. Poolsuite.net is a web radio that only plays summer tracks, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s something about Poolsuite which really gets me into weekend mode and reminds me that although Summers in Germany can be short, the spirit of Summer lives on.
A bit of context: I grew up more-or-less beachside in central Israel, a region which is always experiencing Summer, except for when it isn’t (about one week every year, where it experiences urban flooding). The city of Herzliya, where I’m from, recently revamped the boardwalk and turned it into one of Israel’s longest and most scenic. I love walking down that boardwalk when I’m on a homecoming visit, listening to the music change as I walk past one beachside bar to the next. It’s both serene and uplifting, and I haven’t experienced it in quite the same way on the beaches of Ibiza, Mallorca or Lanzarote, which seem more catered to tourists and decidedly more house-music heavy. Perhaps it’s the fact that Herzliya and Tel Aviv’s beaches cater equally to the local residents who go to the beach to unwind, walk their dog and have a beer. When I was working in Tel Aviv I’d spend every evening having dinner and a beer by the beach before heading home (oh, glorious Mike’s Place, I miss you so) so it’s really no surprise that beachside culture seared itself into the fabric of my being, even as I was getting ready to pack up and move to Germany.
This uplifting summer vibe is something the makers of Poolsuite wanted to capture with music - but not only the where (poolside, of course) but the when - both Poolsuite’s playlists and their website experience seem pulled from the 80’s, perhaps a golden age of vacationing, now long gone. it’s a mix of head-boppable tunes and tracks you’d find playing as the opening song to a 1980’s sitcom, all of it wrapped up in a website that looks like a Mac OS 6 desktop. The experience design around Poolsuite is so focused on immersion that its founders decided to create actual sunscreen:
As the weather gets warmer here in Central Europe and with many of us with plans to stay home this summer due to COVID-19 cases rising, Poolsuite comes at a good time. It might not be the same as taking an actual dip in the pool at your favorite beachside resort (nothing ever is) but it’s a great way to start a summer weekend (or a weekend you wish was a summer weekend) alongside a chilled glass of Umeshu. If you’re not in it for the music, the sheer novelty of the incredible dedication and care taken to the design of Poolsuite and its entire ecosystem of adjacent services, such as the sunscreen, a perfume and even a NFT (!) will throw you back a good 35 years to a time of floppy disks, windbreakers and sweatbands.
