Downtown Selector Year One

I wanted to celebrate my second year of living in Manhattan with another mix that pulls tracks from my entire life so far (now that I have a significant portion of my record collection here). Songs that I discovered this year sit back-to-back with songs that I loved jamming in elementary school, mixed with a little bit of everything else in between. A summary of the past as a mirror held up to the future to shine a light forward.

Mixed live on the second anniversary of my move.

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Tracklisting

  1. Brave Irene – No Fun
  2. The Dickies – Nights in White Satin
  3. Cheap Trick – Oh Caroline
  4. Velvet Gentleman – Consume
  5. No Age – Depletion
  6. Reagan Youth – USA
  7. The Drums – I Need Fun in My Life
  8. The Cure – Jumping Someone Else’s Train
  9. The Radio Dept – You’re Not in Love
  10. The Magnetic Fields – The Village in the Morning
  11. Carla Dal Forno – Mind You’re On
  12. Cranes – Jewel (Robert Smith Remix)
  13. Pickle Darling – King of Joy
  14. Yumi Zouma – Hey Now!
  15. Culture Club – Time (Clock of the Heart)
  16. Lavarr the Starr – Glass Top Roof (The One)
  17. Free Nationals – Beauty & Essex (feat. Daniel Ceasar & Unknown Mortal Orchestra)
  18. Surprise Chef – Spiky Boi
  19. Real Bad Man – Dig It Up (feat. Boldy James & Kool G Rap)
  20. Freddie Gibbs – FBC
  21. House of Pain – On Point (Lethal Dose Remix)

The Quiet Hours

I began collecting music into compilations in high school and, since then, it is a background process running in my brain at any given time. I enjoy weaving song threads together that feel naturally sequenced and lead the listener down a path. Often there is a general theme but sometimes I also just want to collect a bunch of hot tracks together so that I don’t forget about them.

A lot of music passes through my ears and the vast majority of songs never leave a trace but occasionally one will stand out and get caught in my mental nets where it starts forming crystals of ideas around itself, collecting other like-minded songs into clusters of thought & feeling. Sometimes these idea clusters knock loose and drop out and I refine them and make “finished products” and distribute to friends. I’ve found that, for me, these compilations are a form of emotional time capsule. A humorously “me” way of journaling, if you will.

Massive thanks to Dustin for the reminder on this particular one (as well as providing the tracklisting and files as I no longer had either). Half my lifetime later, returning to it with fresh ears for the first time, I was stunned by that time capsule effect. I’m still parsing through my present-day reactions to it but it has been a fascinating experience to revisit something which I had imagined to be completely lost to time. There are artists on here that I never listened to before or since and yet, nearly 20 years later, I still remembered every lyric and chord change as if I’d been listening on repeat for weeks.

There are a number of songs on here that aren’t available on streaming sites which only serves as a warning about digital-only art disappearing in the winds of time. Most of my favorite tracks on this fall in that category, which is a shame. The Shawn Smith one is just absolutely mind-blowing and it only ever existed on a CDR of a live show that I ordered off of his website at some point. The best art is the hardest to find I suppose. The quality of vocal performances across the board here are all extremely high – I must’ve been on a kick of some sort at the time. Two of these are covers that are maybe better than the original versions? I mean, I don’t really know how you could better “Once Around the Block” but KoC’s extremely minimal rework takes it to those levels for me.

The rush of memories and feelings left me wondering if I somehow sealed away some sort of psychological virus in the compilation’s creation and now that I’ve cracked the seals of time and have been breathing in that ancient air, my body is reacting to it with its current-day defenses. Some songs I understand in new ways and can appreciate from an alternate perspective. Some sting twice as hard and some now soothe instead. So fascinating! I hope that you, too, have similar psychological milestones that you can leverage in order to reorient yourself in the stream of time…

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View PDF of the cover & insert

The Quiet Hours Cover & Insert

Tracklisting

  1. Death Cab for Cutie – Title Track
  2. PJ Harvey – One Line
  3. The Cardigans – 03.45: No Sleep
  4. Kings of Convenience – Once Around the Block
  5. The Long Winters – Unsalted Butter
  6. Blonde Redhead – For the Damaged
  7. Shawn Smith – Suffering (Live)
  8. Mono – Where Am I
  9. Iron and Wine – Such Great Heights
  10. Rogue Wave – Man-revolutionary!
  11. Josh Rouse – Knights of Loneliness
  12. Clearlake – Just off the Coast
  13. The Walkmen – Hang on Siobhan
  14. Cristina Donà – Goccia
  15. The Red Thread – From the Divide
  16. Doves – Last Broadcast

Archived Radio Show: The Subset – April 28, 2009 (10PM – Midnight)

Archival recording of a radio show originally broadcast on 88.1 FM WRFL Lexington on April 28, 2009 from 10PM to Midnight (EST)

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Tracklisting

  1. Kid Cudi – Day & Nite (The Widdler Remix)
  2. Brackles & Shortstuff – Broken Harp (Geiomix)
  3. Sully – Duke St. Dub
  4. Droid – Father
  5. Unknown – Deep Within
  6. Cyrus – Dirt
  7. Slaughter Mob – Treachery
  8. Loefah – It’s Yours
  9. (WRFL STATION ID)
  10. Joker & Rustie – Play Doe
  11. Gemmy – Bass Transmitter
  12. Sub Scape – Tomahawk
  13. Toasty – The Knowledge (Untold Remix)
  14. L-ow – Throbs
  15. The Lazarus Project – LFO
  16. Benga – Killers About
  17. (WRFL STATION ID & Safe Harbor Announcement)
  18. The Widdler – We Ready
  19. Orien – So Far Gone
  20. The Others – Light Up Your Spliff
  21. Matty G – West Coast Rocks (Caspa Remix)
  22. Kromestar- Devil
  23. Darqwan – Last of Nine
  24. Kryptic Minds – Six Degrees
  25. Loefah – Rufage
  26. Skream – Love Don’t Come Easily
  27. Shackleton – Shortwave (Pole Remix)
  28. Pinch – Punisher
  29. Darqwan – Wear the Crown
  30. Unknown – On & On
  31. Kutz – Tarantula
  32. Goth Trad – Flags
  33. Mala – Blue Notez

Downtown Selector Year Zero

One year ago, I moved to Manhattan and, as a lifelong DJ, my heart was broken when I was forced to leave my decades-old record collection in storage and make my move with only my turntables. Over the past year, I have slowly added to my new collection here, but the cost-of-living increase meant that I’ve had to become very selective about these additions.

Not all of these records came out over the past year but they are some of the ones that I chose to pursue and collect during that time.

Mixed live on July 10, 2022, exactly one year after my move, as a love letter to my new record collection, home, and life.

52 minutes of the best music representing the best 52 weeks of my life so far.

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Tracklisting

  1. Angel Du$t – All the Way Dumb
  2. Bad Brains – Destroy Babylon
  3. Pop. 1280 – Noncompliant
  4. Surprise Chef – Deadlines
  5. Seaworthy & Matt Rösner – Spencer Creek Pt 1
  6. Widowspeak – Unwind
  7. Black Marble – Try
  8. Joy Orbison – Runnersz
  9. Gimmik – Form2
  10. Erika de Casier – Friendly
  11. Warpaint – Like Sweetness
  12. Fennesz & Ryuichi Sakamoto – Kuni
  13. Yumi Zouma – Honestly, It’s Fine
  14. Pickle Darling – Achieve Lift!
  15. Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Mariella
  16. Matt Duncan – Beacon

Some Archived WRFL Radio Shows

WRFL is the University of Kentucky’s student radio station here in Lexington and it has played a significant role in my life over the years since it first started back when I was in high school. I had a weekly radio show there from 2006 to 2016 and also served for a while as the RPM/Dance Playbox Director. Five years of that run were an all-vinyl Dubstep show called The Subset (from 2006 – 2011).

I recently have been going back and listening to some of my old shows and thought it might be fun to share some of them. Also, it’s an exercise to exorcise some of my perfectionist demons. Until now, I’ve never shared any of my shows because I’ve been too embarrassed of my mistakes in mixing but I’m realizing that it is important to also acknowledge my successes so there you are. I may add more in the future but, for now, here’s one from almost exactly 10 years ago.

The Subset July 8, 2009 (10PM – Midnight):

Click here to download

Also, earlier this year, Brian Connors Manke invited me to guest on his Alumni Show so I thought it would be fun to throw that up here too. It’s a decent representation of a bunch of the other genres that I’m into.

Alumni Show January 1, 2019 (Noon – 2PM):

Click here to download