As a way of drawing further attention to my book 101 Great Playlists (available electronically through Barnes & Noble and iTunes starting today), I’ve decided to create a few Spotify playlists that correspond roughly to lists in the book. Since 101 Great Playlists is divided into three principal sections (tracks grouped by genre, tracks that exemplify or relate to the work of particular artists, and tracks linked by a common theme), I’m posting three playlists, one for each section. None of the lists exactly match their counterparts in the book; a few of the songs I picked aren’t on Spotify, and each list has also been abridged on purpose. (If I posted the whole thing, why would you need to look at the book? Unless, of course, you suffer from an acute addiction to my prose style.) Still, this should be enough to convey the basic idea of what 101 Great Playlists is all about. Enjoy–there’s a lot more where these come from.

Here are the three playlists in question.

Britpop: Then and Later (divided into three parts: mid-’60s, late ’70s/early ’80s, and early-to-mid-’90s)

Curtis & Company (Curtis being Mayfield and company being the wide array of artists he worked with and/or influenced)

More Songs About Buildings and Food (exactly what the title suggests)