2.57 hours of chill and jazz and funk and folk and some house and generally had an idea that kids (and parents) should be exposed to unconventional/not pop music to open up their minds to the possibility and positivity of MUSIC, new and old. (copypasted from a text as I sent this out to some folks already)

I've got a teaching gig now, and for most of this year I was concerned with college kids at my alma mater and getting them to cram years of software knowledge in fourteen week stints. My thoughts before my first class were like: "Well, I've got lots of experience from contracting and working in this industry for the past sixteen or so years, I think I can distill those basics and give precise feedback." And I was getting there. But what I underestimated was their curiosity– or lack thereof. I don't mean to be an old head about this but it really disheartened me, and I had to push past "these kids and their dang phones" that was waiting to jump off my lips and I wanted to give it a big Think.
Growing up, my mom and dad brought over their musical tastes when they immigrated to America. So while I'm growing up with hip-hop as a big brother on the radio, Michael Jackson and 80s electro, I've also got Deodato, Sergio Mendes, & Chicago echoing in the living room (all rooms) while we're cleaning on a weekend. High school brought filesharing and mp3s which continued to expose me to music from all over the world in time and space. I was following the leads from albums and sampled artists and continuing to trace the threads to new threads. And DJing monthly for five years here in LA as well as small tours around the nation (and a few spots worldwide) really showed me music as a human experience that was fun, joyful, litty, enjoyable by everybody, anybody. Music and being curious about music has been central to my life. I'd like to believe that this inquisitive nature shows up in every facet of my life, and I couldn't be that way if I was listening to boring shit.
The students are, predictably, not very curious about many things. How can you blame them? Passive consumption of media was the way the world was presented to them. To be disciplined about that choice is to stoke curiosity. Having every possibility available numbs a sense of wonder, children and adults. And maybe the old heads aren't doing their due diligence in making sure the youth are curious. A student in my class used a Tribe song in his project, and I was like, hell yeah, I grew up listening to Tribe, they're sick as hell. He was like "that's dope, do you like any other East Coast Rap?" and I could not hide my eyeroll. I asked him who put him on, he said a Spotify playlist. I was like fuck the fuck off. (well, in my head.) He was a really good student anyway so I'm not shitting on him. Just shitting on the situation.
A lot of tracks on this are recent discoveries as well as rediscoveries. I've been in a UK state of mind, thinking about Margaret Thatcher, the defeat of trade unions, privatisation and deindustrialization, unemployed masses of youth looking for collective experience outside of her strict policies, finding their outlet in house music, played for said masses at illegal raves hosted in warehouses and factories, abandoned because of those same mandates. And drugs. The material circumstances repeat themselves, maybe? Time is a circle, etc etc.
Happy 2026!

omar s - sayoungaty nig [2025]
laurence guy - one more love song [2020]
max essa - all is not lost [2014]
yoshinori sunahara - love beat (world of apples mix) [2000]
electric skychurch - hipgnosis [1995]
session victim - walk in the park [2023]
28:55
gábor szabó - forest flower [1967]
jaye p. morgan - can't hide love [1976]
ramp - look into the sky [1977]
joni mitchell - california [1971]
maze f. frankie beverly - joy and pain (m+m mix instrumental) [1980/2021]
sonny phillips - i concentrate on you [1977]
pharoah sanders - love is everywhere [1973]
sonora poncena - cuando estemos viejos [1977]
1:27:39
pedrodollar - reality world [2018]
ron trent presents warm - cool water interlude [2022]
the durutti column - sketch for summer [1980]
the zenmenn - the legend of haziz [2023]
àbáse f. luciane dom - oya [2021]
ashley henry - who we are [2024]
johnny hammond - song for my family [1975]
bentley & horatio luna - oh my word [2021]
2:02:56
1st to go - you keep saying (instrumental) [1998]
jon cutler f. e-man - it's yours (dara band's organic remix) [2002]
slowsupreme - granada [2002]
lea lisa - love to the end (sunset mix) [2022]
k15 - sunbeams [2018]
2:25:20
mansur brown - naqi [2022]
alan braxe and dj falcon - step by step (12" version) [2022]

field recording by heinz pichler

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December 24, 2025