There's much to say about COVID-19 dismantling all sorts of existing contexts that we all used to enjoy or rely on, but for my own experience, it really was a reckoning for why I listen to music. For the past six years or so, I think I was listening to music that was going to crack in the club. Listening to music solely for its crowd response. Not to say that this wasn't an efficient way to listen to music for the purposes of what I was doing(maintaining and djing a monthly R&B party), but as that context disappeared for me and everyone else, it gave me great pause. I kinda forgot how to listen to music! Midway last year I was realizing all sorts of things: spending every month in a dj pool, sorting and digging for gems, intently scrolling through soundcloud, looking for download links, testing music out loud in the whip during commute, all these choices were influenced by my djing contexts, in turn influencing my listening appetite. Last year I didn't know what to listen to. I spent most of last year listening to ambient, instrumentals, music that was specifically outside of my usual contexts. For all of us, it truly was a forced deceleration of music consumption, and I really only started listening to music with fresh ears around October. It took a few youtube rabbit holes to put me down a familiar path of exploration, of digging, of reflective listening, to remember that music has contexts that are not just related to partying - honestly! I started down a thread of music history, and searching for a 'why did this happen', or 'how was this artist influenced', and it's been reaffirming. It makes me think of when I first started making mixes, twenty or so years ago now (!), it was about excitedly sharing music I'd discovered. Now much farther into my life and musical journey I've come back to the same central drive, with a much larger consideration for historical context, which for the past few months - along with podcasts, conversations with other music nerds, and YOUTUBE - has made me 'fall in love again with music that I already loved'. I'm paraphrasing from a conversation with Yuri, but it's a deep, fulfilling emotion.
I'm excited to start making more mixes with that in mind, but this is an ultralong "mix" of soft music I enjoyed and learned about last year. Some ambient, some soundtrack/score gems, some general chill selections. Enjoy.

Jonny Nash - Shallow Space
TEREKKE - Wav1
Shanti Celeste - Sun Notification
Dr Alex Paterson - Loving You Love
Paul Bley Trio - Albert’s Love Theme
Palta - Optagelse 16A
Susumu Yokota - Tobiume
Khruangbin - A Hymn
Jonny Nash - Sayan
D.K. - The Three Realms
Northern Picture Library - Dreams And Stars And Sleep
Hodge - All Is Not Lost
Toro y Moi - Embarcadero
Briano Eno - 1/1
Kamasi Washington - Seven Prayers
Antonio Carlos Jobim - Amparo
Karl Heinz Schaffer - Le Partage (La Valise)
Mort Garson - Ode To An African Violet
Takumi Kaneko - Open the Galaxy
D.K. / S.K. - Fade
Bark Psychosis - Pendulum Man
Masayoshi Fujita - Moonlight
Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow - Ava
SBTRKT - GEMINI
BADBADNOTGOOD - Since You Asked Kindly
Nils Frahm - Them
Arcade Fire - Divorce Papers
Boxwork - Two Followed
Suplington - Soft Light Through Glass
Swing Out Sister - Now You’re Not Here (Deep Siesta)
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Energy Flow
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May 01, 2021